Robert G. Newman
Of Counsel
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
Bob Newman is respected for his work in legal ethics. He served as chairman of the Professional Responsibility Committee for approximately 20 years. He was co-chair of the Toxic Tort, Mass Tort and Environmental Practice Group from 1999 through 2010.
Bob joined the firm in 1985, was a partner in the firm from January 1, 1993, until December 31, 2014. He is currently Of Counsel in the San Antonio location. His practice concentrates on general litigation involving toxic tort, legal malpractice defense, general banking and lender liability, general product liability and antitrust. He also has experience with multiple jury trials in single plaintiff personal injury trials, as well as commercial, banking and real estate disputes.
From 1994 to 1996, he served as a special prosecutor for the State Bar of Texas in a disbarment trial.
Bob offers over 30 years of experienced counsel to clients from numerous industries and helps them in conflict resolution times and in avoiding future conflicts.
Professional experience
Collapse allJD, St. Mary's University, 1983
BS, History and Political Science, Southwest Texas State University, 1980
While in law school, Bob was a notes and comment editor of St. Mary's Law Journal. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable George P. Kazen in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Bob was admitted to practice law in Texas in 1983. He is also admitted into the Texas Supreme Court, Federal District Courts for the Southern, Western, Eastern and Northern Districts of Texas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.
- Texas State Bar
His significant cases include:
Toxic Tort:
- Served as lead counsel for 7 major oil and chemical companies in litigation brought by 2,220 construction workers alleging toxic exposure; obtained summary judgment against a select group of 20 trial plaintiffs in a six-day Havner/Daubert hearing and, following the hearing, subsequently obtained summary judgments against all the remaining 2,000 plaintiffs and 8,000 family members
- Serving as lead counsel for several chemical distributors in a Hidalgo County, Texas, suit by 450 employees alleging toxic exposure in an o-ring factory; Argued series of mandamus concerning pretrial procedure in mass tort case
- Served as lead counsel in a case involving allegations of toxic exposure by more than 150 civilian employees of an army depot against more than 80 companies, 24 of which were represented by Fulbright; case settled after entry of a Lone Pine Order which plaintiffs were unsuccessful in getting overturned; settlement for all 24 clients amounted to less than what was initially sought by the plaintiffs for a single defendant
- Served as co-counsel representing a chemical manufacturer where 57 plaintiffs sued various manufacturers of Agent Orange after opting out of the New York class action; United States District Court granted summary judgment based on government contractor defense, which was affirmed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Served as co-counsel representing multiple asbestos product manufacturers in a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals before the Supreme Court of the United States; appeal case involved the issue of multiple plaintiff cases involving personal injury and death resulting from exposure to asbestos products
Class-Action:
- Served as lead counsel representing a broadcasting company in a nationwide class action alleging violation of securities fraud statutes and ERISA; class certification was denied, and the case was subsequently dismissed via summary judgment
- Lead counsel in civil action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division; nationwide antitrust class action alleging price fixing conspiracy between all motion picture studios and Blockbuster; class certification denied
- Lead counsel in statewide class action involving allegations of wrongful destruction of radiographic films of minors; case dismissed by Plaintiffs prior to class certification hearing after full class discovery and briefing
- Lead counsel in statewide class involving alleged violations of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; case dismissed
- Co-counsel in statewide class involving allegations of defective siding on mobile homes; case dismissed by Plaintiffs after full discovery and briefing on class issues two days before evidentiary hearing; no settlement payment by clients
Complex Commercial Litigation:
- Lead counsel for a municipality in a case involving an $89 million claim by the plaintiff for a breach of contract; case stemmed from a tax increment reinvestment zone granted to the plaintiff in 2005 and was dismissed by the district court and appealed to the Court of Appeals; Court of Appeals affirmed the decision by the district court
- Served as lead counsel for Bexar County, Texas, in a suit alleging breach of contract with the voters relating to the construction of the municipal auditorium on a bond issuance in excess of $100 million
