Jefferson County District Judge Kent Walston is staunchly supported by trial lawyers practicing before him. When he last ran for reelection, unopposed, big contributions came in from attorneys at Provost Umphrey, Reaud Morgan and Quinn, Moore Landry, Weller Green Toups & Terrell, and the Ferguson Law Firm.
Beaumont attorney Paul “Chip” Ferguson recently secured a $27 million judgment for his clients in Walston’s court, but the defendant is crying foul and has filed an appeal.
“This case involves claims for non-fatal and non-catastrophic injuries wrongly filed in Jefferson County, erroneously tried without a jury for untimely payment of $40, and resulting in an excessive judgment of over $27 million,” argues United Parcel Service in its appellate brief.
A UPS driver struck vehicles in Louisiana, but one of the motorists struck happened to be a resident of Jefferson County, which served as the slim pretext to file suit before a friendly judge here in Southeast Texas.
True to form, Walston denied UPS the jury trial it had requested, conducted a bench trial instead, and awarded Ferguson’s clients $27,141,206.98 in damages.
“This case should not have been tried in Jefferson County,” the UPS appellate brief states. “It should not have been tried without a jury.”
This is not the first time Walston has run roughshod over the rights of defendants.
Sherman Moore of S&S Investigations & Security, a Houston-area company offering guard services and alarm systems, had a similar run-in with Walston several years ago when Patriot Security of Nederland filed suit against him.
Moore recalls that the trial broke for lunch after only a single witness had testified. Settlement proceedings began immediately after lunch, with Walston telling Moore he didn’t want him hustling business in Jefferson County and the judge himself outlining terms for a non-compete agreement and provisions for liquidated damages.
It’s about time somebody stood up to Walston and forced him to apply the law fairly, instead of twisting it to favor his friends and supporters.