Alphabetical Attorney List

Jody Anderman

Jody Anderman is based in Baron & Budd's Baton Rouge, Louisiana office. He started his legal career in 1988 and earned valuable experience at one of Baton Rouge’s largest defense firms, but Jody knew early on that his heart was leading him to represent injured... Read More

Steve Baron

Steve Baron has a gift for negotiating with people and getting things done. In addition to overseeing all of the law firm’s asbestos litigation teams, Steve is a strong negotiator whose efforts have helped provide compensation to thousands of asbestos victims. Steve also serves on advisory and... Read More

Laura J. Baughman

For Laura Baughman, her decision to become an advocate for people and communities hurt by exposure to toxic substances was personal. As a child, Laura's pediatrician feared that she was one of several children in her community who had developed leukemia suspected to be caused by contamination... Read More

Sharon Bautista

Sharon Bautista, an attorney with the firm's Appellate Section, joined Baron & Budd in 2005, shortly after graduating with honors from the prestigious University of Texas School of Law. During law school, Sharon interned with the Equal Justice Center/Central Texas Immigrant Workers Rights... Read More

Jennifer K. Berg

Jenny Berg is an attorney in Baron & Budd’s Beverly Hills, California office. She works with clients who suffer from mesothelioma, working to ensure that these clients receive their day in trial as quickly as possible and helping to guide their cases through the litigation process.

... Read More

Stephen T. Blackburn

Stephen Blackburn remembers the precise moment he decided to study law. In his home state of Florida, he attended a county commission meeting to speak out against a company planning to build a cement plant that would spew dioxin and other pollutants into the air. The company threatened to... Read More

Jed Borghei

Jed Borghei has always been interested in issues of social justice. After earning a master’s degree in philosophy, he became a lawyer because it gives him the practical ability to work for social justice in a way that can change people’s lives. Jed’s practice focuses on helping people who... Read More

Eric Brown

Attorney Eric Brown first made a name for himself as Defensive Back on the UC Berkeley football team. Today, he is a proud member of the Baron & Budd team. "B&B is a team of great people who do great things for great, hard-working people," he says.

An attorney with... Read More

Russell W. Budd

Russell W. Budd is an acclaimed lawyer who has parlayed his aptitude for cool-headed negotiations into calm yet decisive management of the more than 250 staff and attorneys at Baron & Budd. As a shareholder for over 20 years and managing shareholder and president of the firm since 2002,... Read More

Carla M. Burke

Carla Burke, an attorney and shareholder with Baron & Budd’s water contamination litigation group, began her legal career with the firm’s appellate section. She has a gift for writing and oral advocacy that has been very persuasive in the MTBE Multi-District Litigation cases. Carla has also... Read More

Denyse F. Clancy

Shareholder Denyse Clancy joined the firm in 2004, already an accomplished litigator focusing on injuries caused by exposure to benzene and other toxic solvents and chemicals. In addition to her toxic tort practice, she has litigated medical malpractice, breach of contract, fraud, product defect... Read More

Brooke Cohen

When graduating from college, Brooke Cohen’s first ambition was to work for an organization that helped women and children in need. With this goal in mind, she started her career at a nonprofit organization, then moved to Washington, D.C. to work on Capitol Hill, and finally joined a lobbying... Read More

Christopher C. Colley

Christopher Colley has dedicated his career to protecting the rights of asbestos victims and seeking compensation for their injuries. Chris worked with the Dallas-based law firm Silber Pearlman until the firm consolidated with Baron & Budd in 2008.Chris strives to help his clients... Read More

Chad Cotten

Chad Cotten’s convictions as a lawyer are founded on his resolute belief that the law is the bedrock of civilization and the cornerstone of the democracy in which we live. “The law is how we order society without resorting to violence and brute force; it protects all people, not just those... Read More

Tiffany N. Dickenson

Tiffany Dickenson, an attorney who joined Baron & Budd's asbestos litigation section in 2000, finds a great deal of satisfaction "representing hard working men and women who were injured just doing their jobs against the corporate interests responsible for their exposure to toxic... Read More

Ben K. DuBose

Shareholder Ben DuBose has a knack for cracking difficult cases – and he has the resume to prove it. Ben has taken his interest in asbestos litigation and led the way to discover the asbestos-containing properties of many products previously unknown in asbestos litigation. As a result, Ben is... Read More

Natalie Duncan

Natalie Duncan’s road to becoming a plaintiffs’ lawyer literally began on the road – on a cross country trip with other interns of the citizen watchdog group Public Citizen to the organization’s national conference in Washington, D.C. “We were towing a car with a collapsed roof to... Read More

