Appreciation

Legendary Houston attorney Joe Jamail is remembered for his generosity and salty wit

Bill Hobby, from left, Joe Jamail, Herb Kelleher and Rodney Ellis at the Bill Hobby Roast January 2015

Joe Jamail, second from left, cracked up the audience at a roast for former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, left, in January. Southwest Airlines Herb Kelleher and State Sen. Rodey Ellis also took part.

Photo by © Kim Coffman

Legendary Houston attorney Joe Jamail, whose courtroom prowess made him a billionaire and whose generosity helped transform his beloved alma mater the University of Texas at Austin, died Wednesday morning from complications of pneumonia, according to news reports.

He was 90 years old.

Known as the "King of Torts," Jamail was best known for representing Pennzoil in a bitter lawsuit against Texaco. He won a colossal $10.5 billion judgment in 1985 when a jury found that Texaco had interfered with Pennzoil's plans to acquire Getty Oil. Jamail's contingency fee was a reported $335 million.

The Houston native was a graduate of St. Thomas High School and received his BA at The University of Texas at Austin in 1950 and his JD from the University of Texas School of Law in 1953.

He was regularly on the Forbes list of richest Americans, ranking No. 368 on last year's list with an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion.

Jamail's generosity was renown. With his late wife Lee, he established the Lee and Joseph D. Jamail Foundation in 1986, through which he gave more than $250 million to education, medical research and the performing arts. In 2013, Baylor College of Medicine named its outpatient clinic the Lee and Joe Jamail Specialty Care Center in honor of the couple. In 2008, the $2.7 million Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark opened near downtown Houston.

He gave millions to UT Austin. The football field at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium is named Joe Jamail Field in his honor, and so is the Joseph D. Jamail, Jr. Pavilion at The University of Texas School of Law. The Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center is named for him and his wife and two statues were erected on the campus in his honor.

"I don't think The University of Texas has ever had a better friend than Joe Jamail," former University of Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds told BurntOrangeNation.com. "When something needed to get done on campus, you could count on him to help. Joe wasn't a guy wanting to give advice or get his way; he just wanted to know what he could do to be part of the solution. "

In a January article, Texas Monthly called Jamail "The Greatest Lawyer Who Ever Lived," and prefaced the story with this legal disclaimer: " 'Salty language' doesn’t begin to describe the words Jamail uses in this piece. If you read on, which we recommend, and find yourself offended, you will have no appeal."

Funeral arrangements are pending.

deaths

family values

Houston ranks as 7th most affordable U.S. metro for raising a child

©iStock.com/PeopleImages

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Raising a child is not an easy or inexpensive feat, but a new study has determined Houston parents have the 7th lowest childrearing costs in the country.

SmartAsset's latest report, "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2026 Study," calculated year-over-year changes in the annual cost of raising a child (factoring in childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs and other necessities) in the 48 largest U.S. metro areas. MIT's Living Wage Calculator was used to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to that of a childless household with two working adults.

Childrearing costs in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands have grown 3.37 percent since last year, totaling $22,605 for a family of three in 2026. That's only $737 more than what it took to raise a child in 2025, and it's $1,209 higher than what it took in 2024.

This is how SmartAsset broke down the annual cost for raising a child in the Houston area:

Cost of childcare: $10,265
Cost of food: $1,721
Other expenses: $10,619

Houston ranked 42nd in SmartAsset's national list of cities with the highest childrearing costs in 2026, making it the No. 7 most affordable U.S. metro.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont in California topped the list with the highest childrearing costs in the U.S., at $43,171. The cost for raising a child in this California metro soared nearly 11 percent higher since last year.

Memphis, Tennessee ranked dead last as the most affordable U.S. metro for raising a child in 2026. Families will spend less than $20,000 to raise a child in Memphis, only 3.24 percent more than what was needed in 2025.

Raising a child in other Texas metros
It may come as no surprise that Austin is the most expensive place to raise a child in Texas, and it appeared as the 31st most expensive U.S. metro for families. Parents will spend nearly $25,000 to raise a child in the state's capital city, which is $703 higher than it was a year ago.

Two other Texas metros join Houston among the top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a family: San Antonio-New Braunfels (No. 3) and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (No. 10). Childrearing costs in San Antonio add up to $21,393 annually, and Dallas-Fort Worth parents will spend $23,340 to raise their children in 2026.

The top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Memphis, Tennessee ($19,922)
No. 2 – Nashville, Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee ($21,216)
No. 3 – San Antonio-New Braunfels ($21,393)
No. 4 – Birmingham, Alabama ($21,684)
No. 5 – Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Virginia ($22,314)
No. 6 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia ($22,470)
No. 7 – Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ($22,605)
No. 8 – Richmond, Virginia ($22,658)
No. 9 – Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky ($23,270)
No. 10 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ($23,340)

family smartasset reports livability houston pasadena the woodlands