As many of you are aware, TCJL lost one of its dearest friends and most dedicated supporters with the passing of Rob Looney last week. Rob became involved in our fledgling organization in 1988, the year he assumed the presidency of the Texas Oil and Gas Association. During his 26 years at TXOGA and beyond, Rob worked closely with us on our civil justice reform efforts and allowed us free access to his team and member companies when the time came to call out the troops. As he was in his personal life, so he was in his professional life: unselfish, unconcerned about who got the credit when things went right, more than willing to wear it when things went wrong, unfailingly loyal to his friends, and always insistent on taking the high road. We will not see his like again.
You may not know that when Rob became Chairman of the TCJL Executive Committee in 2009, times were pretty tough around here. What was Rob’s response? Move ahead. Keep doing the things that made TCJL successful in the first place. Perhaps more than anyone else, Rob recognized the value that TCJL brought to the table for the business community. He knew that TCJL provided an invaluable resource to his own members by taking the bullets that come with policymaking in the civil justice arena. He knew that having TCJL as an independent and credible voice of reason in the legislature and the courts could not be duplicated by anyone else. Rob’s leadership during this period of our history not only revived the organization, but made us better, leaner, and more effective than ever before.
We’re still here because Rob Looney stepped in when we needed him the most. That was par for the course for Rob. Any time he got involved in something, it worked and prospered. He may have grown up in Kansas (and he had a habit of concluding his Monday morning meetings by saying “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk,” particularly when the Jayhawk hoops team was in town), but he was a Texan through and through. The day that some greater power put it in Rob’s head that he needed to move to Austin and get involved in state government was a great day for Texas.
Rob will always be part of our DNA at TCJL. We are heartbroken to lose him. We are equally grateful to have enjoyed the benefit of his friendship, wisdom, and experience for so long. Rob wasn’t just somebody we worked with. He was family. And while he may not be physically with us anymore, we like to think he has reunited with some of his old pals, like Harry Whitworth, Bob Bullock, George Christian, John Fainter, Bill Barton, Bill Abington, Tony Proffitt, and others that have lit the way for the rest of us. We should all be so lucky to have had a life like Rob’s, and we thank Miss Charlotte, Stacy, Krissy, and all of Rob’s family for sharing him with us all these years.
