Howard Twiggs, who once led the Association of Trial Lawyers of America in battles on Capitol Hill, died this morning after exercising. He was 77.
Twiggs, a Raleigh plaintiffs lawyer, assumed the presidency of the trial lawyers group, now called the American Association for Justice, in 1996. The drive for reining in lawsuits was in high gear, and the organization under Twiggs helped fend off efforts in Washington to reform the civil courts.
A former state legislator, Twiggs built a successful firm in Raleigh and won at least five $1 million-or-more verdicts.
"He was a great source of wisdom and compassion," said law partner Don Strickland.
Twiggs' daughter, Elizabeth "Betsy" Johnson, said her father would listen to tapes of other trials while the family traveled in the car so that he could learn from other lawyers.
"He was passionate about his cases," Johnson said. "He would call me and practice opening arguments."
A balding man with an understated style of speaking, colleagues credited his success in courtrooms and legislatures to his affability and plain language. He owed his stocky build to regular laps at the downtown YMCA pool. He was at the Y when he collapsed this morning.
Twiggs' undisputed passion was sailing. He was a counselor at Camp Sea Gull near New Bern as a youth, and three of his four daughters served as counselors at neighboring Camp Seafarer.
"After the courtroom," Johnson said, "he was happiest on a sailboat."
He is survived by his wife, Betty, four daughters, Johnson, of Greenville; Mary Catherine "Sissie" Twiggs-Valverde, of Tiburon, Calif.; Jennifer Twiggs-Bilich of Charlotte and Ashley Twiggs of Charlottesville, Va. Funeral arrangements were not yet complete.
