A PROFILE IN PROFESSIONALISM

Joe H. Reynolds Schwartz, Junell, Greenberg & Oathout, L.L.P.

I have spent my entire career, going back to 1947, as a litigator. As a young lawyer, I had the privilege of litigating against the greatest and most noble of Houston lawyers. Despite my age and inexperience, those great men treated me with respect and taught me that my word was my bond, and that that was the cardinal rule for every true litigator. So my plea to all members of the Houston Bar Association, and especially to the litigation bar, is that they make a real effort to maintain courtesy and respect for the courtroom and the profession.

That will take the dedication and the resolve of every trial lawyer. One bad apple can ruin and destroy this crusade. My rules for achieving success are very personal in nature.

Rule 1: Let your word be your bond.

Rule 2: The lawyer on the other side is neither your enemy nor your client’s enemy. He or she is a lawyer doing a job.

Rule 3: Delaying tactics, especially in the discovery process, never aid your cause of justice but cause courts and juries to question your motives.

Rule 4: Let bringing justice and enjoying the courtroom be your goals.

Military History

In 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Joe H. Reynolds volunteered for the United States Marine Corps at the age of 20. He graduated in 1944 from officers school at Quantico and was deployed as a second lieutenant to the Battle of Guam. In February 1945, Reynolds was attached to the Marine battalion charged with capturing the first and second airstrips on Iwo Jima, where he watched as the U.S. flag was raised atop the summit of Mt. Suribachi. Reynolds’ company suffered a near 90 percent casualty rate; he took significant shrapnel in both legs, but fought on until the battle for Iwo Jima was won.

After World War II, Reynolds went to law school at Baylor University and became a successful trial lawyer. On August 12, 1950, he was called back into active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. Three weeks later, Reynolds stormed ashore in Korea at the Battle of Inchon. In October, Reynolds and his troops were ordered to invade North Korea, and to capture the power plant at the south end of the Chosin Reservoir. On Thanksgiving Day 1950, China entered the Korean War and encircled 12,000 Marines with 100,000 troops. For three weeks, Reynolds and his fellow Marines fought the encirclement in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero. By the time they reached safety, Reynolds was seriously injured, had severe frostbite on both feet, and was told he might never walk again. He spent a full year in recovery.

The Commandant General of the Marine Corps has described the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir as two of the fiercest battles ever fought by the Marines. There are no more than three living Marines who fought in both battles. Joe H. Reynolds is one of them.