Houston Attorney Receives Award Named for Famed Attorney Melvin Belli

Howard L. Nations Law Firm, P.C., announced that Houston Attorney, Howard L. Nations, received the Mel Award at the Pan Pacific Vancouver Crystal Pavilion, Vancouver, Canada, July 09, 2010. The Mel Award, named for famed attorney Melvin Belli, is given to attorneys who have demonstrated conviction in their work and exceptional courage in the face of adversity. The award is given out every year by The Melvin Belli Society.

Howard Nations is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization as both a personal injury trial lawyer and a civil trial lawyer. He is board certified on the national level as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocates, and is certified as a Diplomate of Trial Advocacy by the National College of Advocacy. Mr. Nations received his law degree from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor of arts degree from Florida State University. His career has been acknowledged with listings in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Industry.

As a leader of the trial bar, Mr. Nations serves as President of The Aletheia Institute. He served on the Executive Committee and as an officer of the American Association for Justice from July 1990-1995, serving as Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. He is a Past-President of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Past-President of the Southern Trial Lawyers Association, Past President of the Belli Society and Trustee of the American Jury Foundation.

Mr. Nations has a national pharmaceutical litigation firm which specializes in representation of plaintiffs in pharmaceutical mass torts cases such as Ortho Evra birth control patch, gadolinium contrast dye, and Seroquel antipsychotic medication. He was recently lead counsel in round three of the Zyprexa MDL litigation in the Eastern District of New York; is currently on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee of the gadolinium contrast dye MDL litigation in Cleveland, Ohio and will serve as co-trial counsel in the Ortho-Evra MDL litigation in Ohio. Mr Nations represents more than 2,850 plaintiffs in Seroquel cases with filings in the MDL in Orlando, Florida and in state court in New York.

During his forty-four years of trial practice he has tried cases in the areas of product liability, wrongful death, medical malpractice, real estate fraud, insurance bad faith, will contests, breach of contract, child custody, divorce, criminal defense and a variety of personal injury and workers' compensation cases, both from the plaintiffs' and defendants' side of the docket.

After forty years of legal lecturing, and as founder and former Chair of the American Association for Justice National College of Advocacy, Mr. Nations is one of the most sought after legal speakers in America, having spoken in each of the 50 states, England, Mexico, Scotland, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Aruba, Columbia, Panama, Tahiti and 6 Canadian provinces. Howard taught law for twenty- five years as a member of the adjunct faculty at South Texas College of Law. He has also published numerous legal articles, CLE papers and legal publications.