The following article about Marian Rosen appeared in the Fall Newsletter of Texas Chapter of NAELA (National Association of Elder Law Attorneys), and appears here with permission of the author, Attorney Wesley E. Wright of Wright Abshire, Certified Elder Law Attorneys.
NAELA members “are attorneys who are experienced and trained in working with the legal problems of aging Americans and individuals of all ages with disabilities” who help with NAELA’s Mission to “educate, inspire, serve, and provide community to attorneys with practices in elder and special needs law.”
Marian Rosen is proud to serve on the board of the Texas NAELA, and to participate in it’s overall mission to “educate, inspire, serve, and provide community to attorneys with practices in elder and special needs law.”
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FAME, SHE WALKS AMONGST US (An Interview with Marian Rosen) by Wesley E, Wright (published in Fall Newsletter, Texas NAELA)
She’s petite and although she was born in Manhattan, the South has gladly accepted her as one of their own, therefore, she’s Southern by adoption. She became well known at an early age in her legal career.
She’s the famous Marian Rosen and she walks amongst those of us who are members of the Texas Chapter of NAELA. “I started my career as an assistant city attorney for Port Arthur, Texas.” The only other female attorney was the wife of the city attorney. She didn’t practice law, but because his wife was an attorney, he was open to a female.”
“Our first child was about three months old at the time. After about a year, I started my own firm in Port Arthur and had a general practice.
“At that time there were no specialties. Attorneys did everything: divorces, contracts, wills, civil, and criminal trials.
“I was fascinated by criminal law and sought an appointment on a murder case. My client was charged with having poisoned four family members and a best friend by administering ant poison in order to collect $1,000 on each one’s insurance policies she had taken out on their lives. She received a life sentence, saving her from the electric chair.”
Marian later ran for state representative when she was 23 years of age. “I was defeated although I ran a good race,” says Marian.
“I was interested in politics so I took an appointment as Assistant to the General Counsel of the Housing and Home Finance Administration. When the Administration changed, the general counsel and I formed a partnership with our main office in Washington, D.C. We did mostly housing projects for urban renewal projects, FHA and some senior housing.
“Later, my husband and I moved to Houston and I opened my own practice. I handled a rape case for the son of one of my husband’s employees. I lost in the trial court but kept my client out of jail while appealing, first to the Court of Criminal Appeals and then to the U.S. Supreme Court. I was sworn into that court when I was 24. My second child was born in 1958. Then I won my Supreme Court case.
“Not many attorneys had handled cases in that court. I received some forms from another attorney and after I won, I went to work for him. I advanced to partner and we handled primarily criminal cases. When divorce cases started booming, we were asked to handle many of them.
“In 1975, I became Board Certified in Criminal and Family Law. There were only three to four attorneys at the time who were double board certified.
“In July 1964, while having lunch with my partner, he received a call. It was the beginning of the Candace Mossler case.”
Candace Mossler was a Houston socialite and lived in a foreboding mansion in River Oaks. She was about to become the center of a worldwide publicized criminal trial.
“Ms. Mossler’s husband had been stabbed 39 times in his apartment in Key Biscayne, Florida. She wanted us to represent her. Her nephew, Melvin Lane Powers, was to be represented by the famous attorney, Percy Foreman, who would later represent James Earl Ray, the man convicted of killing Martin Luther King, Jr. Although she hadn’t been charged yet, she anticipated that it would occur and wanted to be prepared. It became helpful that I was licensed in both Texas and Florida. Powers and Mossler would be accused of the murder of Mossier’s multi-millionaire husband, Jacques Mossler, in his Key Biscayne, Florida, condo.
“In January of 1966, there was a long two-month trial in Miami. At that time, there was much prejudice but this case became an example of a reverse prejudice. Mr. Mossler was Jewish. Candace was not. There
was a large Jewish community in Miami. Many in the Jewish community resented Ms. Mossler. I remember being spit on when walking to my car one day.
“Many adventures followed that case. My parents were living there at the time and came to see me in court, as did my brother. The trial attracted a lot of coverage. News films would be own from Miami to Houston every day.
Marian Rosen and Candace Mossler after the successful verdict.
Reporters from Europe were fascinated by the case. Ultimately, the two were acquitted by a 12-man jury on the seventh ballot. There are videos from that trial on the internet and an episode of Investigation Discovery’s series, A Crime to Remember, outlined the story called, Candyland.”
In the 70’s, Marian worked on a number of First Amendment cases, pornographic, flag burning, long hair for boys, short skirts for girls, etc.
Her outstanding cases after that recall clients such as Shearn Moody, Kay Sandifer, Ed Wilson (ex-CIA), DeLorean, as well as representing plaintiffs against Enron. She became the first woman attorney to become Director of the National Association of Defense Lawyers. She opened her own firm in 1980 and had a series of partners. She specialized in criminal and family law cases. In late 1980, she eliminated criminal work. She lost the heart to represent the accused after having several of her friends become crime victims.
Thereafter, she worked on family and civil law matters; medical malpractice and pharmaceutical liability cases. She began looking at nursing home neglect and abuse in the 90s after her mother brought it to her attention.
She has participated in a number of nursing home abuse and elder law cases. She now serves on the Board of Directors of Texas NAELA.
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Rosen & Spears is a plaintiff law firm which seeks to protect the rights of healthcare consumers and their loved ones through medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, financial abuse of seniors, and other types of claims.
For more information, please contact us.
