The Heart of Bexar County

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The firm is headed by Mikal C. Watts and Francisco “Frank” Guerra, IV. A native of Corpus Christi, Watts earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas in 1987, receiving a bachelor of arts with high honors after only two years of study. He then graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law at the age of twenty-one. After working as a briefing attorney for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, Watts became a partner in a Corpus Christi law firm before establishing his own firm in 1997. In 2002, Watts joined forces with Frank Guerra to form Watts Guerra LLP to handle catastrophic personal injury, toxic torts, product liability, automotive defects, refinery negligence, commercial trucking negligence, medical device, pharmaceutical and commercial litigation. Guerra, who serves as managing partner in the San Antonio office, received his bachelor of ats from Texas A&M University, where he served as commander of Squadron 15 and was the first Hispanic commander of the elite Ross Volunteer Company. He then attended the University of Texas School of Law, where he received his doctor of jurisprudence. During law school, Guerra served as Intern to Justice John Cornyn of the Supreme Court of Texas. He also served as an Intern to the late professor Charles Alan Wright, considered the foremost authority in the U.S. on Constitutional law and federal procedure. Guerra has served on the Malpractice, Premises & Products Pattern Jury Charge Committee for the State Bar of Texas. Since joining Watts, he has litigated, tried and arbitrated cases throughout the nation. Watts Guerra is composed of a team of skilled attorneys with a devotion to personal attention and a commitment to achieving the highest levels of service. The firm has strength in numbers and in talent and the results speak for themselves. Watts Guerra’s resources are larger than most firms, enabling them to invest tens of millions of dollars at once to battle the largest corporations in the world. Watts works for its clients, employing the best experts and using the most up-to-date technology available. The firm even employs full-time pilots to fly private planes on a moment’s notice, enabling its lawyers to meet quickly with clients and travel easily to depositions, mediations and trials across the country. The lawyers of Watts Guerra LLP have beaten the largest and most powerful corporations in America, yielding substantial verdicts and settlements and more importantly, greater consumer safety for everyone. For more information, consult the firm’s website at wattsguerra.com. U n d e r w r i t e r s F 9 1
GUNN, LEE & CAVE, P.C. G Left: Ted Lee. Right: John C. Cave. The law firm of Gunn, Lee & Cave has deep ties to San Antonio and is focused on protecting proprietary thinking, inventions, works and trade secrets. Reflecting the company motto, “Your Ideas Are Our Specialty,” each attorney is an expert in both acquiring and litigating intellectual property, including post grant proceedings. Ted Lee, a graduate of Notre Dame Law School, began his career as a patent agent for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, working on the Saturn Apollo program. Some of the early patent applications prosecuted by Lee were used in putting a man on the moon. Before moving to San Antonio in 1973 and establishing a private practice, Lee served as a JAG officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. On April 1, 1977 Ted Lee and Don Gunn established the firm of Gunn & Lee. Lee headed the office in San Antonio and Gunn was in charge of an office in Houston. The firm, which has always specialized in intellectual property, grew rapidly and soon employed about 12 attorneys in each office. The Houston office closed after Gunn passed away in 1999. John Cave joined the firm in 2000. John Cave, a San Antonio native, received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University and his law degree from Texas Tech University. During his engineering career, Cave assisted in the development of a computer program to calculate stresses in various components of an aircraft and was involved in the design of pumps and gas compressors for various applications in the oil fields. This background gave Cave a deep understanding of the importance of intellectual property. The firm’s reputation got a big boost in the early 1980s when it was involved in an intellectual property theft case that attracted national attention. It began when two employees of the Pace Picante Sauce company left and set up a competing company, allegedly using a picante sauce recipe identical to that used in the Pace product. Pace sued the employees for theft of the secret formula for Pace Picante Sauce. Although all picante sauce uses the same six basic ingredients, Pace argued that the way the ingredients were measured and mixed made their product unique and the recipe could not be copied. “We had been trying the case two or three days and had jars and jars of various picante sauces lined up in front of the jury when a newspaper reporter happened by the courtroom,” explains Lee. The reporter asked what was going on and after I told him, the front page of next day’s edition of the Express-News carried the headline, “Hot Sauce Case Heats Up.” Other papers picked up the story and for several days the picante sauce trial was on everybody’s lips. Lee recalls that a sensational murder trial was going on at the same time, but reporters were leaving the murder trial to cover the picante sauce war. “When a juror got sick and missed a day, one of the papers 9 2 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R C O U N T Y
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THE HEART OF BEXAR COUNTY RESTORATI
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First Edition Copyright © 2020 HPN
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CONTENTS FOREWORD .................
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q Architectural drawing of the Cour
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I E V O L U T I O N O F C I T Y H A
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q Above: Bottom, right: The Masonic
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q Architect’s Drawing of the Bexa
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II R E S T O R A T I O N O F C I T
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q San Antonio City Council Chamber.
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III T H E D E C L I N E O F T H E C
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2 0 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R
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Both designs were ill conceived, mi
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Page 27 and 28:
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q Bexar County Courthouse. submitte
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VI T H E C H I L D R E N ’ S C O
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q Above: Children’s court Judge R
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VII T H E F I R S T R E S T O R E D
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q Before and after restoration of t
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In 1996 Father David Garcia, belove
Page 41 and 42: IX L A D Y J U S T I C E by Tracy W
Page 43 and 44: q Top, left: The Lady Justice fount
Page 45 and 46: q Right: Lady Justice during the un
Page 47 and 48: q Above and below: Construction of
Page 49 and 50: With that picture of the original c
Page 51 and 52: q Above: June 17, 2018, King Felipe
Page 53 and 54: q Above: Removal of the Gondeck add
Page 55 and 56: q Bexar County Courthouse after the
Page 57 and 58: XII T H E B E X A R C O U N T Y A R
Page 59 and 60: q Above: Texas A&M-San Antonio Arch
Page 61 and 62: XIII T H E B E X A R H E R I T A G
Page 63 and 64: q Exhibits from the Bexar County He
Page 65 and 66: q Right: Northside view of the Bexa
Page 67 and 68: ABOUT THE AUTHORS C O U N T Y N E L
Page 69 and 70: APPENDIX A A R C H I T E C T S & C
Page 71 and 72: APPENDIX C A R C H I T E C T S & C
Page 73 and 74: APPENDIX D B E X A R C O U N T Y O
Page 75 and 76: 7 4 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R
Page 77 and 78: JTM CONSULTING, LLC Drawing on a lo
Page 79 and 80: G BRACEWELL, LLP From top to bottom
Page 81 and 82: NICHOLAS & BARRERA, P.C. For nearly
Page 83 and 84: DAVIS, CEDILLO & MENDOZA, INC. G To
Page 85 and 86: LINEBARGER GOGGAN BLAIR & SAMPSON,
Page 87 and 88: LAW OFFICES OF SERNA & SERNA Growin
Page 89 and 90: G ESCAMILLA & PONECK, LLP Above: Pa
Page 91: WATTS GUERRA, LLP G Left: Mikal C.
Page 95 and 96: THOMAS J. HENRY LAW Thomas J. Henry
Page 97: $34.95 978-1-944891-70-1 Ë|xHSLJOE
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The Heart of Bexar County

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