[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] 
[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_text]By Mark Curriden
(Dec. 1) – The star witness for the Texas Beef Group told jurors in Amarillo that Oprah Winfrey had stacked the deck in a 1995 episode that was critical of beef safety measures.
The show, the epidemiologist testified, was nothing short of a “lynch mob.”
Then Chip Babcock stepped to the lectern to conduct his cross-examination to defend Oprah from allegations of defamation.
“Do you understand the meaning or importance of a lynch mob and how the word lynching impacts Ms. Winfrey?” Babcock asked.
The Jackson Walker partner proceeded to explain to the witness that lynchings are named after Virginian Charles Lynch, who in the late 1780s gave a speech he titled, “How to Control Your Nigger.”
Babcock read horrific descriptions of a lynching while playing a video of the Oprah program showing a room full of women laughing.
“Is that how it was?” Babcock asked again and again.
The witness broke down into tears and turned to the talk show host.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Winfrey,” the witness said. “I didn’t mean that.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers never recovered and the jury ruled for Oprah.
The trial cemented Babcock’s national reputation as one of the legal profession’s best media and First Amendment lawyers.
A 1976 graduate of Boston University School of Law, Babcock’s interest in the news media started early. His father worked for the New York Herald Tribune. In high school, young Babcock worked part-time as a sports writer for the Miami Herald and later for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
After clerking for U.S. District Court Judge Robert Porter, he was hired by Dallas-based Jackson Walker, which represented the Dallas Times Herald. In an interesting twist, many of the editors he knew in Philadelphia moved to Dallas and worked at the Times Herald.
“My first day on the job, a partner brought a stack of files into my office and dumped them on my desk,” Babcock says. “The partner said he heard I liked media law cases.”
Babcock’s first libel case came in October 1978, when the firm represented General Electric in a defamation case involving one of its employees. He served second chair at the trial and the jury ruled in GE’s favor.
In the 37 years since, Babcock has defended the nation’s largest media companies against allegations of libel and defamation, including CBS News, The Dallas Morning News, the Chicago Tribune, Google, Capital Cities/ABC News and Random House. His individual clients include Dr. Phil McGraw, ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly, Houston TV journalist Wayne Dolcefino and multibillionaire Warren Buffett.
“In these cases, you must look at every angle,” he says. “Our clients want us to be there to win trials, of course, but they also seek legal counsel advising them on ways to avoid litigation.”
In 1988, Legal Aid of North Texas called with a possible pro bono case. The client was a young woman who worked at a local bank who had two sons who were five and seven years old.
“The woman told me that her husband had kidnapped the children, but she had not reported it to the police because he had threatened to kill her,” Babcock says. “I tracked down her children. They were with their dad in a crack house.”
Babcock obtained a court order that terminated the parental rights of the father, awarded full custody to the mother and convinced the sheriff to go get the children.
“The case didn’t just change me as a lawyer, it changed me as a person,” he says.
In 2006, Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht hired Babcock to challenge allegations that he violated the Code of Judicial Conduct. A three judge panel ruled in Babcock’s favor.
In 2009, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller turned to Babcock to defend her against efforts by the Texas Judicial Conduct Commission to oust her from office. The commission sought the sanctions after allegations that Judge Keller intentionally thwarted efforts by lawyers in a death penalty case to file an emergency appeal after the courthouse hours. Babcock convinced the trial judge in the case to dismiss all charges.
But Babcock’s true love is media law.
In 2005, Dr. Phil hired Babcock when the TV talk show host was sued for defamation by Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, who were reportedly suspects in the disappearance of American high school student Natalie Holloway in Aruba.
For a decade, Babcock did battle in the California courts. He scored a decisive victory in April 2015 when the California state court judge dismissed the entire case.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]