Owing to their importance or significance, quite a few of the court cases he tried were immortalized in law books, periodicals and other specialized publications. One example: the matter of George vs. Celotex Corp., reported in 914 F.2d 26, 31 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 30, Prod. Liab. Rep. (CCH)P. 12,644 (2nd Cir. (N.Y.), Sep 13, 1990) (NO. 90-7144, 1339). The George in this case was Marion George. She was the widow of one Stuart George, who worked more than a half-century for a New York-based asbestos-insulation contractor and distributor. During that time, Mr. George was almost daily exposed to asbestos dust in the company’s warehouse. A substantial portion of the dust emanated from products manufactured by a company later known as Celotex. In 1976, Mr. George died of mesothelioma. Some years passed before Mrs. George decided to sue as executrix of her husband’s estate. Accordingly, she retained Mr. Weitz to represent her in that action. Celotex and 15 others were named as defendants. Stirred by Mr. Weitz’s compelling arguments during the court proceedings and again by his summation, the jury found Celotex 90-percent responsible for the death of Mr. George and awarded to Mrs. George nearly one-quarter of a million dollars in damages. Celotex — accustomed to never losing these kinds of cases thanks to the small army of corporate lawyers it could afford to hire — appealed, contending in part that the jury should never have been permitted to consider a particularly damning piece of evidence introduced by Mr. Weitz. In the end, the appeals court ruled against Celotex and allowed the lower court’s judgement to stand. Mrs. George received the justice she sought, and Mr. Weitz acquired recognition as the first New York attorney to have obtained punitive damages against the seemingly Teflon-coated Celotex Corp.

Had Mr. Weitz chosen, he could have kept private his exhaustive knowledge of victory-producing courtroom strategies. Instead, he opted to openly share those insights with others in his profession. In so doing, he helped build not only a law firm but also an entire field of practice within the plaintiffs’ bar.

The list of presentations given by Mr. Weitz in important forums — as a lecturer, as a panelist, as a moderator — is quite lengthy. He has chaired the premier annual asbestos conferences for and with judges and lawyers and insurance companies in New York and Los Angeles for the past decade. A random sampling: he regularly co-chairs and moderates roundtable discussions featuring prominent jurists and their cutting-edge insights from the bench regarding asbestos litigation; in 2008, he co-chaired a symposium and lectured on the topic of emerging trends in asbestos litigation; in 1996, he guided attendees of an American Conference Institute lecture through the intricacies of the then-newest innovative techniques to resolve complex tort litigation.

In a similar vein, Mr. Weitz from time to time shares his knowledge with consumers via appearances in the media. He has been an interview guest on network newscasts, morning shows, public-affairs programs, and more. One of his earliest appearances occurred in 1993 when he was tapped to shed light for viewers of Court TV on the ramifications of a lawsuit alleging dangerous defects in so-called sidesaddle gas-tanks manufactured and marketed by General Motors Corp. Topics on which Mr. Weitz has been interviewed include tobacco lawsuits, silicone breast-implant failures, motor-vehicle accidents and gun control.

Perry Weitz today has every reason to be proud of the law firm that bears his name, and to be proud of the enormous good work it has accomplished — good work now worth more than $17 billion in the form of verdicts and settlements obtained for clients. Seventeen billion. That translates into an abundance of justice for those ordinary people who put their faith in Mr. Weitz and Weitz & Luxenberg to deliver justice.