The Jury is In
An interview with HBA President Randall O. Sorrels, who will focus on the preservation of the jury system and the importance of jury service

THL: Tell me about your family and where you grew up.
Sorrels: I was born in Fort Lee, Virginia. My dad, who was in the Army, was stationed there at the time. Although my parents were from Texas, we lived in many different places because of the military. My dad served two tours in Vietnam and during that time we moved to the Dallas area and kept our Texas ties. When my dad retired as a Colonel in my junior year of high school, we moved to Houston, and we’ve been here ever since. I graduated from Dulles High School in Sugar Land.

THL: Where did you go to college?
Sorrels: I went to Houston Baptist University on a soccer scholarship. I had played soccer throughout the country as I was growing up. We lived up north during some of my childhood, and soccer was a big sport there. HBU was a Division I program, and it was a great experience.

THL: Tell me about your immediate family.
Sorrels: My wife, Cheryl, and I have been married for 20 years. I met her at HBU, where she also got her degree. Cheryl is a dance instructor and runs a program through the Bellaire Recreation Center. We have four children. Ashley is almost 18 and a senior at Lamar High School. Stephanie is 14 and a freshman at St. Agnes High School. And we have seven-year-old girl/boy twins, Darby and Garrett, who are in the second grade at St. Michael’s Catholic School.

THL: What did you get your undergraduate degree in?
Sorrels: I have an undergraduate degree in political science and communications. I knew at that time that I wanted to be a trial lawyer, and I think my communications degree was the best training I could have received to prepare myself for the work I do.

THL: How did you decide on law as a career?
Sorrels: I took a standardized test sometime in junior high that said I should be anything but a lawyer. That was all the challenge I needed and decided to become a lawyer. When I applied to law schools, I knew I wanted to be a litigator, and South Texas College of Law had a reputation for being a very good school to prepare litigators, and it was.

THL: When you graduated from South Texas, what was your first job?
Sorrels: I was fortunate to get on with Fulbright & Jaworski. The trial group gave me great opportunities during the three years I was there. I tried 19 cases under the Fulbright trial group. I am very appreciative of that opportunity. I left Fulbright & Jaworski for my current firm, where I was a law clerk in law school, and have been with Abraham Watkins ever since.

THL: What types of cases do you handle?
Sorrels: Our firm does primarily plaintiffs work, both commercial litigation and personal injury litigation. Our firm is 54 years old. It was started by John Hill, former chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court and attorney general; Curtiss Brown, who was the chief justice of the 14th Court of Appeals; Jim Kronzer, the first appellate guru in the state; and Frank Abraham, who passed away just last year. The firm’s original name was Hill, Brown, Kronzer & Abraham.

THL: How did you get interested in trial work?
Sorrels: I am a competitive person by nature, and playing soccer made me more so. I enjoy the competition of my trial practice. I get a lot of satisfaction out of winning a case, and I appreciate winning even more when I lose, which happens from time to time.

THL: Who were your mentors?
Sorrels: In law school, Dean Gerald Treece and Prof. Peter Murphy were very helpful. As a law clerk at Abraham Watkins, I would say the partners there all gave me good advice on how to advance my career. At Fulbright & Jaworski, I was under the direction of Charlie Hurd, Jim Sales and Charles Boston, in the medical malpractice section, and they all helped direct me at various times. Nick Nichols, my current law partner, is certainly a mentor. As for mentors from the HBA, Otway Denny, Kelly Frels and Lynne Liberato have always taken a lot of time with me and offered me great advice from various perspectives.

THL: How did you get involved with bar work?
Sorrels: Frank Abraham had encouraged me to get involved in bar activities. Frank was the president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association back in the early 70s and said that the organized bar was a good way to give back to the community. He felt that every person who is privileged to get a law degree has an equal responsibility to give back to the community.
My first involvement was through the State Bar of Texas. I was elected to the Board of Directors of the State Bar and served for three years. It was a very educational experience that taught me what the organized bar is all about. Scott Rozzell appointed me as the State Bar liaison to the HBA board, so that was my first experience with the HBA. I ran for HBA director against Roland Garcia and lost, but that was not a bad experience. The following year, I ran against two opponents and won. I have now served almost 10 years on the HBA board and have held every officer position, as well as serving terms as a director. That’s why I encourage people to run for the board. There should be no fear in losing, but only fear of not trying. This year, I am going to encourage more people to run for the HBA board – win or lose.

THL: Do you remember your first HBA activity?
Sorrels: When I was with Fulbright & Jaworski, I volunteered for LegalLine. That program provides services to more Houstonians than just about any other program. Besides that, it is fun.

THL: What HBA committees have you chaired?
Sorrels: I have chaired the Dispute Resolution Center and the Houston Lawyer Referral Service. I have chaired the Lawyers Against Waste Committee, the Golf Tournament, the Member Benefits Committee and the Audit Committee. I chaired the Harvest Party last year.

THL: What is your perspective on the role of the organized bar in society today?
Sorrels: First, I think the Houston Bar Association has to be a clearinghouse for the bar-related work done by lawyers in the community and for the profession. Second, the HBA should coordinate the professional and community efforts of lawyers so we do not duplicate efforts. We, as lawyers, need to make sure that we serve every segment of our community that needs our talents and attention. Number three, we need to promote our profession properly, so that our community as a whole knows the good work that we do.

