Two young lawyers from Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann learned first-hand the rewards of pro bono work when they won a $258,140 jury verdict last week for a Fort Worth family living in a dilapidated rental home.
Jurors in the court of Texas District Judge Don Cosby deliberated for less than four hours before returning their verdict on Feb. 27 on behalf of Alma Ramirez and Richard Obiedo. The verdict included $8,140 in actual damages — most of what the couple paid in rent, utilities and related expenses during the eight months they occupied the home — and $250,000 in punitive damages against their landlord, Leticia Campbell, and a property management company, Mary & Co., of which Campbell is listed in state records as managing member.
Jacob L. Tucker of Decker Jones in Fort Worth, the attorney for Mary & Co., declined to comment on the verdict. Scott Conyers of Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, identified in court records as the attorney for Campbell, did not respond to a request for comment.
The plaintiffs’ case was handled by Jessie Cox, an associate at Lynn Pinker since 2023, and Gloria C. Cangé, an associate who joined the firm last June. Their work was overseen by Andrés Correa, a Lynn Pinker partner.
“Jessie was the architect of this case from start to finish,” Correa wrote in a message to the firm. “She delivered an absolutely perfect closing argument. She counseled our clients throughout the ordeal with kindness and empathy.”
Cangé, he wrote, “delivered one of the best openings I’ve seen.”
It was Cangé’s first trial and Cox’s second.
According to the final version of Ramirez’s and Obiedo’s complaint, filed on Jan. 6 of this year, the couple rented a 1,338-square-foot home in northwest Fort Worth from Campbell for $1,200 a month in October 2023 and were told numerous repairs would be made to make the home habitable for them and their three young children.
“Campbell assured plaintiffs that she would replace numerous windows, repair broken and damaged sheetrock, install flooring, replace blinds, paint the kitchen wall and the dining room, cap unused gas valves, and finish the flooring, trim, walls and closet in the kids’ room,” the complaint said.
Not only were those promised repairs never properly made, the suit said, Ramirez and Obiedo found numerous additional defects and safety hazards once they moved into the rental home.
“The tap water was not potable,” the complaint said, “electrical wiring and outlets were exposed, lights throughout the house were flickering … and no heating or cooling units were provided.”
Water from the taps, it said, “was contaminated with particles and brown in color. There was also no water pressure for the bathroom faucet or the bathroom shower, barely any hot water, a sewage smell coming from the kitchen sink, and gurgling noises coming from the kitchen sink when the toilet was flushed.”
An inspector from the Fort Worth Code Compliance Department visited the rental house on Jan. 23, 2024, and cited the defendants for six major code violations, the lawsuit said.
“The inspector further noted that the water had been shut off by the defendants, despite plaintiffs’ occupying the rental property as tenants,” it said.
The family moved out on May 31, 2024.
Cox said in an interview, “It was a really horrible house.” When her clients — “sweet, wonderful people” — testified, she said, jurors were moved to tears.
Winning the case “was really important to us,” she said, “because there are so many other families in exactly the same situation.”
Added Cangé, “We had the opportunity to make our clients feel that they were someone, that their views mattered. They knew someone would fight for them. They were happy to have found us to advocate for them.”
After the verdict was read, Correa wrote, jurors told the plaintiffs’ team “they wondered how our clients found us and [expressed] how glad they were they did. We made a difference. We impacted the life trajectory of a good family, and we fought evil.”
Lynn Pinker was brought into the case because a paralegal at the firm knew Obiedo and the plight of his family.
“It’s astonishing how talented these young lawyers are,” said Mike Lynn, founder and chair of Lynn Pinker. “They served a valuable function for their clients and for our firm. And if another pro bono case comes along, we’ll take that one, too.”
Correa noted that the firm has a continuing fight to force the defendants to pay the damages assessed by the jury. “But we are relentless,” he wrote. “It’s what we do.”