Houston lawyer who won pioneering breast implant, tobacco verdicts dies in vehicle crash

Lawyer in landmark breast implant lawsuits dies

HOUSTON — John O’Quinn, a lawyer who won billions in verdicts against makers of breast implants and tobacco products, has died. He was 68.

O’Quinn and his passenger were killed Thursday when the sport-utility vehicle O’Quinn was driving crashed near downtown Houston. His law firm said his personal assistant, 56-year-old Johnny Cutliff of Houston, was his passenger.

O’Quinn was one of five lawyers who shared a $3.3 billion fee for helping the state of Texas settle its lawsuit against the tobacco industry.

By 1992, he began a long run of silicone breast-implant lawsuits with a $25 million verdict against Bristol-Myers Squibb. O’Quinn said he took in $3 billion from more than 3,000 breast-implant cases between 1992 and 2000.