Curriculum Vitae

Introduction

Jack Ratliff (aka John Thomas Ratliff) is an attorney, law professor, legal consultant, author, and lecturer who is licensed to practice in Texas and New Mexico.  He recently moved from Austin, Texas, to Santa Fe with his wife Clare. After practicing law for more than twenty years with a concentration in litigation, Ratliff joined the faculty of the University of Texas School of Law in 1983, where he taught until 2003. There he held the Ben Gardner Sewell Professorship of Law, and was designated Professor Emeritus with the Ben Gardner Sewell Chair in 2003. His courses and seminars included Torts, Texas Procedure, Complex Litigation (devoted to class actions), Litigation Strategies, Expert Witnesses, and International Human Rights. In 1994, he was inducted onto the visiting faculty of Cambridge University, Wolfson College, in England. Recently, he has been a visiting professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, and a visiting lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Australia. In 2007, he was named the Outstanding Alumnus of the University of Texas School of Law, where he received his L. L. B. in 1962. He is widely published in legal and academic venues. His casebook, Texas Courts: Trial and Appeal, has been adopted as a required text at several Texas law schools.

Ratliff has consulted widely on both sides of the docket in connection with class action certification and management. He served as Special Master for the Eastern District of Texas charged with fashioning a litigation plan for the class action trial of over 3,000 asbestos cases. He has served as Special Counsel to the Attorney General of Texas charged with oversight of class actions involving the State of Texas. He was lead counsel in the class action trial of Ruiz v. Texas and was appointed lead counsel for plaintiffs’ futures class in Ortiz v. Fibreboard (formerly Ahearn). He was of counsel to the McGinnis Lochridge Law Firm in Austin in 1987-1989 and of counsel to The Fowler Law Firm in Austin from 2005–2010. A frequent presenter as an author/lecturer and seminar leader, Ratliff has experience in class actions in oil and gas and other complex litigation. He served in the U. S. Navy from 1957–1961, including duties as a deck officer on a destroyer and later as a member of the Underwater Demolition/Seal Team 11.

EDUCATION

B. A.With Honors, University of Texas at Austin (Plan II), 1957.
L. L. B. With Honors, University of Texas School of Law, 1962.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2009-2011 Of Counsel, The Fowler Law Firm
2003-2009 Independent Class Action Consulting; Arbitration/Mediation
1994-1995 Special Counsel to Attorney General of Texas in charge of all class actions involving the state.
1983—2003 Professor, University of Texas School of Law. Courses: Torts, Complex Litigation (Class Actions), Texas Procedure—Pre-Trial, Texas Procedure—Trial and Appeal, Intensive Course on Trial Skills, Seminars on Advanced Civil Trial Strategies, Expert Witnesses, Appellate Practice.
1977—1982 Partner, Ratliff, Haynes & Stading, El Paso, Texas (Litigation).
1973—1977 President and CEO—Equity Control Corp., El Paso, Texas.
1963—1973 Partner, Kemp & Smith, El Paso, Texas (Litigation).
1962—1963 Associate, Jackson & Walker, Dallas, Texas (Litigation).
1957—1962 Officer, U. S. Navy—Destroyer and UDT 11 Seal Team (LCDR Ret).

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Special Counsel: Attorney General of Texas Special Counsel for Complex Litigation—1999.

Lead Counsel: Ruiz v. Scott (Texas Prison Litigation Class Action—Spring 1999).

Special Master: Cimino v. Raymark—E. D. Texas, 1985.

Advisor: National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (Uniform Transfer of Litigation Act, consolidations and class actions).

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Arbitrator: Pop-Moody Employment Termination, 2006

Arbitrator: Panel of Arbitrators—Commercial Disputes, AAA, 1987-1990.

Chief Arbitrator: In re Jamail Realty Interests.

Mediator: In re Brite Ranch—1999.

Mediator: Norplant Class Action Settlement (representing State of Texas).

Mediator: Judd Foundation Dispute.

Mediator: Vivion v. City of Austin (class action).

Fellow: ADR Mediation Fellows Program (week-long training in mediation).

Graduate: UT Short Mediation Course.