Small-town guy turned big-time lawyer relishes time in the pines
For a man who can travel wherever he wants to go, fly in his private jet to any of his five homes in the United States or take his yacht to a favorite island getaway, it’s odd he would call Cass County, Texas, the “center of the universe.” But for Tony Buzbee, it is just that. “As a kid, I had the greatest time here— fishing, hunting, riding the back roads— every day was fun,” Buzbee said, from the porch of his Antioch Ranch cabin in Cass County, not far from where he grew up. “I was always wishing I could go places and do different things, but I never imagined just how much I would be able to do.”
To come from a rural town with a population of less than 2,000 to become one of the most successful attorney’s in the country takes drive, passion, tenacity and fortitude. Those who know Tony Buzbee agree he has all of those qualities and then some.
“I’ve been fortunate to have known Tony since we were kids in school at Queen City and we’ve stayed in touch over these many years,” said Bobby Robertson. “He’s still the same fun-loving guy I knew back then. He just has bigger and better toys now.”
He says Tony has a solid character, quick wit and a ferocious appetite for life.
“He had this drive and passion, coupled with a really big dose of confidence, as a child,” Robertson said. “These same traits remain with him today. I’m proud of my small town buddy’s accomplishments, and proud to have him as a friend.”
On this particular November weekend, Robertson flew from Missouri, where he now lives, to Atlanta, Texas, for Buzbee’s annual gathering of the “boys” the first weekend of deer season. The collection of friends he’s brought together span from his childhood in Queen City, his college days at Texas A&M University and the University of Houston Law School, his fellow Marines and fellow attorneys that work for him at The Buzbee Law Firm in Houston.
The first order of business for the guys is fixing the seat on a genuine Sherman tank that Buzbee bought for $600,000 in an auction held by a museum in France that was closing. Having it shipped from France to Houston cost almost as much as the tank itself. He had it brought to the ranch from his Houston home on River Oaks Boulevard, where it was the center of much attention and controversy.
“This tank rolled up on the beach at
Normandy. It’s a piece of history,” he said.
History didn’t seem to matter much to the River Oaks Homeowners Association, who claimed it was in violation of the Home Owners Association contract. “Nowhere in the contract does it state a tank cannot be parked on the street,” he said. During the few weeks it was there, many Houstonians came to see it and have their pictures taken with it, and local media had a field day.
So now, here it is in the piney woods of Cass County, surrounded by Buzbee and gang. They are fired up and looking forward to an evening of fun riding around in a tank. Several junked out cars were purchased and brought to the ranch just so they could run them over. But they have a problem. “We’ve got to raise the seat so I can see out,” Buzbee said.
That may sound like a man with too much money and time on his hands, but he has a bigger plan for his prize possession. “I’ll get all the fun I want out of it this weekend,” he said, “then I’m donating it to a military museum. I just haven’t decided which one yet.”
Leaving the problematic seat alone for the moment, the group takes a break and heads to the cabin just around the bend. There is an old car parked in front, riddled with bullet holes— no doubt the victim of Tony’s arsenal. Wafting through the air is the mouth-watering smell of a pork roasting on the smoker, and as the men gather on the front porch, it’s apparent they are used to waiting for Buzbee to complete interviews. Inside, he is settling into his favorite easy chair by the fire, a glass of whiskey in one hand and his signature La Gloria Cubana cigar in the other. So how did Buzbee go from country boy to unimaginable success as a trial lawyer? “However it happened, I fell into something I’m really good at and perfectly suited for,” he said.
Buzbee was the first in his family to attend college and graduated from Texas A&M in 1990, thanks to an NROTC scholarship. “Before I went to A&M, Cass County, to me, was the center of the universe,” he said. “As a cadet, I had to state my name and where I was from upon meeting another cadet. I would say ‘I’m Tony Buzbee from the center of the universe.’”
As a second lieutenant in the Marines, he immediately reported to Quantico, Va., for officer training and graduated with the number one leadership score in his class. From there he was sent to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, Calif. In 1994, Buzbee was platoon commander in the elite Recon Company of the 1st Marine Regiment and received leadership awards from the Marine Amphibious Reconnaissance Course and Navy Dive School.
During his stint in the Marines, he spent a lot of time on a Navy ship, and a lot of time reading.
“We had a communal library of books we all brought with us,” he said. “I found an LSAT Practice book, read it, and did really well on the practice tests. I made up my mind right then that I wanted to be a lawyer.”
He aced the LSAT and applied to the University of Houston Law Center because it was close to family. He became the managing editor of the Houston Law Review and was inducted into the Order of Barons, the Order of the Coif and Order of Barristers. It’s no surprise that he was the state and regional Mock Trial Champion. Of the 357 students in his class, Buzbee ranked second and graduated Summa Cum Laude.
Then Buzbee set out to be the conquer the world of law. After a year of being a briefing attorney for a federal district judge, he became a litigation attorney in 1998 at a Houston firm with branches throughout the U.S. Later, he decided he would rather seek justice for the injured.
“In 2001 I made $6 million and I was overwhelmed,” he said. “That was a real game changer. I didn’t go out and do what some of these lottery winners do, instead I bought real estate, saved a lot of it, and started my own practice.”
By chance, he had stumbled upon a fixed-wage scheme in the offshore drilling industry in the Gulf of Mexico that involved 15 companies and 60,000 employees. The total settlement was $75 million.
Three years in, he was doing quite well.
