Paul (Chip) F. Ferguson Jr.

Over the course of his career, Paul ‘Chip’ Ferguson has litigated cases in forums across the United States.  These include:  Texas, Louisiana, California, Washington, Montana, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Arizona, Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky and Florida.

 

Mr. Ferguson’s verdicts have been listed in Verdict Search’s “Top 100 Verdicts” and Lawyers USA “Top 10 Verdicts”.  He had the largest product liability verdict for a single personal injury in 2006 and continues to hold the national record for the largest verdict in an underride case.  In addition, Mr. Ferguson obtained the largest verdict in a motor vehicle case with his $34,000,000 verdict against Domino’s Pizza LLC in 2013.

 

Not only has Mr. Ferguson obtained a number of sizeable verdicts and settlements, he has also been instrumental in causing two product recalls:  One was the recall of a defective tire brand that also resulted in a $10,500,000 confidential settlement.  The other was the recall of a dangerous toy that led to a $2,000,000 confidential settlement.

 

All told, Mr. Ferguson has had more than sixty (60) verdicts or settlements at or in excess of $1,000,000 and more than ten (10) verdicts or settlements in excess of $10,000,000.

Mr. Ferguson is admitted to practice in the following:

• Texas, 1982
• Colorado, 1994
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court Western District of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

He has also been admitted to practice pro haec vice in multiple federal and state courts across the country.

Mr. Ferguson was raised in the small town of Alvin, Texas.  There, he did refinery work while he attended school. His educational background is:

Rice University – Houston, Texas (B.A. 1979)

University of Houston Law Center – Houston, Texas (J.D. 1982)

While at Rice University, Chip played NCAA baseball for the Owls.  In 2003, he was inducted into the Rice Hall of Fame and received the Distinguished ‘R’ Award.  The press box at Rice’s Reckling Park is named in his honor.  In 1999, he was proud to ‘give back’ to his alma mater by making the largest donation in history to Rice’s athletic endowment.  Those funds were used, in part, to create a matching fund for the Gene Hackerman Scholarship for Women’s Athletics.  Those funds continue, to this day, to fund the education of scholar-athletes at Rice University.

 

Mr. Ferguson has spent his entire legal career representing victims of negligence and unsafe products.  He is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has been so certified since 1990.

While he, like most lawyers, is a member of many professional organizations and societies, Mr. Ferguson is proudest of those that reflect a peer-reviewed consensus of both his professional integrity and ability.

Besides his ongoing recognition as a “Top One Percent Attorney” by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, Mr. Ferguson has been recognized by a wide-ranging number of professional organizations.

The long-recognized ‘gold standard’ for professional integrity and ability is the ratings from Martindale-Hubbell.  Mr. Ferguson is rated AV-Preeminent, the highest rank available and a testament to the lawyer’s reputation among peers as fellow attorneys determine the ranking.  In those ratings, Mr. Ferguson is rated a 5.0 on a 1-5 scale, the highest rating achievable.

Other peer-reviewed ratings confirm Chip’s place among the best in his profession.  He has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers including his selection as “Lawyer of the Year” in the multiple fields:  product liability litigation and commercial litigation.  As only a single lawyer is honored, it makes “this accolade particularly significant” as it is based on “exhaustive peer-review assessments” conducted “with thousands of leading lawyers each year.”  Being designated as the “Lawyer of the Year” demonstrates “the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers…for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.”

Mr. Ferguson was also named as one of the “Litigation Stars” by Benchmark Plaintiff Litigation, a rating for “only those individuals who were recommended consistently as reputable and effective litigators by clients and peers.”  The rankings and editorials cover all 50 states and are the culmination of a six-month research period that allows researchers to conduct extensive interviews with litigators and their clients.  He was named for both personal injury and product liability litigation.

Mr. Ferguson is also a long-time Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).  Membership is by invitation only, open only to the trial lawyer who is of high personal character and honorable reputation.  It requires both nomination and election.

Additionally, Mr. Ferguson was selected for inclusion in the “Texas Top 100” by the National Trial Lawyers Association, an invitation only organization “based on superior qualifications, leadership, reputation, influence, stature, and profile in the Trial Lawyer community.”

Beyond his role as a trial lawyer for victims, Mr. Ferguson is well-known and recognized throughout the bar.  In 2014, the President of the Texas State Bar appointed him to be a member of the State Pattern Jury Charge Committee.

