[1] After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Maloney left college to join the Marine Corps.
[1] He served in the Pacific Theater of Operations and was wounded in action on Guam and Iwo Jima, receiving a Purple Heart.
[1][2] Following an honorable discharge, Maloney returned to the University of Texas in 1945, and received a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1948.
[1][2] Maloney worked as a sportswriter before meeting a law student, Olive Patricia Boger, whom later he married and briefly practiced with.
[1] He represented a variety of clients, including the Congregation of Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word; Duval County rancher and oil tycoon Clinton Manges; and San Antonio madam, Theresa Brown, whom Maloney once described as "an intellectual giant.
[1][2] "Known for his flamboyant courtroom tactics," Maloney was also well known for his "Knowing the Law" television commercials on various legal issues, which he began in 1973.
Maloney won the case; the San Antonio Express-News commented that the dog and her owner "had more legal talent representing them this week on a city court misdemeanor than do most capital murder defendants.
He wrote Winning the Million Dollar Lawsuit (1983) and co-authored Trials and Deliberations: Inside the Jury Room (1992).