(October 22, 2006)—Houston trial lawyer John O’Quinn has won billions of dollars from Big Oil, Big Tobacco and Big Implants.

He made headlines recently for contributing $1 million to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell's campaign followed by a loan offer $1.5 million.

Governor, Candidate Information

Gov. Rick Perry's campaign referred indirectly to O'Quinn as a shark and called him a "scandal plagued trial lawyer" and a "trial lawyer sugar daddy."

O'Quinn did not return several calls from The Associated Press for comment, but he told the Houston Chronicle earlier this month that the Perry campaign's criticisms of him refer to problems he had during his years of alcoholism.

O'Quinn made his money taking on wealthy corporations including those in big energy and the tobacco industry.

And though Bell's opponents have also accepted large donations, O'Quinn's donations drew hostility both because of their size and because of his personal history.

The Louisiana native was raised in Houston and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston's law school in 1967.

O'Quinn's first big win came in 1986, when a jury found that Monsanto had negligently exposed an employee to benzene at its Chocolate Bayou Plant and ordered the company to pay $100 million.

The award was later vacated and the case settled out of court, but O'Quinn's fame was cemented.

By 1992, he began a long and profitable run of silicone breast implant lawsuits, but he's also faced legal problems, threats of disbarment and lawsuits.

Stories of his drinking were common throughout the 1990s, and O'Quinn has acknowledged at least one 90-day stay at the Menninger Clinic in Kansas in 1998 to treat a drinking problem.

O'Quinn said he has now been sober for seven years.

More News >>Sports >> Weather >>