Mr. Ferguson is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, “one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a member of the State Bar of Texas” and “is based on outstanding contributions to the legal profession as well as a commitment to the community”.  Fellowship represents the “clear agreement on the importance of professional integrity and on promoting the cause of justice in Texas.”

Mr. Ferguson is also a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, an honorary society of lawyers who are among the best trained attorneys in Texas. Members are qualified attorneys who are interested in both high ethical standards and improved training for all Texas attorneys.

Mr. Ferguson is a member of the American Bar Association, Texas Bar Association and Jefferson County Bar Association as well as the International Society of Barristers, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the American Association of Justice, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Southeast Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

Mr. Ferguson has also been selected for inclusion as a Texas Super Lawyers by Texas Monthly (a Thomson Reuters business) in each year which that magazine has bestowed such recognition (2003-present).

The following is a representative listing of verdicts and settlements obtained by Paul ‘Chip’ Ferguson:

$133,000,000                    Antitrust verdict involving small ISOs; tried as co-counsel with Hon. Sam Baxter, McKoolSmith, Marshall, Texas.

$45,000,000                      Settlement of wrongful death cases of 6 refinery workers killed in an explosion.

$38,500,000                      Verdict against trailer manufacturer for failure to provide side underride protection, causing brain damage to 26 year old single mother.  This verdict was, and remains, the largest underride verdict ever obtained in the U.S.

$34,000,000                      Verdict against Domino’s Pizza, holding the franchisor liable for negligence of franchisee employee resulting in wrongful death of 65 year old woman and TBI to 69 year old man.  This verdict was ranked the #1 motor vehicle verdict of 2013 for the State of Texas.

$25,000,000                      Total settlement involving charter bus rollover carrying a local high school girls’ soccer team.

$22,500,000                      Total settlement of product liability case for deaths of 2 power plant employees and burn injuries to a 3^rd.

$20,000,000                      Product liability settlement against bus manufacturer for failure to include seat belts and safety glass.

$16,100,000                      Verdict against 18-wheeler for crushing leg injuries to motor cycle policeman.  Tried with Walter Umphrey and Joe Jamail.

$10,500,000                      Settlement of product liability case involving defective tire and causing wrongful death of divorced parent with 14 year old daughter.

$10,200,000                      Verdict in product liability case resulting in injury to lumbar spine requiring multiple surgeries.

$10,100,000                      Settlement of case against paper mill for causing traumatic leg amputations to worker.

$10,100,000                      Settlement of multiple wrongful death claims arising from collision with 18-wheeler tanker.

$9,500,000                       Settlement of product liability case involving severe burns and death of plant worker.

$8,000,000                       Verdict for wrongful death of 50 y/o single parent in motor vehicle collision.

$8,000,000                       Settlement for wrongful death of woman killed in collision with multiple 18-wheelers.

$7,500,000                       Settlement after 3 weeks of trial for wrongful death of parents of adult children due to collision with 18-wheeler.

$7,500,000                       Settlement of industrial accident case where contractor suffered traumatically amputated arm.

$7,500,000                       Settlement for burn victim in industrial accident at electrical facility.

$7,250,000                       Verdict in auto-pedestrian for man struck by company delivery truck causing severe fractures of both legs.

$6,600,000                       Verdict for wrongful death of plant worker due to benzene-caused leukemia.

$6,000,000                       Partial settlement for wrongful death of 65 y/o woman and traumatic brain injury to her 69 y/o husband as a result of an automobile collision with a pizza deliveryman.

$5,500,000                       Wrongful death of plant worker as a result of defective equipment at work site.

$5,100,000                       Settlement of 18-wheeler underride accident involving brain injury to divorced mother of 2 children.

$5,000,000                       Confidential high/low settlement of automobile injury resulting in bilateral femur fractures.  The amount represented the high end as jury awarded amount in excess of $5,000,000.

$5,000,000                       Policy limits settlement against operator of common carrier that resulted in two wrongful deaths and multiple injuries.

$5,000,000                       Settlement for 45 year old single female with a closed head injury due to improperly installed tire.

$4,500,000                       Settlement for 45 year old divorced refinery worker who suffered burn injuries to his face and eyes due to tank overflow.

$4,250,000                       Total settlement for drowning death of infant at motel complex.