Celeste A. Evangelisti

Celeste Evangelisti is passionate about clean water–-so much so that she has devoted the past several years of her career to representing individuals, municipalities, and water suppliers seeking clean-up costs for contamination damaging community water supplies. Hard-driving and tenacious, her... Read More

Misty A. Farris

Misty Farris has devoted her career to speaking for people who otherwise would not have a voice in the legal process. A former shareholder now Of Counsel to the firm, Misty spent more than a decade with the firm's Appellate Section, where she represented clients through appeals and dispositive... Read More

Roger E. Gold

Roger Gold joined the firm to lead Baron & Budd’s California team. Roger has spent his career helping individuals obtain justice from corporate wrongdoers. He is passionate about helping his clients at the most difficult point in their lives. He feels driven “to help good, decent people... Read More

Michael J. Hanners

Mike Hanners, formerly of Dallas-based Silber Pearlman, is a skilled litigator who has devoted his legal career to representing workers injured by exposure to asbestos and other toxic substances. He focuses his practice on dealing with settlement and bankruptcy issues. Before... Read More

Ann Harper

Ann Harper has spent her career representing workers who have developed mesothelioma and other serious illnesses caused by exposure to asbestos. She is an attorney in Baron & Budd’s settlement department, where she works through the issues necessary to get the firm’s clients compensation... Read More

Melissa K. Hutts

Melissa Hutts, a Baron & Budd shareholder, is an accomplished trial lawyer who has won significant jury awards in Texas and Louisiana on behalf of workers who developed mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Beloved by Baron & Budd staff and clients alike, Melissa is known... Read More

Stephen C. Johnston

A hard-working and determined advocate, shareholder Stephen Johnston has served Baron & Budd clients since 1997. Stephen puts his degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences to good use as an attorney with the firm's water contamination litigation section, representing individuals and... Read More

J. Todd Kale

J. Todd Kale joined Baron & Budd in 2008 when the firm consolidated with Dallas-based law firm Silber Pearlman.  Todd worked with mesothelioma sufferers and other victims of asbestos-related disease in Silber Pearlman from 1993, shortly after the law firm was founded, and continues that work... Read More

John Langdoc

John Langdoc is no stranger to the often complex medical and scientific issues involved in the cases he tries. Before becoming a lawyer, he was a scientist who studied how the brain works. At Baylor College of Medicine he researched the brains of people with schizophrenia, depression, and autism.... Read More

Jo Ann Lea

Jo Ann Lea is an attorney in Baron & Budd’s Louisiana office, where she represents individuals suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.  Before joining Baron & Budd, Jo Ann practiced at Baton Rouge-based LeBlanc and Waddell.  Jo Ann has been inspired... Read More

Burton LeBlanc

Shareholder Burton LeBlanc’s connection with and love for Louisiana and the law run long and deep. As a child Burton was mesmerized by his grandfather who was a “country lawyer” with a diverse, thriving and unflappable practice. In fact his grandfather’s choice of profession so impressed... Read More

Cary McDougal

Over the nearly two decades that he has practiced law, Cary McDougal has proven to be a formidable trial lawyer with unflinching resolve to serve his clients. Cary has been lead attorney in over 75 jury trials in state and federal court. He has tried cases involving such diverse areas of the law... Read More

Kevin D. McHargue

Kevin McHargue was on the road to becoming a journalist. As an undergraduate student at the University of Texas, Kevin was the Editor in Chief of the campus paper, The Daily Texan, and a staff writer for the Austin Business Journal. Instead, he became a lawyer because this early... Read More

Roxanne McKenzie

Roxanne McKenzie is a native Louisianan who has spent the bulk of her legal career in Baron & Budd’s Baton Rouge office. She has devoted her skills to representing other Louisianans who suffer from mesothelioma and other illnesses caused by asbestos.

Her work is satisfying because... Read More

Laurie J. Meggesin

It was not a coincidence that Laurie Meggesin joined Baron & Budd straight out of law school in 1995. While working in the field of social services and non-profit management in Dallas, Laurie was intrigued by several cases in the press—all of which were handled by Baron &... Read More

Renée Melançon

Renée Melançon is a shareholder with Baron & Budd's appellate section. Since joining the firm in 2001, Renée has worked on a variety of toxic tort cases involving complex and novel legal issues. For example, Renée was a member of the team that in 2006 was awarded the prestigious... Read More

Marty A. Morris

Marty Morris was an attorney with a well-known commercial litigation firm for several years before joining Baron & Budd in 1999. He now works with the firm's asbestos litigation group, representing people with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases and assisting with the... Read More

