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The Texas Lawbook:

Tom Melsheimer was enjoying lunch last summer at the Capital Grille in Dallas when his iPhone buzzed. CNN wanted an interview. Two minutes later, MSNBC and Fox News called.

Then, every few seconds, there were more: The Wall Street Journal, American Lawyer, CNBC, ESPN, and the Huffington Post.

Melsheimer has handled some pretty big cases during the past two decades. He defended former Dallas City Councilman Al Lipscomb against federal criminal charges. He’s represented Burger King, Tom Hicks, Barclays Bank and Bank of America.

Right now, Melsheimer is the lead lawyer representing a whistleblower in a high profile battle against pharmaceutical giant, Johnson & Johnson, in a Medicaid fraud lawsuit with more than $1 billion at stake. The trial started Monday in Austin and is likely to last a month.

But none of these cases come close to the media attention the University of Texas Law School graduate garnered last June 22. That’s the day he filed his motion for summary judgment asking a Texas judge to rule for his client, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, in a lawsuit against Ross Perot Jr., who has a five percent stake in the basketball team.

Perot sued claiming that Cuban has mismanaged the NBA team.

Most lawyers pray that the judges in their cases read their legal briefs.

Melsheimer’s four-page motion immediately went viral. Page two featured a large photograph taken 10 days earlier of Maverick’s star Dirk Nowitzki hoisting the NBA championship trophy over his head in celebration.

“Within a couple hours of filing the motion, my phone was blowing up,” says Melsheimer, who is a former federal prosecutor. “Even ESPN and TMZ wanted to talk with me.”

By making the photo the centerpiece of the motion, Melsheimer said he was demonstrating the stupidity of Perot’s argument. The fact that his client is the flamboyant Cuban, he says, certainly aided in the public attention. But he adamantly denies that the motion was a publicity stunt.

“It was definitely high risk, because if we had lost, we would have been very embarrassed,” he says. “I have no regrets about it. I only wish I had done it earlier. It has been universally applauded.”

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Attorney Tom Melsheimer in The TexasLawbook article

The whistleblower and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who has joined the lawsuit, contend that Johnson & Johnson made improper financial payments and various perks to key Texas officials who were in a position to help the drug company have Risperdal accepted by Texas Medicaid officials for additional off-label treatments – a charge Johnson & Johnson denies.

The lawsuit seeks more than $1 billion in damages and penalties. The whistleblower could be eligible to claim up to 25 percent of the final judgment. Melsheimer is handling the case on a contingency fee basis and could see a fee of tens of millions of dollars if he is successful.

“This case certainly has the biggest potential fee in my career,” he says. “But it also could have the biggest impact and foundation for change, too.”

http://texaslawbook.net/tom-melsheimer-is-superman

© 2011 - The Texas Lawbook.