As noted previously here and here, it is well known around the U.S. that the Rio Grande Valley and much of the Coastal Plain southwest of the Houston metro area is a plaintiff’s lawyer’s paradise.
It’s just not everyday that a plaintiff’s lawyer — in this case, Friendswood lawyer Anthony Buzbee — brags about it to a roomful of defense lawyers. While being recorded. Which results in a prominent Nathan Koppel/Wall Street Journal ($) article and a blog post in Peter Lattman’s popular WSJ Law Blog.
Not surprisingly, the recording of Buzbee’s talk is being used at the state legislature by lobbyists and legislators wanting to change one of the favorable venue provisions that Buzbee bragged about in his talk.
Longtime Houston plaintiff’s lawyer Ronnie Krist pretty well summed up in the WSJ article how most plaintiff’s lawyers are reacting to Buzbee’s talk:

“Lawyers are always looking for a more favorable venue, but to say in a public forum that notwithstanding the evidence, an Hispanic jury and judge will allow you to win undermines public confidence” in the system, he says. “Those are the sorts of things you shouldn’t whisper to your wife in the middle of the night.”