RALEIGH -- Howard Twiggs, a Raleigh lawyer who led the American Trial Lawyers Association in battles on Capitol Hill, died Thursday morning after exercising. He was 77.
Twiggs, a plaintiffs lawyer, became president of what is now the American Association for Justice in 1996. The drive for reining in lawsuits was in high gear, and thetrial lawyers under Twiggs helped fend off efforts in Washington to limit punitive damages in lawsuits.
A former state legislator, Twiggs built a successful law firm in Raleigh and won at least five verdicts of at least $1 million.
"He was a great source of wisdom and compassion," law partner Don Strickland said.
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."
Dan McLamb, a lawyer who defends hospitals and physicians in lawsuits, opposed Twiggs in court on several occasions and battled Twiggs' firm many times but remained a close friend. McLamb said Twiggs stood out as someone who could disagree without being disagreeable.
"I considered him a passionate and honorable advocate for his clients and the causes in which he believed," McLamb said, "but at the same time, [he]was a consummate peacemaker."
Twiggs was born in Cincinnati but grew up in Raleigh. He served in the N.C. House of Representatives from 1966 to 1974 and led the House Judiciary Committee from 1973 to 1974.
A balding man with an understated style of speaking, Twiggs succeeded in courtrooms and the legislature in large part because of his affability and plain language, colleagues said. He swam laps regularly at the downtown YMCA pool. He was at the Y when he collapsed Thursday morning.
Twiggs' undisputed love, other than his family, 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. The first thing he did after graduating from Wake Forest law school in 1957 was buy a boat, he said in a 1996 interview.
"After the courtroom," Johnson said, "he was happiest on a sailboat."
Twiggs 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 incomplete Thursday.
