1122 Bissonnet
Houston, Texas 77005
Telephone: 713.528.2500
Fax: 713.528.2509

In recent years, Hackerman Frankel has focused its practice on representation of large numbers of individual plaintiffs in mass tort litigation. Here are representative examples of our litigation experience:

Hitchcock v. Graham Energy, Ltd., et al. (Harris County, Texas).
Steve Hackerman served as co-lead counsel in series of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty cases on behalf of several thousand investors in limited partnerships sponsored and marketed by Prudential Securities. Discovery conducted uncovered a massive fraud that resulted in substantial losses for hundreds of thousands of investors. Investors represented by Hackerman settled their claims for more than $50 million. The firm also turned the evidence it developed over to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which subsequently reached a $350 million settlement with Prudential under which thousands more investors made recoveries.

Milkes v. Marriott International, et al. (Bexar County, Texas).
Steve Hackerman, in conjunction with other members of the stock analyst litigation team, was appointed as class counsel on behalf of 15,000 class members in six different classes. The class members were investors in Marriott-sponsored limited partnerships. The cases involved fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy by Marriott International, Host Marriott, and others. After nearly three years of discovery and after a favorable result in a summary jury trial, the defendants agreed to pay the six classes a total of approximately $200 million in damages and repurchase partnership interests valued at approximately $220 million for a total settlement value of $440 million. Of the 15,000 class members, fewer than five opted-out or objected to the settlement.

McDonald v. Shell Oil Co, et al (Harris County, Texas).
Steve Hackerman, in association with another firm, represented several thousand homeowners who purchased homes with defective plumbing systems. Hackerman was one of two lead counsel for the homeowners. The cases of almost 400 homeowners were tried at once. The jury found in favor of all the homeowners and awarded punitive damages. After the trial, the defendants settled the cases of all the homeowners represented by the firm for in excess of $90 million.

Dorothy A. v. National Medical Enterprises (Montgomery County, Texas).
Steve Hackerman and Richard Frankel, in conjunction with two other firms, represented over 600 former patients in 11 psychiatric hospitals across Texas which had been operated by National Medical Enterprises. Our clients filed suit against NME and more than 80 psychiatrists, asserting that NME had bribed the psychiatrists to unnecessarily and inappropriately hospitalize them to capture their insurance benefits. The case settled on the eve of trial for an amount reported by The New York Times to be in excess of $100 million.

Schuler v. Sulzer Medica (Travis County, Texas).
Richard Frankel, in conjunction with a number of law firms throughout the United States, took a leadership role in prosecuting the claims of thousands of patients who had to undergo surgery to replace their defective hip implants. After approximately six months of litigation, the defendant attempted to settle the claims of all the vic-tims for around $600 million. Six months later, Frankel, working with investment bankers and a small group of lawyers, persuaded the company to settle all claims for more than $1 billion.

Exxon Corporation v. Certain Underwriters of Lloyds of London (Harris County, Texas).
Richard Frankel assisted a team of lawyers in successfully prosecuting a $780 million insurance coverage and bad faith claim against Lloyds of London and many other insurance companies arising out of the Exxon Valdez incident.