Noted Austin Attorney Phil Durst Dead At 63

AUSTIN, TX — Noted Austin attorney Phil Durst died Tuesday after battling health problems in recent months. He was 63 years old.

A name partner in the firm of Deats Durst & Owen, Durst was being remembered as much for his legal acumen as for his sense of humor. The website law.com reported the attorney "...gave the gift of laughter to countless appellate lawyers and law students with his hilarious legal teaching. Fellow attorneys have described Durst's death as "devastating," the online site added.

“Many thousands of people will mourn him," longtime friend Randy Roach Jr. said. "He was well loved in the legal community and art community. He was one of Austin’s great artists," the attorney who went to high school and law school with Durst said. “He was just so funny," Roach added. "He had this wonderful sense of humor that spoke the truth.”

Durst was known for using his legal skills to further personal causes, such as his advocacy for the Save Our Springs Alliance nonprofit that protects Barton Springs. In one high-profile case, law.com reported, Durst represented plaintiffs against the state government to disclose drug manufactures providing the ingredients for lethal injections used on death row inmates.

Durst further made a name for himself in representing attorneys who worked in government agencies and faced retaliation for blowing the whistle about government fiscal mismanagement or legal abuses, the site noted. Texas Lawyer honored Deats Durst & Owen in 2016 as a Litigation Department of the Year in the Labor and Employment practice group given the firm’s work for those government whistleblowers, law.com reported.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

>>> Read the full story at law.com