At 34, in 2002, he was the youngest attorney on the “Go To Guide” in Texas Lawyer. That same year he was named a top 5 attorney in the state in the field of complex, commercial litigation.
Over the next several years, he successfully represented many types of personal injury cases, not only in Texas but all over the country, and overseas as well. He even successfully represented Jimmy Buffett in a trademark infringement case. In 2012, he successfully represented 10 boys in a sexual abuse case. But it was his knowledge of the drilling and refinery industry, and his successful litigation against that industry, that put him in the national spotlight.
“Not everyone filing a personal injury case is after the big bucks,” he said. “I had an offshore client—a worker—who told me he had been injured offshore and just wanted to go to the doctor for treatment so he could go back to work, but couldn’t afford it. It was the company’s responsibility to pay that bill.”
He took on some refineries in South Texas with “major safety, health and emissions violations.” He won substantial damages for workers there and the plant closed. “If you get in a Gulf Coast drilling accident and want to sue the hell out of Transocean, Tony Buzbee is your go-to guy,” wrote Gus Lubin of businessinsider. com in 2010. “Mr. Buzbee is a big, mean, ambitious, tenacious, fire-breathing Texas trial lawyer. Really big. Poster boy big,” exclaimed the New York Times in 2013. Besides his many high profile cases, Buzbee is currently representing a group of Houston homeowners whose homes were purposely flooded during Hurricane Harvey this year, as well as the survivors and families of the Las Vegas shooting.
Buzbee claims his favorite case was representing Texas Gov. Rick Perry when he was indicted for abuse of his veto power, which ended in dismissal.
“I first met Rick when I was hired to coach him for his presidential campaign debates, so it wasn’t a surprise he called me when this came up. I had the most fun of any other case I’ve worked on,” he said. “But it was very frustrating because I had no experience in criminal law and the appellate court procedures. It really opened both of our eyes to how difficult the criminal court system is to maneuver and what changes need to take place.”
But Anthony G. Buzbee is about a lot more than being a lawyer. He is also on the Texas A&M Board of Regents and the Buzbee Leadership Learning Center, the first construction on the Quad in 73 years, is named in his honor. In the Houston area, he is on the Board of Directors at the Jesse Tree charity, and has also given support to the Star of Hope Mission for the Homeless, Meals on Wheels, as well as others. He made his contribution to Red Cross known during the recent flood and challenged others to help with the hurricane relief effort.
He has been on the covers of both Texas Monthly and the New York Times magazine and appeared on several national news programs. A biography, “Defining Moments” has been written by author Michael Lee Lanning. Buzbee’s office is on the 73rd floor of the JP Chase Morgan building in downtown Houston.
In 2016, he hosted a fundraising dinner for Donald Trump in his Houston home and calls the president “Trumpy.” Each year he hosts a large Christmas party with entertainment that has included Lyle Lovett, Hank Williams Jr., Penn and Teller, and Snoop Dogg. He has traveled all over the world, taking his four children on adventures most kids only dream of.
“I love to travel, and see it as part of my ongoing education,” he said. “We have RV’d all over this country; there is still a lot I’d like to see. As far as the next big adventure—I want to explore the Vietnam Mekong Delta on riverboat. My kids want Austria or Belgium.” Those kids, Liz, Anthony Jr., Flower and Rob, are the prolific stars of Tony’s popular Facebook page. “I’m happiest with my kids. That’s when I feel most grounded,” he said. “Liz and Rob are most like me. They are the adventurers.”
The two oldest are both enrolled at the University of Southern California, where Buzbee owns a nearby home. When asked about his dad, Anthony Jr. said, “I think it’s really inspiring that he built his entire business and fortune from literally the ground up by working hard. Really shows you that anybody can achieve their goals through hard work.”
Buzbee learned about hard work from his dad, Gene Buzbee, who was a meat cutter for Safeway for 37 years before retiring. His mother, Patti Cash Buzbee, worked in the Queen City High School cafeteria and is now employed by her son.
“I’ve watched him grow and accomplish so much since 2001. He’s still Anthony, full of mischief, always doing fun things,” she said. “He is dedicated to his kids, they are very close and I enjoy watching them interact. He is a great son, very caring and he always does things for the less fortunate that you never hear about. And family is important to him. He hosts Thanksgiving each year at his ranch so we spend time together. I am very proud of him. I don’t think there is anything he can’t do if he decides to do so.”
As for Facebook, Buzbee not only uses it to show off his kids but he enjoys taking his friends to places they may not get to go. He’s been accused of bragging but says it’s more like “hey ya’ll, look at this.” In the weeks after this interview, he “took” his Facebook friends to Christi’s Auction House in New York City, where he bought several pieces of art, including an original Monet; then it was off to his newest home in Montana to do a little skiing.
Facebook has also been used as a tool by Buzbee to stir up controversy over topics he is passionate about. In September, he posted a rant that called for the firing of Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin. He took a lot of backlash over it, as he is on the Board of Regents, but says he doesn’t care.
“I’ve got another 25-30 years to live, and I’m not concerned with what people think about me. I’m going to enjoy those years,” Buzbee stated. “Just like my Facebook post about Sumlin. I have a right to state my opinion, just like everyone else. It may not be popular, but I’m okay with that.”
But in the moment, in his easy chair with a good cigar, good friends on the porch and a hog on the fire, there is no controversy, just contentment. Tony Buzbee is a country boy in his element, smack dab in the center of the universe.