John R.W. Cracken
John R. W. Cracken (October 15, 1960) is an American attorney and private investor based in Dallas, Texas.
He is the managing partner of The Cracken Law Firm PC, which joint ventures in U.S. litigation and is affiliated with Cracken LLP and Thompson Law LLP.[1]
Recent litigation[edit]
Cracken litigates class cases and mass actions. Cracken and his co-counsel have represented:
- 57,182 U.S. corn farmers in tort litigation related to Kansas federal MDL No. 2591[2] and Minnesota state MDL No. 3785 (on April 10, 2018, the Kansas federal MDL court granted preliminary approval for a class settlement in the amount of approximately $1.51 billion)[3]
- 5,441 U.S. consumers in tort litigation related to Arizona federal MDL No. 2641[4] and Indiana federal MDL No. 2570[5]
- 2,286 U.S. consumers in tort litigation relating to New Jersey federal MDL No. 2738[6]
- 1,879 U.S. consumers in tort litigation relating to Louisiana federal MDL No. 2592[7]
- 1,127 U.S. consumers in tort litigation relating to West Virginia federal MDL Nos. 2187[8], 2325[9], 2326[10], 2327[11], and 2387[12]
- 880 U.S. consumers in tort litigation relating to Illinois federal MDL No. 2385[13]
- and 685 U.S. consumers in tort litigation relating to New Jersey federal MDL No. 2750.[14]
In 2010, Cracken and his co-counsel filed 69,608 individual cases in Texas state court on behalf of 69,608 consumers against the consumer reporting agency, TransUnion. This was reported as the largest mass filing by a single law firm in American history. DLA Piper represented Trans Union in the mass filing, and in 2011 the matter settled for approximately $27 million. In 2009, Cracken and his co-counsel filed three mass cases in New Mexico state court on behalf of 123 customers against Eclipse Aviation Corp. The employees were represented by a variety of law firms, including Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The matter was settled in 2012 for approximately $41 million.
Early litigation[edit]
Between 1987 and 1997, Cracken won more than 30 verdicts and/or settlements in excess of $1 million for his clients. Between 1994 and 1995, he won:
- $9.5 million in an aviation-negligence action,
- $9.2 million in a medical-negligence action,
- $8.2 million in a well-publicized premises-liability action against Taco Bell Corp,
- $7.8 million in an aviation-negligence action,
- $5.4 million in an insurance-agent negligence action,
- and $3 million, $1.5 million, and $1.4 million, respectively, in three product-liability actions.
In 1996, Cracken went on to win a settlement for approximately $35.7 million in a class-action against Allstate Insurance Co. and Farmers Insurance Group. The settlement was mediated by "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg and included an appearance on key contested First Amendment issues by noted legal scholar Alan M. Dershowitz. A Texas state court approved the settlement, and at the related hearing Cracken presented the live testimony of noted legal scholars Samuel Issacharoff, Arthur R. Miller, and Charles M. Silver. The two insurers were accused of overcharging their policyholders by rounding up each policyholder's premium from the state-mandated rate to the nearest whole dollar. The settlement meant that up to 4.5 million past and present policyholders were eligible for a partial refund.
Recognition[edit]
Since 1997, Cracken has been rated AV Preeminent by American publisher Martindale-Hubbell.[15] Cracken has been designated a Super Lawyer[./File:///C:/Users/Chris/Google_Drive/Freelance/Kirk_Lee/JC_WIKI_-_FINAL.docx#_ftn3 [3]] by Canadian publisher Thomson Reuters each year since 2013.[16][17]
Private investments[edit]
Cracken and partners John D. Harkey, Jr.[18] and E. Gene Street[19] acquired El Chico Restaurants, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ:ELCH), Spaghetti Warehouse, Inc. (formerly NYSE:SWH), along with a variety of private restaurant companies. The resulting company, Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc.[20], owned and operated more than 100 full-service, casual-dining restaurants in America and abroad. In 2007, they employed more than 5,000 full- and part-time employees. Harkey bought Cracker’s and Street's shares in 2007.
Between 1999 and 2001, Cracken and co-founders Harkey and Christopher Hipp co-founded RocketLogix, Inc. (which later became RLX Technologies, Inc.). Hipp invented the "blade server", which consolidated the components of a high-efficiency server on a single printed-circuit-board assembly.[21] It enabled data centers to achieve a high density of servers in their Telco racks. Cracken and Hipp, as CEO and CTO respectively, raised approximately $60 million in venture capital for RLX. This included $40 million from George Soros. To bring RLX's blade server to market, they recruited the executive team from the systems division of former Compaq Computer Corporation, led by Gary Stimac and Michael Swavely. In 2005, HP bought RLX. As of 2019, the blade server is offered by Cisco, Dell, HP, and IBM.
