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Civil
Litigation
John Jessee
Flippin Densmore
Morse & Jessee
by Glenn Garelik
John Jessee |
If
lawyers were rated like football teams — by their
win-loss records — Roanoke litigator John Jessee
would have plenty to brag about. A partner at Flippin
Densmore Morse & Jessee, he has chalked up an impressive
record in defending health care providers in medical
malpractice suits.
For
example, Jessee took on a tough case representing a
spine surgeon who had been sued by 56 patients in the
Roanoke area alone. Many of the cases involved claims
that the surgeon used a highly controversial medical
device in back surgery that is no longer frequently
used. “We tried four of those to jury verdicts,
and won them all,” he says. “[We] then tried
three or four more to medical malpractice review panels,
and won them all.” The other plaintiffs gave up
and abandoned their cases. So of the 56 suits brought
in the Roanoke area, Jessee didn’t lose one.
Diligent
pretrial legwork was a big part of his success, says
Jessee. “We scoured the country for some of the
greatest experts in this area of medicine, and we had
a wonderful private eye.” The trick was to “bring
to trial early on some of the cases where we had information
from the private eye that helped the defense.”
For instance, the detective observed some plaintiffs
engaging in activities inconsistent with their testimony
in terms of how the doctor’s alleged failure had
ruined their lives.
Part
of what it takes to win tough cases — persistence
— comes into play in Jessee’s favorite pastime
away from the office. About 15 years ago he took up
fox hunting and purchased a thoroughbred Percheron cross
named Levi. Jessee considers fox hunting “the ultimate
challenge. You jump, you charge, you ride, and whatever
is in front of you, you go around it or over it.”
Friends
say Jessee applies that same dogged persistence to his
legal game. He traces his success to key mentors, including
the late John Field Jr. of Charleston, W.Va., a judge
for the Richmond-based Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals. Jessee clerked for Field after graduating from
the Washington & Lee University School of Law in
1979. Field, Jessee recalls, “had a wonderful story
with a [moral] for every issue, always giving extra
time to help us understand and appreciate what the law
really meant, and what it could do for people.”
Another
inspiration was his mother, a schoolteacher in West
Virginia during early integration, when she was a leader
in working with African-Americans. “She taught
me lessons in kindness, concern, and paying attention
to what other people are going through.” In turn,
he tries to mentor younger people with whom he works.
Dale Burroughs Frisby, now a malpractice attorney in
Houston, worked with Jessee fresh out of law school
for what she thought would be just one suit, but her
stay continued for 10 years. “John is probably
the best trial lawyer I’ve ever seen,” she
says. “He’s a tremendous orator, he’s
very smart and he can think wonderfully on his feet.”
As
central as law is in his life, Jessee says he sees himself
primarily as a father of four girls, ages 6 to 11. “As
much free time as I can muster,” he says, “I
try to be involved with them and their activities.”
Often he takes one or another of the girls along on
business trips, making sure to bring any homework assignments
they’d be missing.
Jessee’s interest in health care issues extends
outside the law firm. He’s a former president of
the Julian Stanley Wise Foundation, named for the Roanoke
man who in 1928 organized the country’s first volunteer
rescue squad. Jessee says his interest was sparked when
he and his former wife were in an auto accident, and
she became trapped inside. Fuel was leaking onto the
ground. “Here were these incredibly brave people,
standing in gasoline,” and risking their lives
to save her, he says.
Then
there’s his artistic side: Jessee is vice president
of Roanoke’s acclaimed Mill Mountain Theatre and
former president of the Southwest Virginia Opera Society.
“John’s a well-rounded guy,” says law
partner G. Franklin Flippin. “He’s everything
you’d want in a lawyer: a terrific intellect, a
prodigious worker, generous with his time and absolutely
committed.”
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to Virginia Business - December 2002
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