Joseph Dahr Jamail Jr. (October 19, 1925 – December 23, 2015) was an American attorney and billionaire. The wealthiest practicing attorney in America, he was frequently referred to as the "King of Torts". In 2011, his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $1.5 billion, making him the 833rd richest person in the world. In 2014, the year before his death, Forbes estimated his net worth at $1.7 billion, making him the 373rd richest person in America. Jamail died on December 23, 2015 in Houston from complications related to pneumonia. Early life and education Jamail was born to a Lebanese family. He was a graduate of St. Thomas High School in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin (UT) for one semester before joining the United States Marine Corps in 1943. After serving in the Pacific during World War II, Jamail returned to UT, where he received his B.A. in 1950 and The University of Texas School of Law where he received his J.D. in 1953. In 1986 The University of Texas School of Law created the Joseph D. Jamail Centennial Chair in Law and Advocacy in his honor. His son is also a practicing lawyer in Texas. Career In 1985, Jamail represented Pennzoil, whose CEO Hugh Liedtke was Jamail's close friend, in a lawsuit against Texaco. Pennzoil won the case and his contingency fee was $335 million. Jamail was known for his passionate, aggressive, sometimes abrasive advocacy on behalf of his clients; a tendency that has been noted in the National Law Journal, by the Delaware Supreme Court as well as other sources. On its own motion, having reviewed deposition transcripts in the Paramount case, the Delaware Supreme Court wrote that "Mr. Jamail abused the privilege of representing a witness in a Delaware proceeding, in that he: (a) improperly directed the witness not to answer certain questions; (b) was extraordinarily rude, uncivil, and vulgar; and (c) obstructed the ability of the questioner to elicit testimony to assist the Court . . . ." One of Jamail's statements that the court pointed to, in the deposition transcript, was Jamail's statement to deposing counsel that "you could gag a maggot off a meatwagon." The court included its admonition of Jamail in an Addendum to its opinion "as a lesson for the future—a lesson of conduct not to be tolerated or repeated." In April 2006, a particularly sharp