Rusty Hardin Featured in Texas Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Profile

Rusty Hardin, whose legal career continues to be one of the most interesting and successful in the nation, was profiled by Texas Lawyer as part of their series on the recipients of their 2015 Lifetime Achievement Awards(subscription required).

The profile here (subscription required) hits some of the highlights of  Hardin's career so far. It notes he spent 15 years as a prosecutor before starting his own law firm that handles both civil and criminal cases.

“I never had a Eureka moment that I was going to be trial lawyer,” Hardin told Texas Lawyer. “In fact, I'm surprised how much I enjoy practicing law.”

The article talked about how his  last trial before leaving for private practice was “very challenging. It was a capital case involving the death of a police officer.” It caused him to form Texas People Against Crime, an organization dedicated to addressing criminal justice issues from the perspective of both crime victims and law enforcement.

The profile mentions that Hardin was chief trial counsel for the Whitewater Independent Counsel's Office and includes an impressive list of his corporate and sports-related clients.

And no profile of Hardin is complete without discussing the Anna Nicole Smith case. Hardin told the legal newspaper that the jury started out on Smith's side.  “They believed that a 90-year-old man foolish enough to get with a woman her age deserved to lose. I had to get the jury to truly understand and empathize with the real victim, [Marshall II].” And, of course, he did just that.