User:Tn2011/Andy "Gator" Korn

Andrew Korn Andrew “Andy” Ross Korn, a/k/a The Gator, a/k/a AK-47, a/k/a Romulus, a/k/a Elote (South Texas), is a Texas attorney known for his tenacious and creative litigation style. Korn is perhaps best recognized as Texas’ toughest collection attorney, taking to task anyone who stands in the way of his clients’ recovery, including the Texas Comptroller and “reluctant” Sheriffs and Constables who fail to diligently assist in the collection of money for his clients. Korn has won more than a dozen cases against Sheriffs and Constables (having lost none of them), and successfully settled others. Korn is a popular speaker and regularly writes and lectures on collection law. Korn is board certified in civil appeals by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Korn received an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell (the highest given) when he was only thirty-three (33). Korn has been recognized as a Texas “Super Lawyer” several times in the area of business litigation. Korn’s law firm, Korn, Bowdich & Diaz, L.L.P. in Dallas, is a Martindale Hubbell pre-eminent firm founded in 2000, after both John Bowdich and David Diaz worked for Korn as associates.

KBD regularly represents other attorneys. Korn also advises and represents certain Constables, Judges,  former Judges,  and judicial candidates. Korn considers it the highest compliment when peers reach out to him for assistance and is honored when chosen for representation by his colleagues.

Korn frequently goes “out on the street” to observe U.S. Marshals and Texas deputies recover assets for his clients. Korn has participated in over five hundred (500) such operations in his career.

Korn’s repertoire includes Ivy League intellect, New York street smarts, a warrior’s bearing, Texas courtesy and a Yiddishe Kop.

Background

Korn was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Korn attended public schools, including Mark Twain J.H.S. for the gifted and talented. Korn enrolled in a “special progress” program and skipped the eighth grade. At Lincoln High School, Korn was Captain of the wrestling team and Student Body President. Korn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Cum Laude, and Vanderbilt University School of Law. Korn is a Sigma Chi and served as Chapter Editor for Penn’s Phi Phi Chapter.

Professional Career

While still a law student at Vanderbilt, Korn was recruited by many law firms across the country. After passing the Texas Bar with very high grades, Korn progressed at the Dallas office of Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP from Associate to Participating Associate. Assigned to his litigation team of choice (Commercial Litigation), Korn was mentored by Sandy Maris, Hugh Hackney, Dan Davison and Karl Dial. After more than five years at F&J, Korn started out on his own, representing individuals and small companies in civil litigation. It was then, when Korn became involved in Plaintiff’s employment work that the most transformative years of his career occurred. Korn saw first hand how certain large firms defended cases against workers trying to claim their rights. Korn was surprised that many Texas Judges were not particularly sympathetic to the cause of the workers. Korn stubbornly fought back against big employers like the Container Store and the Government (Including Municipal & Utility Districts and the Texas Department of Public Safety) when it was not in his economic interest to do so. Korn’s determination caused him to be involved in many appeals. Through this process, Korn began to realize he could do a better job briefing the appeals than the attorneys he was associating to help. Korn handled so much appellate work, that in 2001, he qualified to sit for the board certification exam in civil appeals. Korn passed the exam the first time he took it, even though the passage rate was just 25.93% that year. Korn was recertified in 2006. More than 25% of Korn’s current practice involves civil appellate work. This is readily demonstrated in public records. For example, a Lexis case search under Korn’s name brings up over 100 different cases. A search of the Dallas Court of Appeals website shows over 50 case references under Korn’s name.

Korn has served as local counsel for national law firms and co-counseled with many well known Texas attorneys. A highly diverse group of clients have sought Korn’s representation, from Catholic Charismatic Services of Dallas; Texas, Inc.; to Mantra, Inc. (producers of the Girls Gone Wild videos). Korn has represented and advised celebrities and professional athletes. The breadth of Korn’s clientele likely stays unpublicized due to his policy of not discussing his cases with the press. Although Korn spoke to the press earlier in his career, Korn is one of the few attorneys who have come to believe that judges and juries should be the first to hear about cases. Korn considers it a matter of respect to the judges and jurors to keep his remarks to the courtroom.

In 2001, KBD began representing sports promoters against commercial establishments who were pirating pay-per-view events. Ten years and more than 2200 “anti-piracy” cases later, Korn has been recognized for his “broad experience in this area of the law.” Federal judgments in these cases require Korn to frequently travel across Texas to observe U.S. Marshals seize cash and property to pay the judgments. Most of these seizures take place during nights and weekends.

While, Korn’s representation has taken him to both coasts, he has attempted to structure his practice so that most of his time is spent in Texas. Korn loves Texas culture and history and has had the opportunity to visit all regions of Texas through his practice. Korn has tried cases from Amarillo to Corpus Christi, as well as in large cities like Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. Korn recently travelled to the Federal Courthouse in Pecos for two cases he is Lead Counsel on.

Known Associates

Korn has a long friendship with two attorneys, with whom he frequently associates. Dallas attorney Brad Jackson, a board certified civil trial lawyer who has obtained several large verdicts in Dallas County, as well as defense verdicts on complex cases. And Dallas attorney R. Michael Northrup, a board certified civil appellate lawyer and head of the Appellate Section at Cowles & Thompson. Korn and Northrup have raised novel substantive and procedural issues in a variety of cases.

Politics

In 1997, Korn was the co-host of the Politics Today radio show, a weekly one-hour program on law and politics. Guests of the show included Pat Buchanan and John Cornyn.

Korn was a candidate for Texas State Representative in 1999, but eventually decided not to run. Some speculate that a deal was made and that Korn is owed favors to this day. Others close to Korn say he did not want to be away from his children for any length of time. Korn has written proposed legislation. Certain State Representatives have asked Korn for his opinion of bills introduced in the State House.

Korn has a Texas Concealed Handgun License and supports all constitutional rights of the people, including the right to keep and bear arms.

Although Korn relies on good relationships with law enforcement to collect money for his clients, and Korn has represented many law enforcement officers, Korn still questions authority when it exceeds the bounds of the constitution. Korn has sued the City of Irving for excessive force and is currently involved in a suit against an ATF Special Agent for unlawfully detaining an individual and his family and unlawfully searching their home. Korn says that attorneys have a professional obligation to continually ask the question written by Juvenal: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Personal

Korn has been married to Jo Elizabeth “Joël” Schifani Korn for more than twenty years. Their oldest daughter attends Texas A&M University. Their youngest daughter attends the Dallas International School. Joël and Andy’s youngest daughter each have a dog, a Maltese and a Bichon Frise. Korn says he would like an Airedale, if Joël would ever allow it.

Korn is a member of Octagon MMA in Dallas and trains there privately with MMA Instructor Sayif Saud.

Korn is a collector of original cartoon and sequential art, and has many friends and clients who are comic book creators. Korn’s specific collecting interest is attorney and courtroom themes in comic books. Some of these items are on display in Korn’s office. Original art, gifted from Korn’s collection, is on display at the Yale Law Library.

An avid reader, Korn collects rare and out of print books. A writer since he could hold a crayon, Korn continues to work on songs, screenplays and articles.