Law.com article Home Court Advantage details how an out-of-state big law firm was trounced in court in Galveston, Texas, by local counsel. National law firm Greenberg Traurig was sued in Galveston, Texas for defrauding a prominent Galveston citizen. In March, the judge entered a judgment against Greenberg for more than $25 million.
“The Greenberg lawyers allegedly at fault were from New York City, a point not lost on Moody’s lawyer, Valorie Davenport. The homespun Texas native berated the ‘Park Avenue’ defendants and peppered her presentation with homilies like, ‘even a blind hog can find an acorn.’ […] Before trial, the court entered an order prohibiting use of the word “Yankee” or any other term that might incite local bias against Greenberg. Davenport may not have used the Y-word, but, Greenberg claimed in a motion for new trial, she referred to the defendants as ‘privileged,’ ‘Manhattan,’ and ‘Park Avenue’ lawyers, who attended ‘private schools’ and wear ‘$3,000 suits,’ ‘$500 shoes,’ and ‘silk stockings.'”
“Greenberg also complained about Davenport’s courtroom style. For starters, she had a hard time getting her mouth around the defendant’s name. She pronounced it Greenberg ‘Trog’ instead of ‘Tror-ig.’ On occasion, she referred to Greenberg as Goldberg and to Robert Kirshenberg, one of the Greenberg lawyers who represented Integrated Food, as Kirshenbaum. These mispronunciations, Greenberg complained, were a veiled attempt to highlight the defendants’ Jewish roots.”