THL: What do you see as the role of the bar president?
Sorrels: The bar president has to be a unifier. I think there is a perception that the Houston Bar Association is a big firm organization. And that perception, once you investigate the facts, is not true. The president needs to make sure that more of our 43 percent solo practitioners and small firm members are involved in bar activities. The president should work with the sections and committees to ensure the bar is relevant to as many members of the HBA as possible. And, the president needs to be a cheerleader for the bar, to promote the good works of the HBA in all communities in Houston.

THL: What are some of the things you would like to focus on during your administration?
Sorrels: To start with, the jury system and jury service. The jury system, I believe, is under attack by certain special interests in our society. I think our jury system is the best in the world, and recent efforts to alter that system are a mistake in the long run. As for jury service, we need to make sure we have a fair representation of our community show up for each and every jury trial in Harris County. I don’t think we have that right now. It’s not from lack of effort by Charles Bacarisse’s office – they’re making an excellent effort – but perhaps we can assist in that effort. We can do things that the government doesn’t have the ability to do, such as sending lawyers to talk to high school students in classrooms and adults at community centers, churches and other venues.
I also want to focus on getting more lawyers involved in pro bono legal services. Pro bono work is something really important for every lawyer to consider doing, even if they have only a few extra hours in the year. Pro bono cases can even be handled as a team. I know lawyers in firms of all sizes are pressured to bill hours, and there are only so many hours in the day. But only lawyers can provide legal services to the poor and that’s one of the obligations that we have in this profession, to respond to the needs of society.
I think the Houston Bar Association is a well-run machine. And just like any well-run machine, it may need tweaking from time to time, but no major overhaul is needed. We do need to get the word out to all lawyers about why it’s important for them to be an HBA member, and to give them the opportunity to participate in HBA activities.

THL: What do you think has changed most about the practice of law since you began practicing?
Sorrels: One big change in my field is that there are fewer opportunities for young lawyers to gain experience in jury trials. I think that we are doing a disservice to young trial lawyers on both sides of the docket by not providing them opportunities to get into the courthouse, take depositions, interview witnesses, talk to jurors and to judges. I understand several local firms are starting to recognize this, and are trying to put in place programs that allow for these opportunities.
One way to do that is to handle pro bono cases through the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. HVLP offers great opportunities for cases that put you in front of real judges and sometimes puts you in front of juries. There is a lot of pressure on many lawyers to keep up the billable time. We are trying to work with the firms to relax those pressures just a bit to allow their young lawyers to give back to the community.

THL: What do you like to do outside the practice of law?
Sorrels: I keep physically fit, and play golf. I work out with the Navy SEALS Program in Memorial Park Monday through Friday. This is a very intense and vigorous exercise program that is great for stress relief also. It is outside at 5:15 or 5:30, rain or shine, hot or cold. The program involves doing as many push ups, pull ups and sit ups as you could ever imagine doing. It is running at very rapid speeds to increase your heart rate and keep it up; it is pushing yourself beyond what you think you can do.

THL: How did you get involved with the program?
Sorrels: My wife, actually, and my law partner, David Matthews, went to the two week boot camp first. David felt the program would be a great team-building experience for our firm, so he recruited most of the lawyers in the firm to go through the program. It is very much a team-building experience. You have to go through a boot camp that is not only physically stressful, but mentally stressful, as well. The boot campers go from 5:00 until 6:30 in the morning. You have to complete that before you can join what they call the Navy SEALS Lifer Program. I have stayed with it and have been part of the Lifer Program for almost seven years. There are anywhere from 15 to 50 people out there every morning, depending on the day. It is a cross-section of the community. There are different levels of fitness, so if you are not as fit, you can work with others in that group.

THL: Do you have any other hobbies or interests outside the practice of law?
Sorrels: I try to coach all of my kids’ sports. All of them have played soccer. My oldest daughter has a short term goal of being a cheerleader at the University of Texas and a long term goal of being a lawyer. The middle daughter, Stephanie, is a good basketball player and has played in AAU basketball for a couple of years now. She wants to play in high school. The twins play basketball, soccer, baseball and softball. They are my first priority. My second hobby would be golf.

THL: Are you involved with other professional organizations or
community service organizations?
Sorrels: The Texas Trial Lawyers Associa-tion and the Houston Trial Lawyers Association are very dear to my heart. I served as president of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association in 2000, and I have served on the TTLA board for several years. I am very appreciative of the Houston Trial Lawyers and Texas Trial Lawyers for everything they have done to get me elected to the various positions I have held.
I have also been a trustee of the Texas Bar Foundation. That is a great organization that does a lot of good work. I am also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, which is an invitation-only group of plaintiffs and defense lawyers who advocate for the right to trial by jury. That is very consistent with what I am trying to focus on during this bar year.

THL: Are there any long term goals that you would like to see the association accomplish?
Sorrels: Starting with the Brown v. Board of Education program in 2003-2004, the HBA made an extraordinary effort to get out to the schools in our community. The schools I spoke to were very appreciative of us going out. This year, under the jury service program, we’re going to try to get out to as many high schools as possible. We are targeting high schoolers because at age 18 they can serve on a jury. We want them to show up for jury duty, willingly, without feeling coerced. I think that our bar does a whole lot of good when we get out into the schools. I am impressed with the lawyers who have volunteered their time to go out and talk to the students, and we have gotten good feedback, so I hope to see the HBA continue those programs.
Talking to students gives them exposure to lawyers, and maybe some of them will aspire to become lawyers. I have seen studies that people say they do not like lawyers in general, but they like their lawyer a lot. It is also interesting that in studies on what parents want their children to be when they grow up, lawyers are at the top of the category. It is still a very respected profession, something that parents hope their children can become a part of. There is a lot of pride in our profession. I want to help spread the word.

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