P. M. BRIEFING : Texas Lawyer Nation’s Highest Paid
A Houston lawyer best known for representing Pennzoil in its marathon court battle with Texaco was the nation’s highest-paid lawyer in 1988, making between $450 million and $600 million, according to a Forbes Magazine survey released today.
Joseph Jamail headed the list of 134 highest-paid lawyers in the country who together made an imposing $860 million in 1988. The only people consistently making as much money as trial lawyers in America are entertainers and Wall Street money men, the magazine said.
The top money-earners included 63 trial lawyers and 71 corporate attorneys. The trial lawyers averaged eight times as much money as the corporate lawyers, who earned an estimated $110 million. Joseph Flom, 66, senior partner at New York’s Skadden, Arps, Meagher and Flom, earned an estimated $5 million in 1988, making him the highest-paid corporate lawyer in America.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