$4,000,000                       Verdict against UPS for causing pre-natal head and developmental injuries to child.

$3,750,000                       Settlement for ship employee who sustained spinal injury after falling from gangway while returning to ship after shore leave.

$3,650,000                       Settlement for wrongful death of unborn child due to collision with 18-wheeler.

$3,500,000                       Settlement for wrongful death of paper mill employee killed in industrial accident.

$3,000,000                       Settlement of product liability case involving low back injuries resulting in multiple back surgeries.

$2,900,000                       Settlement of product liability claim against auto manufacturer for non-crashworthy steering columin resulting in spinal cord injury.

$2,850,000                       Settlement of industrial accident involving wrongful death of 50 y/o paper mill worker due to negligently designed process pipe system.

$2,750,000                       Settlement against luxury hotel-resort for babysitter’s failure to supervise young child resulting in child’s death.

$2,450,000                       Settlement of product liability case for wrongful death of cement plant worker killed in industrial accident.

$2,400,000                       Policy limits settlement of motor vehicle collision resulting in spinal cord injury to woman.

$2,300,000                       Settlement for gross negligence/worker’s compensation recovery against decedent’s employer by 40 year old widow of 42 year old saw mill worker.

$2,200,000                       Verdict for man with lumbar spine injuries as a result of industrial accident.

$2,100,000                       Settlement for wrongful death of teenager in collision with 18-wheeler.

$2,000,000                       Policy limits settlement for wrongful death of 8 year old boy survived by father due to defective toy.

$2,000,000                       Policy limits settlement for 65 year old female with orthopedic injuries as a result of an 18-wheeler accident (co-counsel).

$2,000,000                       In-trial settlement from motor carrier involving aggravation of pre-existing multiple sclerosis.

$2,000,000                       Settlement for wrongful death of child as result of 18-wheeler accident.

$2,000,000                       Wrongful death settlement involving 18-wheeler accident with multiple injuries, including wrongful death of high school student.

$2,000,000                       Settlement involving wrongful death of student returning from party and involved in collision with tanker trailer.

$1,950,000                       Verdict for man who injured his neck and back in an industrial accident and had a history of multiple prior neck and back surgeries.

$1,870,000                       Verdict for female who sustained a broken hip in a collision with an 18-wheeler.

$1,750,000                       Settlement for two adult children for wrongful death of 75 year old widowed mother due to collision with 18-wheeler.

$1,650,000                       Settlement of product liability case against auto manufacturer for head injury to woman.

$1,585,000                       Settlement of paper mill trainee’s wrongful death case involving an industrial accident.

$1,500,000                       Settlement for 24 year old man who, while passed out due to intoxication in an alley, was run over by a garbage truck causing severe crushing injury to man’s right leg.

$1,500,000                       Settlement of product liability wrongful death case involving a post-collision fuel fed fire.

$1,500,000                       Settlement against manufacturer of children’s products (bath ring), resulting in drowning of child.

$1,500,000                       Settlement of product liability case involving death of infant due to a collapsing front seat.

$1,400,000                       Product liability settlement involving wrongful death due to transmission shifting out of gear.

$1,250,000                       Settlement for worker against refinery.

$1,200,000                       Settlement for 22 y/o female with multiple fractures who was involved in MVA with pickup driven by underage boy who had been drinking.

$1,100,000                       Verdict in industrial accident case involving shoulder injury requiring two outpatient surgeries.

$1,100,000                       Settlement of industrial accident case involving injury to worker’s lower back necessitating lumbar surgery.

$1,015,000                       Settlement for 45 year old man who injured his lower back in a collision with an 18-wheeler.

$1,000,000                       Verdict for plant worker who was suffered a mild traumatic brain injury as a result of contractor negligence.

$1,000,000                       Settlement for 70 year old mother whose son was killed in crash with commercial motor vehicle.

$1,000,000                       Settlement of product liability case involving wrongful death in underride case with 18-wheeler (partial settlement).

$1,000,000                       Policy limits settlement for adult children whose parents were killed in collision with 18-wheeler.

$1,000,000                       Settlement for woman who suffered a severely fractured leg in collision with a logging truck.

$1,000,000                       Settlement of product liability case of manufacturer of trailer door involving operated lumbar spine.

$1,000,000                       Settlement of 18-wheeler case where 62 y/o man required a cervical fusion for aggravation of degenerative disc disease.