Dallas - The National Law Journal (NLJ), one of the nation’s most highly respected legal trade publications, has selected Baron & Budd, P.C. to be part of its “2008 Plaintiffs’ Hot List,” a just-released survey of the litigation scene over the past 12 months. Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Baron & Budd has been named to this prestigious NLJ list six of the seven years it has been published.

In developing the list, the publication sets the bar high for inclusion, asking its readers to nominate “exemplary firms that devote at least half of their resources to plaintiffs’ work, and which have achieved at least one significant win during that period (the past year).”

According to Baron & Budd co-founder and managing shareholder Russell Budd, it is precisely the high bar set that makes his firm’s inclusion in the NLJ Hot List so meaningful.

“Being part of the NLJ Hot List is a real honor, and a reflection of both the importance of our firm’s work and the caliber of our legal team,” said Budd. “To make the Hot List, you have to prevail in a case when the stakes are high, or when the outcome has a wide-reaching impact. NLJ named three of our firm’s many legal accomplishments over the past year, a fact that is especially gratifying given the long hours and hard work our talented team put behind each one of them.”

In bestowing the Hot List honor to Baron & Budd, The National Law Journal listed three “Noteworthy Cases” that the firm settled in the past year:

• In re W. R. Grace & Co., No. 01-01139 (Bankr. D. Del), with co-lead counsel Russell Budd and Steve Baron. The firm served on a negotiating committee that in April 2008 reached a settlement with W.R. Grace & Co., on behalf of asbestos claimants. Grace & Co. filed for bankruptcy in 2001;

• In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether Prod. Liab. Litig., No.MDL – 1358 (S.D.N.Y.). Co-lead counsel Scott Summy, Celeste Evengelisti, Cary McDougal, Laura Baughman, Carla Burke and Stephen Johnston. Baron & Budd represented all of the settling plaintiffs in multi-district litigation over the contamination of drinking water by the fuel additive MTBE. In May 2008, the firm reached a landmark settlement with major gasoline refiners on behalf of 153 water providers in 17 states. The refiners made a 30-year commitment to clean up contaminated wells.

• Environmental Law Foundation vs. Laidlaw Transit Inc. No. CGC-06-451832 (San Francisco Co., Calif., Superior Ct.). Lead counsel Laura Baughman and Thomas Sims. Baron & Budd, working on behalf of three environmental organizations, reached a settlement to provide California’s school children with newer buses that meet current pollution emission standards.

About Baron and Budd, P.C.
For more than 30 years, the law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C. has championed the rights of people and communities harmed by corporate misconduct. With more than 50 attorneys and offices in California, Texas and Louisiana, Baron & Budd enjoys a national reputation as a leader of the plaintiffs’ bar, a reputation that will only be enhanced by this NLJ Hot List recognition. The firm represents individuals with mesothelioma and other diseases caused by asbestos; injuries caused by other toxic substances and unsafe pharmaceuticals; water authorities seeking clean-up costs for drinking water contamination; government entities and whistleblowers fighting corporate fraud through qui tam and False Claims Act cases; securities investors defrauded by corporate wrongdoing; and consumers in class actions and bad faith insurance litigation.

About The National Law Journal
The National Law Journal provides timely legal information of national importance to attorneys, including reporting on federal circuit court decisions and verdicts of national consequence, providing in-depth analyses of critical legal issues, and interpreting how laws affect business and the courts so that attorneys and in-house counsel are kept informed.