Celeste Evangelisti

Attorney at Law
Phone: (214) 521-3605
Fax: (214) 520-1181

Biography

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 legal prowess earned her the honor of being named a “Texas Super Lawyer” (Thompson Reuters, 2003-2005). She was also a member of the legal team representing Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) that were named “Attorneys of the Year” for Environmental Law in 2001 by California Lawyer (Daily Journal Corp.) for the resolution of a precedent-setting case requiring major oil companies to clean up more than 1,000 sites contaminated by the gasoline additive MTBE.

A shareholder with Baron & Budd’s water contamination litigation group, Celeste currently represents plaintiffs in several states across the country seeking redress for polluted drinking water supplies. She is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, its top rating. She is also a frequent speaker and presenter on legal topics concerning the prosecution of water contamination cases involving the gasoline additive MTBE and other contaminants of concern. Celeste also represented, pro bono, the family of a woman who perished during the 9/11 attacks in a claim for assistance from to the Victims Compensation Fund.

“The lengths some polluters will go to increase their profits at the expense of the well-being of entire communities never ceases to amaze me,” she says. “It is ultimately very satisfying to bring these companies to justice and protect the environmental integrity of our water supplies.”

Education

Cornell University School of Law (J.D. 1995)
State University of New York at Binghamton (B.A. 1992)

Bar & Court Admissions

Texas
California
New York
United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of Texas
United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California
United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Awards

Texas Super Lawyer (Thompson Reuters, 2003-2005)

Daily Journal Corp.’s California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award for Environmental Law, 2001 (member of legal team/awardee)

Professional Associations

New York State Bar
State Bar of California
State Bar of Texas
American Association for Justice – Environmental Law Section
Public Justice
Dallas Trial Lawyers Association

Presentations

“How to Work Up an MTBE Case – Documents and Depositions,” MTBE Multi-District Litigation PSC Group (March 15, 2005).

“Pursuit of Damages by Municipal Water Providers and Private Well Owners,” Mealey’s MTBE & USTs Litigation Conference (December 6, 2004).

“MTBE: The Plaintiffs’ Perspective,” Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (July 29, 2004).

“Perchlorate in Ground Water: Legal Implications,” American Ground Water Trust (February 9, 2004).

“Perchlorate: The Blast that Lasts,” 11th Annual Region 9 Tribal EPA Conference (October 23, 2003).

“Discovery Issues: What are your looking for? What are you going to find?” Mealey’s MTBE and USTs Litigation Conference (November 4-5, 2002).

“MTBE: What the Public’s Representatives Should Know,” Twelfth Annual Texas Environmental Superconference (August 2, 2000).

“Update on Class Actions,” Mealey’s MTBE Conference (May 11-12, 2000).