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.
Right is right, and wrong is wrong. Texan Trial Lawyer born 1960, Author, Teacher, Pastor and Story Teller Extraordinaire. Consistently recognized among the country’s foremost legal intellects.
Mark Lanier
Mark Lanier of The Lanier Law Firm is a Houston-based plaintiffs’ attorney who also has offices in Los Angeles and New York. The Lanier Law Firm holds many records for plaintiffs’ law firms: a one billion dollar combined verdict against DuPuy Orthoopedics over defective hip implants, more than $50 million dollar verdicts against the painkiller drug Vioxx, settlements in an antitrust case against Becton Dickinson & Company; verdicts for twenty-one asbestos victims resulting in one of the largest asbestos verdicts in history, and important commercial litigation verdicts in fraud cases.
Mark, a graduate of Texas Tech University School of Law, began his career at Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston, then worked at Ernest Cannon and Associates–a small trial practice firm. Mark formed The Lanier Law Firm in June, 1990. The Lanier Law Firm now has sixty five lawyers in four cities across the country.
Mark was inducted into The National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame in 2017, and was named Trial Layer of the Year by that group in both 2016 and 2017.
Mark Lanier pictured here in the Lanier Theological Library one of the nation’s largest private theological collections. Original painting on canvas 20" x 24" 2017. In the private collection of the artist.
Mark has been listed in The Best Lawyers in American from 2006 to 1028, and was previously named the Top Class Action Attorney in America. Best Lawyers named Lanier Houston’s Lawyer of the Year in 2012, 2016 and 2018 in the field of mass tort litigation/class action.
In 2015, Mark earned the American Association of Justice Lifetime Achievement Award and has twice been named one of the Top Ten Trial Lawyers in American by The National Law Journal. He has also received the Clarence Darrow Award.
Mark has been Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and is licensed to practice in all Texas state and federal courts, New York state courts and the United States Supreme Court.
Mark is a frequent lecturer throughout the country at trial practice seminars and serves as a speaker at many of the nation’s top law schools. Mark actively serves his alma mater, Texas Tech, and serves on the Law School Foundation Board. He has also received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. Mark and his wife have contributed to the Mark and Becky Lanier Professional Development Center at the law school.
Mark is very active in his church, teaching Sunday School at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston. The Lanier Theological Library, built by Mark and his family, is one of the world’s largest private religious studies libraries open to the public. He is also the founder of the Christian Trial Lawyers Association. He and his wife Becky live in Houston with their five children.