Restaurant investments[edit]
At that time, El Chico Restaurants, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ:ELCH) had engaged an investment bank to sell the company. El Chico's sales in 1996 were approximately $104.4 million. Cracken, Harkey, and Street made a bid for El Chico. Cracken and his partners won the auction with a bid for approximately $65 million.
Spaghetti Warehouse, Inc. engaged an investment bank to sell the company. Spaghetti Warehouse's sales in 1998 were approximately $66 million. Cracken, Harkey, and Street made a bid and won the auction for approximately $62 million. Between 1997 and 2007, Cracken, Harkey, and Street bought more than 100 full-service, casual-dining restaurant companies in America and abroad, including the Cantina Laredo, Cool River, El Chico, Good Eats, III Forks, Lucky's, and Spaghetti Warehouse brands. They operated their stores through Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc., employing more than 5,000 full- and part-time employees and serving more than 25 million customers per year.
Technology investments[edit]
Cracken, Harkey, and Hipp founded RLX Technologies in 1999. Cracken served as the CEO, and Hipp served as the CTO.
RLX was formed to prototype and eventually bring to market a new server platform now known as the "blade server". The name came from the combination of an ultra-efficient microprocessor made by Silicon Valley startup Transmeta (formerly NYSE:TMTA) with other efficient server components on a single printed-circuit-board assembly that permitted RLX to stack blades in a Telco-rack-mounted cabinet, thereby materially increasing the server density per Telco rack. The "blade server" became an industry-standard platform by 2005, when HP bought RLX for an undisclosed sum.
Aerospace investments[edit]
In 2009, Cracken and Mason Holland partnered with Mike Press, Roel Pieper, and Raul Segredo to form Eclipse Aerospace. They bid for Eclipse Aviation Corporation, known in the light jet category of general aviation with its Eclipse 500 (or E500). Pieper was the former CEO of Eclipse Aviation. The company attempted an unsuccessful Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in November 2008, which was converted into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation procedure in February 2009. In the final Chapter 7 procedure, the assets of Eclipse Aviation were sold to Eclipse Aerospace. Cracken withdrew from the partnership to lead a group of 123 customers in their tort claims against certain ex- directors, officers, and employees of Eclipse Aviation, and the resulting litigation returned Cracken to the practice of law.
Education[edit]
Cracken attended the University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. While attending the University's law school, Cracken won first place, best advocate and best brief in the University's Hildebrand (now Susman Godfrey) Moot Court Competition.[22] Cracken was a member of the University's National Moot Court Team and ATLA (now AAJ) Mock Trial Team, the latter of which won the national championship in 2006.
While attending the University, Cracken served as the president of Phi Eta Sigma and was a member of Tau Beta Pi. Cracken was a member of the Texas Wranglers.[23] The University named Cracken a Goodfellow in the University's Cactus Yearbook.[24] He was named to the Board of Directors of the University Co-op.[25] Cracken was also part of The Order of Barristers.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Thompson Law Injury Lawyers". 1-800-Lion-Law. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Syngenta AG MIR162 Corn Litigation – Welcome to the U.S. Court for the District of Kansas". Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Master File No. 2:14-MD-02591-JWL-JPO" (PDF). www.ksd.uscourts.gov. 2018-04-10.
- ↑ "IN RE: Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation | District of Arizona | United States District Court". www.azd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "MDL Case Information | Southern District of Indiana | United States District Court". www.insd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Litigation | District of New Jersey | United States District Court". www.njd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "MDL - 2592 Xarelto Products Liability Litigation | Eastern District of Louisiana | United States District Court". www.laed.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "MDL No. 2187 | In Re C. R. Bard, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation". www.wvsd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "MDL No. 2325 | In Re American Medical Systems, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation". www.wvsd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "MDL No. 2326 | In Re Boston Scientific Corp. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation". www.wvsd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "MDL No. 2327 | In Re Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation". www.wvsd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "MDL No. 2387 | In Re Coloplast Corp. Pelvic Support Systems Products Liability Litigation". www.wvsd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Multi-District Litigation :: U.S. District Court - Southern District of Illinois". www.ilsd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Invokana Litigation | District of New Jersey | United States District Court". www.njd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Selecting the Best Lawyer | Hire a Lawyer Based on Reviews & Ratings". www.martindale.com. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Lawyer and Attorney Ratings : Find Rated Lawyers and Attorneys at Super Lawyers". Super Lawyers. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ Stafford, Margaret (2018-03-13). "$1.5B Settlement in Suit Over Syngenta Modified Corn Seed".
- ↑ "John D. Harkey, Jr". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "E. Gene Street". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "CRO, Inc . | Consolidated Restaurant Operations". Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "History of Blades". hippster.com. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Current Competitions". Experiential Learning: Advocacy. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "Texas Wranglers". utexas.campuslabs.com. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "CACTUS YEARBOOK – stay prickly!". Retrieved 2019-02-19.
- ↑ "University Co-op | Texas Longhorn Apparel, Gifts, & Textbooks". www.universitycoop.com. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
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