HUNTER KLEIN

PARTNER

Hunter M. Klein is a trial lawyer. In early 2020 he was proud to be a leading member of the trial team (which included partners Bob Green and Bill Jones) that secured a record-setting verdict against a conglomeration of insurance companies, which included a finding (for the first time in Texas history) that the insurance company acted with a specific intent to harm his client. The judgment in that case exceeded $4 million.

Hunter has a history of securing winning verdicts for his clients, utilizing both his skill as a trial lawyer and his knowledge of the law, obtaining a bad faith verdict in 2019 which resulted in a judgment of nearly 5 times the actual damages. Realizing that there was no winning path on appeal, the carrier reluctantly paid the judgment in full. Hunter is known as a trial lawyer with a team that will not back down.

Hunter’s reputation as a trial lawyer and proven ability to win leads to carriers choosing to settle matters rather than risk the wrong side of a bad faith verdict. In 2019 Hunter represented an Elder Care Facility in North Texas. After a failed mediation where the carrier offered only low five-figures, Hunter began preparing for trial. Realizing he would accept nothing less than full value, the carrier ultimately returned to the settlement table, finally agreeing to resolve the case well into the seven figures.

In 2016, following Tropical Storm Bill, Hunter and the team at Green Klein & Wood represented a large North Texas Marina which was severely damaged by that storm. Unsurprisingly, the carrier denied all damages, and refused to pay a penny on the claim. Bob, Hunter, and the GKW team engaged the carrier immediately, bringing the matter before a well-respected Federal Judge. After reviewing the briefing prepared by Bob and Hunter, and listening to Bob’s arguments at the hearing, the Judge summarily rejected all of the carrier’s arguments, agreeing with Bob and Hunter on every issue, determining that the damages were covered. Hunter then led the mediation that resulted in a confidential settlement in excess of the policy’s $8 million limit.

Setting records and taking the tough cases is something Hunter is used to, representing a Medical Marijuana facility in Colorado Springs following the Waldo Canyon Fire in 2012. Hunter briefed, argued, and won the first ever ruling in United States District Court that marijuana was not contraband (and thus covered) in a jurisdiction where marijuana was legal at the state level, but illegal under Federal Law. The case reached a favorable settlement following that ruling.

Hunter’s training and reputation as a trial lawyer began while he was still in law school, not only with his work on the UHLC  Mock Trial Team (where he was a regular competitor), and his work as an editor of the Houston Journal of International Law, but also with his internship with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, where he was one of the few law student interns trusted to try cases on behalf of the District Attorney’s Office.

Hunter has handled cases in numerous states, in both State and Federal Court, has briefed and argued cases on appeal to the Texas Courts of Appeal, as well as the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. Hunter has been named a Texas Rising Star attorney (an award given to only 2% of attorneys in Texas) for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. After proving his mettle as a trial lawyer with Robert D. Green & Associates, he was proud to become a partner in the firm Green & Klein, and then to expand the firm to ultimately become Green, Klein & Wood.

Hunter was born and raised in North Houston, Texas by a family with deep Texas roots. He is an Eagle Scout and now lives in Houston with his Assistant District Attorney wife (who was his law school Mock Trial partner), their son, and dog Fitzgerald.