- Lead counsel for bank in federal complaint invoking the Texas version of the Uniform Foreign Country Money Judgment Recognition Act
- Served as lead counsel in lender liability suit for misrepresentation, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty related to the construction of a medical facility
- Served as lead counsel in bond issuance dispute of over $32 million for VIA Metropolitan Transit Advanced Transportation District
Fiduciary:
- Lead counsel for an educational institution in a series of cases concerning fiduciary obligation of executor of estate and application of generation skipping tax to bequest in Bexar County, Texas
- Lead counsel for maternal grandparents, Executor and Trustee, in fiduciary issues relating to adoption, grandparent rights, and use and disposition of trust assets in Bexar County, Texas
- Lead counsel for fiduciary in dispute with residual trustee concerning interpretation of trust containing assets for large research institute in Bexar County, Texas
- Lead counsel for an educational institution in will contest with educational institution as residual beneficiary in will contest with relative of deceased, who attempted to probate will allegedly executed by person without testamentary capacity in Bexar County, Texas
- Served as lead counsel in suit contending breach of fiduciary duty by research institute based upon 60-year-old documents
- Texas Top Rated Lawyer, LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, 2012 - 2014
- Lawyer of the Year, San Antonio: litigation - banking and finance, Best Lawyers, 2015
- Lawyer of the Year, San Antonio: litigation, antitrust, Best Lawyers, 2014, 2017, 2022
- The Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers, 2005 - 2021
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation - Antitrust "Lawyer of the Year" San Antonio, Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Banking and Finance, Environmental, Trusts and Estates, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Action - Defendants, Best Lawyers, 2017-2018, 2021, 2022
- Lawyer of the Year, San Antonio: Litigation – Banking and Finance, Best Lawyers, 2015, 2024
- Lawyer of the Year, San Antonio: Litigation - Antitrust, Best Lawyers, 2015, 2017, 2022
- The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, Best Lawyers, 2006 - 2025
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Antitrust, Best Lawyers, 2011 - 2025
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Banking and Finance, Best Lawyers, 2011 - 2025
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Environmental, Best Lawyers, 2011 - 2025
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Trusts and Estates, Best Lawyers, 2011 - 2025
- The Best Lawyers in America, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Best Lawyers, 2013 - 2025
- Best Lawyers in Texas, Best Lawyers, 2009, 2020
- Best Lawyers in Texas, Antitrust, Best Lawyers, 2016
- Who's Who Legal, finance and business, Law Business Research Ltd., 2008 - 2009
- Texas Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, Thomson Reuters, 2005 - 2019
- Legal 500 US, recommended lawyer, Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions, The Legal 500, 2015
- Best S.A. Lawyers, San Antonio Scene, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021
- Co-authored with Lisa Horvath Shub, "In Defense of Lone Pine: Using Case Management Orders in Exposure Cases," LJN's Product Liability Law & Strategy, February 2002
- "Toxic Tort Cases and the Learned Intermediary Defense," Texas Lawyer, November 2000
- Editor, A.B.A. Appellate Practice Committee Circuit Court Newsletter, 1984 through December, 2001
- "Fifth Circuit Pretrial Practice Guide - Chapter 17 Sanctions," Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, 1996
- "A Review of Ethics Opinions," 19th Annual Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, August 7, 2003
- "Ethics: Documents, Discovery and Ethical Obligations," DRI Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Seminar, March 19, 2003
- "United We Stand, Divided We Fall," Ethical Issues Involving Joint Defense and Mass Tort Litigation - DRI Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Seminar, March 2001
- "New Issues/Developments in Texas Toxic Tort Litigation," CMA Annual Meeting, November 1998
- "Federal Pretrial Discovery," St. Mary's Law School, Fall Semesters, 1993 - 1998
- "Lone Pine Relief," CMA Annual Meeting, February 1997
- Evidentiary Lecturer, Judicial College of the State of Texas, Spring 1994
- American Bar Association, Litigation Section
- American Law Institute, elected member (2008)
- State Bar of Texas
- San Antonio Bar Association
- State Bar Commission for Lawyer Discipline, Special Prosecutor (1994 - 1997)
- Defense Research Institute, Toxic Tort, Attorney Ethics Issues
- ABA TIPS
- Professionalism Committee, Past Member
- Women and Minority Involvement Committee, Past Member