Christopher B. Norris

Chris Norris started his career at Baron & Budd years ago as a paralegal, honing his skills and understanding of the law through the intensity of trial. When Chris left the firm to attend law school, he was missed. But Baron & Budd was pleased to welcome him back as an attorney, now... Read More

Jeffrey O' Connell

Jeffrey O’Connell, formerly an attorney with Dallas-based law firm Silber Pearlman which consolidated with Baron & Budd in 2008, has spent his legal career in the service of asbestos victims—people suffering from diseases like malignant mesothelioma.  Jeff was outraged to find that... Read More

Patrick O'Connell

Baron & Budd has long protected individuals from corporate wrongdoing. Under the leadership of Patrick O’Connell, the firm is also fighting corporate fraud against the government. Baron & Budd’s Qui Tam litigation team fights on behalf of government entities and individual... Read More

Jason Placke

Jason Placke, a native Louisianan who works in Baron & Budd’s Baton Rouge, Louisiana office, knew by the time he was 8 years old that one day he would be a lawyer.  As he listened to his Uncle Allan and Great Uncle Edgar talk with passion about the opportunities they had as lawyers to help... Read More

Lance Pool

Lance Pool’s dream of helping people through the practice of law began when he was a child in Liberal, Kansas. As he observed the small town’s  local lawyer handling the potpourri of cases that came his way, Lance instinctively knew that  “lawyering” was a powerful way to make things... Read More

Kelly Reddell

Kelly Reddell, Of Counsel to the firm, joined Baron & Budd with a demonstrated commitment to fighting difficult battles for her clients.  She represents clients who suffer from silicosis or work-related hearing loss or who have suffered other serious bodily... Read More

Brent M. Rosenthal

When Brent Rosenthal joined Baron & Budd straight out of law school in 1980, the fledgling firm had two other attorneys–the firm's two founders. At the beginning of his legal career, Brent had the vision and foresight to recognize that his aspirations and those of the firm were well-aligned. ... Read More

M. Cristina Sanchez

Cristina Sanchez had originally planned on going to medical school, but her work at a small plaintiffs’ firm after college inspired her to instead pursue a career in law. Cristina worked for the same firm while in law school and joined Baron & Budd in 2005. “I came to Baron & Budd because I... Read More

Lisa White Shirley

“I want to use the law as a tool to fight for social justice and to be a voice for the powerless in society,” says attorney Lisa White Shirley. Lisa has certainly dedicated her legal career to this goal. Prior to joining Baron & Budd, she represented Florida state prisoners in federal... Read More

Thomas M. Sims

With a background in public interest law and a passion for doing the right thing, Tom Sims came to Baron & Budd right after law school graduation. He worked on a variety of toxic tort cases, representing individuals who had been injured by exposure to mercury, chromium, dioxin, PCBs, TCE and... Read More

Charles Soechting

Charles Soechting demonstrated his zeal for advocacy early in his legal career.  As a law student at South Texas College of Law – a law school known for producing lawyers with well-honed courtroom skills – Charles was named National Champion of the American Bar Association National Appellate... Read More

John J. Spillane

“I have always wanted to fight for the underdog, having at many times in my life felt like the underdog,” says John Spillane, a Baron & Budd shareholder who heads the firm’s asbestos litigation practice in several jurisdictions. “My legal career has been my best opportunity to do just... Read More

Bruce W. Steckler

Bruce Steckler joined Baron & Budd in 2006 with a track record over a decade long of successfully litigating toxic tort, medical malpractice, products liability, and personal injury cases. Previously a partner at three Dallas-based firms and currently a Baron & Budd shareholder, Bruce... Read More

Scott Summy

Dallas-based Baron & Budd, P.C. has long been on the cutting edge of litigation battling polluters for redress for illness and damage caused by environmental contamination. And water contamination is no different. Under the leadership of Attorney Scott Summy, who successfully... Read More

Cameron Waddell

Cameron Waddell joined Baron & Budd as Special Counsel from the Louisiana law firm LeBlanc & Waddell when the two firm’s consolidated in 2008.  Cameron is an experienced and tremendously successful trial lawyer, having handled cases on behalf of asbestos victims throughout the United... Read More

Chad A. West

Chad West was drawn to Baron & Budd because of the firm’s groundbreaking role in protecting water quality for communities and individuals. Chad grew up on a Midwest farm where he learned to appreciate the importance of water. “I wanted to use my law degree to protect this precious resource from... Read More

John L. Yates

John Yates joined Baron & Budd Of Counsel in 2005, with over 30 years experience as a successful civil trial lawyer. “The reasons for my move to Baron & Budd were the firm’s reputation for excellence and the opportunity to work with a group a highly talented and dedicated people who are... Read More