Don Keenan
Painting a subject without their knowing it, a surprise portrait, is always fraught with danger… and in the case of Don Keenan, doubly so. A larger than life character, electrifying, the trial lawyer community with his “Reptile Theory” of practice, a TV personality, renowned children’s advocate, often to be found unshaved wearing shorts, T-shirt, and always those sunglasses. An ex-marine of Irish blood and creator of the Kids Foundation and Bono aficionado. All this and more went into this painting. It was with relief that I saw it was warmly and enthusiastically received at its unveiling in Houston. Kudos to the courage of the man brave enough to commission this painting!
Painting a subject without their knowing it, a surprise portrait, is always fraught with danger… and in the case of Don Keenan, doubly so. A larger than life character, electrifying, the trial lawyer community with his “Reptile Theory” of practice, a TV personality, renowned children’s advocate, often to be found unshaved wearing shorts, T-shirt, and always those sunglasses. An ex-marine of Irish blood and creator of the Kids Foundation and Bono aficionado. All this and more went into this painting. It was with relief that I saw it was warmly and enthusiastically received at its unveiling in Houston. Kudos to the courage of the man brave enough to commission this painting!
Don Keenan
Keenan, Don. 16" x 20". 2015. Collection of Keenan Law Firm. Atlanta, GA. Portrait on canvas. Commissioned by HMR Funding, Dean Chase.
Keenan, Don. 16" x 20". 2015. Collection of Keenan Law Firm. Atlanta, GA. Portrait on canvas. Commissioned by HMR Funding, Dean Chase.
About the Collection
We aim to record and promote the visual narrative of those who have dedicated their lives to maintaining the fundamental values of a fair and balanced criminal and civil justice system accessible to all.
Our Mission
This gallery is born of thirty years of documenting civil plaintiff litigators and criminal defence lawyers across the nation. It consolidates and builds on the work executed by the Images Of Justice project, founded in 1991 as an exhaustive exploration of the visual history and symbolism of the law from earliest times.
The individual art works, all of museum quality, are in private and public collections across the nation (see our gallery patrons page) gathered here in a virtual institution designed to tell the story of this remarkable community. The core collection is far greater than that on current display. It is our intention to add new galleries over time as it matures.
Many prints and paintings have been donated over the years to raise money for issues of public justice and legal education. We have worked closely with The American Association for Justice and its State affiliates, The Pound Civil Justice Institute, The Belli Society, Public Justice, and other similar causes.
The Collection
The collections in this gallery form a unique, constantly growing body of original works of art which document and celebrate the contemporary and historical trial lawyer community. They reflect the core values of courage, compassion, and commitment of those who perpetually strive for justice in the courts and defend the rights of society's most vulnerable.
It is a place to recognize those that have laboured, stumbled, risen again, and triumphed in the name of fairness and in the face of great adversity. For as Theodore Roosevelt said in his 1902 inspirational speech, "Citizenship in a Republic": "The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena."
Trial lawyers stand and fall by the right to trial by jury and access to the courts for all. They often risk everything: their health and their livelihoods, all for the sake of their client and what they believe is right. But the one thing they never sacrifice is their integrity. This is what sustains our system of justice. These are the people defending human values against corporate values, this last line of resistance against those who threaten the fragile democracy we enjoy.
The Trial Lawyer National Portrait Gallery