Those who know him agree that if Godzilla were ripping the roof off the building, Sammy Ford IV would remain calm, help allay others’ fears and do it all with style.
He does that in court, he does that while sipping the best wines and he does that when vacationing at the beach with his wife and twin daughters, no matter where. That calmness and likeability make him one of the best bridge-builders a law firm could want.
“We put together a trial team like picking from 31 flavors. He’s the perfect complement to about every other personality, including those who are tightly wired,” said AZA co-founder John Zavitsanos.
Partner Todd Mensing said nothing knocks Sammy off balance. “As anyone who tries cases knows, trial can be complete chaos. Things always happen that you could not account for. Sammy is the coolest customer I have ever worked with in these situations.”
That poise, likability and ability to consider all the viewpoints and the needs of those around him has made him stand strong even when judges prove cantankerous. One judge was so one-sided that he bizarrely insisted Sammy stop using his hands at the podium while cross-examining witnesses. Sammy handled it with the usual aplomb, his partner said.
His interest in the law developed when he had a mid-college internship at the newly formed law firm of neighbor and prominent Houston lawyer J.C. Nickens, who had some Enron case involvement that fascinated Sammy.
Sammy has won all his jury and bench trials in the eight years he’s been at AZA. His jury victories include verdicts of $22 million for the Port of Houston against a scofflaw tenant, a $19 million win for emergency room physicians in a pay case against a large insurance company, and a $41 million victory for a large energy company in an insurance breach of contract dispute over hurricane damages that included more than $27 million in punitive damages.
His friend Travis Torrence, a vice president and head of legal for an international energy company, said among the things that makes Sammy a great lawyer is that he “creates a meaningful relationship with internal business partners to understand the organization’s risk tolerance and to provide professional, timely, cost-effective and practical legal advice and support.”
Sammy was born in Houston, attended St. Thomas High School and Harvard University for undergrad and University of Texas School of Law for his law degree with honors. He clerked for the Hon. Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and spent two years at Susman Godfrey, where he enjoyed the challenging, cutting-edge work. He was recruited by Abraham Watkins to try personal injury work and went to trial 20 times over the next five years.
And then he was recruited by AZA, where he saw a chance to find the best of both worlds – bringing along some personal injury cases, getting complex civil litigation experience and getting to trial constantly.
Now, Sammy, who is board certified in personal injury law, will head up a new formal catastrophic personal injury practice for AZA.
“It’s less of a change for AZA than a recognition that we already have been winning major personal injury cases,” he said. “We had an eight-figure wrongful death settlement this year and one last year. We are in a position to give these cases more attention as opposed to even the great firms that have a high volume of PI cases.”
Sammy’s wife Ashton Becker, a financial manager at a global energy company, didn’t want friends to set them up when she heard he was a lawyer who went to Harvard, drove a Jaguar, was on a billboard promoting Houston and won a most-eligible bachelor contest on a dare, beating out a shirtless firefighter. “That sounded like my nightmare,” she said. She changed her mind after meeting the charming man, who despite his Ivy League degree and Hermès ties seems to be at home with everyone on the planet.
Sammy is described as both an everyman who speaks in plain English and an intellectual. He loves Star Wars and deep philosophical reading, sipping wine at a club and attending rap music concerts. On a trip to Napa with friends, he ate at the world-famous, wildly expensive, Michelin-rated French Laundry one night and insisted they all stop the rented limo at Carl’s Jr. the next day.
His wife says he uses every trial as an excuse to buy a new, fancy tie. His friend Travis says he will use any excuse to buy a new tie. Or maybe new shoes, too. “Sammy is also quite a bad influence as a shopping buddy,” he said. Sammy said that’s all true, but he doesn’t always buy a top-drawer tie. His ritual is to buy the day before trial, and he isn’t always in a town with an Hermès store.
Sammy has been described as elegant without being flashy. His friend Brad Snead, an appellate lawyer, suspects Sammy got some of that from his father, who is polished and, like his son, comfortable in his own skin. His father worked in tech, selling for IBM and Lotus, and his mother worked for the post office, retired and then became a teacher as a second career.
Brad officiated at the wedding of Sammy and Ashton. At the ceremony, he said of his friend:” There is no one quite like Sammy Ford IV. He is fancy but casual. He is a minimalist living in excess. He is an intellectual and likes the finer things in life but is not above anyone or anything. … In a lot of ways, Sammy is ‘all the things.’ And he can be all the things to all people, which is one of the reasons I love being around him and respect him so much, and why he has touched so many in this room.”
Joe Ahmad, the other co-founder of AZA, said he and Sammy share a wine locker at a club on Kirby Drive and he sees some similarities in the way Sammy approaches the law and the wine. “He’s someone who spends a lot of time strategizing, thinking carefully about the next step and all the possibilities. He doesn’t get surprised because he’s constantly considering ‘what if,’” he said. “Wine can be complicated and cause people to contemplate its complexities. That may be why it appeals to him too.”
Sammy explains his eclectic tastes in a way that may shed some light on how he listens to and respects everyone he encounters. “It’s important to enjoy things on their own terms. Just about everything has some value and can be understood and enjoyed. Look at food, wine, art, literature. You can’t appreciate the best without appreciating what’s not necessarily seen as the best,” Sammy said. “Do you understand the French Laundry really if you don’t know American food culture including fast food? If you don’t read Dan Brown novels (The Da Vinci Code author), you may not appreciate Umberto Eco (Italian medievalist, philosopher and social commentator.)”