Pro Bono
Baron & Budd is committed to contributing legal services to the less fortunate. Through pro bono programs organized by the Dallas Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas, and through such national public law firms as Trial Lawyers Care and Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Baron & Budd attorneys have assisted in matters as diverse as representing victims of the 9/11 attacks, battling class action abuse, fighting to preserve First Amendment rights, drafting simple wills and contracts, and handling landlord/tenant controversies and family law matters. Baron & Budd attorneys continue their commitment to pro bono legal service through these and other organized projects. Unfortunately, the firm is not able to accept inquiries for pro bono services from individuals.
Trial Lawyers Care, Inc.
Baron & Budd attorneys teamed with attorneys across the country to provide free legal services to victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Dozens of Baron & Budd's attorneys represented 9-11 victims and their families in seeking compensation through the September 11th Victim's Compensation Fund. Baron & Budd is believed to have handled the largest number of these cases on a pro bono basis outside of firms in and around New York.
Public Justice
Twenty years ago, 200 of the nation's trial lawyers decided to create a new type of organization: Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, a national public interest trial lawyers' firm. TLPJ is a unique, member supported law firm that fights for justice through precedent setting litigation exposing the truth and making the wrongdoers pay. Supported by over 3,000 trial lawyers and public interest advocates throughout the world, their cutting-edge litigation has made new law and won justice for thousands.
Baron & Budd attorneys have donated considerable time to cases spearheaded by TLPJ. In 1991, TLPJ invited the firm to help represent several environmental organizations in claims arising from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Prince William Sound of Alaska. These organizations sued Exxon and others to create a trust to fund efforts to repair the environmental damage caused by the spill. A team of lawyers from the firm assumed the representation pro bono and chaired the Law Committee that formulated and implemented the legal strategies used in the case. The suit helped document the full extent of the spill's effect on the environment and ultimately prompted a significant increase in the government's recovery for environmental damages. For its "outstanding contribution to environmental protection and public interest," TLPJ awarded Brent Rosenthal and the Baron & Budd team its coveted Public Justice Award in 1993.
Lambda Legal
Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Baron & Budd attorneys have donated several hundred pro bono hours to this organization.
Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas - Family Law Clinic
In 1998, in cooperation with the Dallas Bar Association's Volunteer Attorney Program and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas (formerly North Texas Legal Services), Baron & Budd spearheaded a free family law clinic for the financially disadvantaged.
Baron & Budd attorneys have donated several hundred hours to this project. The firm and our attorneys also made significant financial contributions to LANWT helping to ensure that families and individuals who can least afford legal representation will have a chance to achieve justice through our legal system.
In 2003, LANWT presented the "Law Firm of the Year" award to Baron & Budd in recognition of the firm's contributions of time and financial support to legal services to the disadvantaged in North Texas.
Dallas Volunteer Attorneys Program
Several Baron & Budd attorneys volunteer their legal services through community legal clinics offered through the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program sponsored by the Dallas Bar Association. Attorney Natalie Duncan was presented with the 2005 Outstanding Clinic Attorney Volunteer award from the program for her pro bono work at the Garland, Texas Legal Aid Clinic.
