Joe Jamail

“The Depression did more to me than being a little Lebanese kid did.”

“I didn't do too well until my second year, when I realized that there were no right or wrong answers and that my professors were interested only in how well I could develop an argument.”

“It's not a bad thing fighting for equality and helping the poor. It's not a bad thing to have on your professional tombstone: 'He believed in equality and he helped the poor.'”

“I don't think I'm a good ol' boy. Honestly, the last thing I am is a redneck. I like silk sheets, fancy cars, beautiful women, good whiskey.”

“I don't want corporate America to think they can continue their duplicitous double-dealing.”

“When I walk into a courtroom, I feel like I'm home.”

“Any good trial lawyer knows that if you've got one credible expert or scientific study, then you can let the jury decide.”

“If you are not emotionally involved, your client is not getting your best effort.”

“Do you know what the root of mediation is? Mediocrity!”

“Medical research is needed, and I just saw there was a need for help that the government - state or federal - was not spending the taxpayers' money on helping people get through college.”

“By not trying the small cases, the lawyers don't get the courtroom experience. So when the huge, bet-the-company cases come along, there are only a handful of trial lawyers who can handle it. That's why these big corporations still call us old-timers every day.”

“When Frank Broyles coached at Arkansas, he used to have a golf tournament each year for all the Southwest Conference coaches.”

“We've got some real greedy hogs who own no interest in the company they're running, whose sole interest is in whatever it takes to be able to get to the point to fly out on their golden parachute and milk the shareholder and take risks that they shouldn't take.”

“I sent people to the penitentiary as fast as I could, never thinking about whether they deserved it.”

“I happen to have a giant ego, an admission that will not shock my close friends or critics. I am not uncomfortable in saying that because the ego of a man often gets great things done.”

“I spent a year at Southwestern Louisiana Institute, then transferred back to the University of Texas, where I majored in English and history.”

“That's a good feeling, to save your clients two billion dollars.”

“It's a great feeling knowing you've helped someone. That's what I've spent my life doing and my practice.”

“I didn't know who she was, but I knew she was hungry, so I started handing out $100 bills and called the office and told them to bring me a bunch more. Then I had my cousin's store deliver a bunch of smoked ham and turkeys. I mean, these people are hungry and living under a bridge.”

“We can still do good for others and do good for ourselves. I would wither and die, truthfully. I need to be somewhere where the light's on me.”