In the courtroom, Howard Janet was passionate.

Over his nearly five-decade-long career as an attorney defending medical malpractice and sexual abuse victims, he was known to show his feelings while fighting for clients. He trained the lawyers at his firm to do the same.

“He had a lot of fire in what he did,” said his son, Andrew Janet, who is also a partner at the firm he built, Janet, Janet and Suggs.

Howard Janet died on Sept. 18 after complications from a heart and kidney transplant. He was 70.

Howard Janet was long considered one of the top lawyers in the country for medical malpractice and sexual abuse, earning his clients hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. His law firm and the Maryland State Bar Association estimated he accumulated over $3 billion in verdicts and settlements over the course of his career.

But when Howard Janet’s workday was over, his advocacy didn’t stop. At home, he fought for his family, especially when his other son, Adam Janet, and wife, Rina Janet, were both diagnosed with cancer several years ago.

Howard Janet, who had worked on behalf of thousands of clients across the country, used his grit that was often observed in the courtroom to find his family the best treatments available, Andrew Janet said.

“Ultimately, those were battles he couldn’t win for us,” said Andrew Janet. Rina died in 2018, and Adam died the following year.

“But I think that it gave us all a lot of inspiration, it may have extended their lives and was just a really shining example of what it meant to be a devoted husband and father,” Andrew Janet added.

The longtime lawyer rarely left Baltimore throughout his life. Howard Janet was born and raised in the city by his parents, Ann and Irwin Janet, and attended Woodlawn High School. Growing up, he was inspired to become a lawyer by Perry Mason, the courtroom drama television show about a defense attorney who works to clear the names of people falsely accused of crimes.

After high school, Howard Janet attended the University of Maryland, College Park, and then went on to the University of Baltimore for law school.

Howard Janet’s mother passed before he began his studies. As part of Jewish tradition, he said Kaddish with the campus Hillel organization to mourn his mother. It was there he met Rina, who he married in 1978.

After graduating from law school, he began his storied career in the courtroom, prosecuting medical malpractice and personal injury cases.

Eventually, he became a legal champion for more than 30,000 families across the United States with children who developed cerebral palsy caused by preventable birth injuries. Howard also helped found the Cerebral Palsy Family Network, which supports parents looking for resources for their children with cerebral palsy.

His major courtroom settlements stretch from Maryland to California. In 2021, Howard Janet secured $824.4 million for his clients who claimed a gynecologist at the University of Southern California sexually abused them. He represented sexual abuse victims again in his hometown against Johns Hopkins Hospital, and eventually settled with them for $190 million.

Howard Janet was often recognized nationally for his work, winning several awards since the early 2000s.

Over the years, he also contributed and worked for local Jewish charities, including The Associated, which helps support the Jewish community in Baltimore.

In between work and philanthropy, Howard Janet enjoyed golfing with friends. He served as president of the Woodholme Country Club for a brief period in the ’90s, said Andrew Janet.

But his crowning achievement, Andrew Janet said, was likely the law firm he built over 30 years ago and where he was able to work with his two sons.

William “Billy” Murphy, founder and senior partner of Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, said Howard was an “outsized personality” in the legal community in Baltimore.

“He was not reticent to give his ideas to whatever group he was in, contrary to many lawyers,” Murphy said. “He always had an opinion, and it was usually an excellent opinion.”

Later in life, he met Ronnie Glaser at Beth El synagogue, and she became his significant other before his death.

In his final days, Andrew Janet said that he spent time with his dad in the hospital watching the show that inspired his journey — Perry Mason.