Andrew McKinney began his career as an attorney with the law firm of Bean & Manning in Houston, Texas in 1980. While at Bean & Manning, Mr. McKinney developed a general civil litigation practice that focused primarily on toxic torts, products liability and dignatorial torts (defamation, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution). Mr. McKinney became a partner of that firm in 1986. He was a partner at Bean & Manning until 1990, when he joined the firm of Phillips & Akers, P.C. as a shareholder.

While at Phillips & Akers, Mr. McKinney expanded his practice to include commercial matters and construction related litigation. By 1994, Kim Cooper, a graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, joined Phillips & Akers and worked for Mr. McKinney as an associate. Ms. Cooper's proficiency at legal research and writing combined with her acute ability to manage the pretrial demands and daily progress of Mr. McKinney's litigation files complimented Mr. McKinney's extensive trial docket. As a result of this merger, these two attorneys cultivated a thriving civil litigation and appellate practice that today encompasses a wide variety of cases, many of which can be classified as complex, large loss multi-party lawsuits.

At the end of 1999, Mr. McKinney and Ms. Cooper announced their departure from Phillips & Akers and founded McKinney & Cooper, L.L.P. Their intent was, and remains, the formation of a law firm that provides its clients with high quality, aggressive and cost-effective legal services as well as the personal attention that all clients need and deserve. The effectiveness of the firm's philosophy and its commitment to excellence is reflected not only in the quality of work performed on each individual case, but also in the success rate of its cases taken to trial. By way of explanation, in the first 20 years of his practice, Mr. McKinney has prevailed in over 65 fully litigated cases (i.e., by jury verdict or appellate decision). Additionally, in cases involving problematical fact patterns or difficult jurisdictions, Mr. McKinney has either substantially undercut the pre-trial demand or obtained a reversal on appeal (with major assistance from Ms. Cooper). In the remainder of his trials, his clients have paid judgments greater than the settlement demand in only three of more than fifty jury trials. Furthermore, Mr. McKinney and Ms. Cooper have been retained as appellate counsel in a variety of cases achieving favorable results in more than three quarters of their cases.

It is this firm's philosophy that an aggressive trial posture, meaning a willingness and enthusiasm for trials to verdict, is almost always in the client's best interest. Companies that go to trial command the respect of the plaintiff's bar. By maintaining a consistently aggressive attitude toward resisting non-meritorious claims, companies drive down the cost of settlements, even in cases where liability is of some concern. To achieve this goal, the client must select an attorney who is genuinely willing to try cases and who will not use his or her influence and position with the client to promote settlement as a means of avoiding the stress and hard work of trial. McKinney & Cooper, L.L.P. is a litigation firm that is dedicated to providing its clients with the best defense. It will vigorously pursue cases to verdict, whenever such a course is in the client's best interests.

Clients need to know relatively early in a lawsuit certain information that will dictate how the case should be pursued. For example, because Texas has its fair share of "problem" counties and judges, the venue and the predisposition of the presiding judge often have a huge effect on the decision to try or settle a case. Additionally, a fair determination of the plaintiff's injuries and damages will allow the client to analyze whether settlement will be cost-effective. McKinney & Cooper, L.L.P. prides itself on timely providing its clients with this and other up-to-date information that will afford them the ability to make fully informed decisions on whether to attempt an early settlement, to prepare the case for trial or how to proceed with its defense if the case is one that should be taken to verdict.

It is our philosophy at McKinney & Cooper, L.L.P. that it is a misapplication of the client's resources to spend more than is reasonably necessary to dispose of cases in the way that most benefits our clients. Clients of McKinney & Cooper will never find themselves funding a full and aggressive defense only to be told on the eve of trial that settlement of the case is recommended. We continually monitor cases to ensure that if settlement is advisable, our clients know the relevant facts at the earliest possible time.

Once the decision to proceed to trial is made, however, the client is consulted on all discretionary legal services where the fee for a given service is estimated to exceed a predetermined amount. In that fashion, even if a particularly hard fought battle generates a significant fee in the aggregate, at McKinney & Cooper, L.L.P., the client retains the right to select which services are justified by the exposure inherent in a particular case. It is this firm's practice to explain the downside and the advantages of a given tactic, discuss the estimated cost, make a recommendation and let the client decide how it prefers to proceed.

Any attorney can settle a lawsuit, but it takes an experienced trial lawyer to take a case to verdict. The selection of trial counsel is the most important decision a client makes. It is no secret that an experienced plaintiff's attorney can often tell if a case will settle and for roughly what amount based on the attorney selected to defend the case. The client's selection of McKinney & Cooper, L.L.P. lets the experienced plaintiff's attorney know that:

1. vexatious and oppressive discovery will be resisted vigorously and effectively;
2. his or her case will be fully examined and challenged on every legal and factual basis justified by the evidence;
3. if the client ever offers an amount in settlement followed by a refusal to negotiate further, the plaintiff must either settle at the client's price or face a trial to verdict;
4. the plaintiff cannot depend on defense counsel to panic at the last minute and advise his or her client to settle the case; and
5. in the unlikely but always possible event that the plaintiff prevails, the trial record will be properly protected and an effective appeal will be prosecuted.

When an economically acceptable settlement cannot be had or when the client desires, for whatever reason, a judicial resolution of a case, McKinney & Cooper, L.L.P. guarantees its clients the "trial option." This means that appropriate discovery, reasonable and necessary legal research on unusual or novel questions of law, justified motion practice and informed case analysis will be effectively utilized so that a first-class trial effort and a record protected for appeal is guaranteed.

McKinney & Cooper is fully networked and has internet access, including e-mail, for easy and efficient client communication. The firm also has a complete law library with unlimited on-line legal research capabilities at no charge to the client.

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