Russell W. Budd

Top rated Class Action & Mass Torts attorney in Dallas, Texas

Baron & Budd, P.C.
Russell W. Budd
Baron & Budd, P.C.

Practice Areas: Class Action & Mass Torts, Products Liability

Licensed in Texas since: 1979

Education: The University of Texas School of Law

Selected to Super Lawyers: 2003 - 2024

Baron & Budd, P.C.

3102 Oak Lawn Avenue
Suite 1100
Dallas, TX 75219 Visit website

Details

Russell W. Budd is a major force in the world of plaintiff’s attorneys, having devoted his three-decade career to championing the rights of people and communities injured by corporate malfeasance. Currently Mr. Budd presides over one of the nation’s largest plaintiff’s firms, Baron & Budd, PC, headquartered in Dallas, Texas with offices in Austin, Texas; Los Angeles, California and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Mr. Budd, a shareholder of Baron & Budd since 1985 and president and managing shareholder since 2002, has expanded the firm from its cornerstone asbestos practice to a national firm capable of tackling the biggest defendants in areas as diverse as pharmaceutical and medical device injury, water contamination, BP Gulf oil spill, financial fraud and various other areas of practice.

Over the last decade, Mr. Budd has played significant roles in asbestos litigation on a national level. As chair and member of several asbestos creditors’ bankruptcy committees, Mr. Budd successfully resolved over 100,000 victims’ claims with some of Wall Street’s biggest companies. Mr. Budd was the chief negotiator of a $4 billion national settlement with Halliburton that established a trust fund to protect present and future asbestos victims throughout the United States – the largest asbestos trust fund of its kind anywhere in the world. He was on the committee that negotiated a $3.9 billion settlement with United States Gypsum to benefit asbestos claimants. And, he participated in negotiations that led W.R. Grace to agree to fund a bankruptcy trust on behalf of asbestos claimants with nearly $3 billion in cash and stock equity.

Under Mr. Budd’s direction, Baron & Budd provided the initial funding for the launch of the International Pleural Mesothelioma Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital to research curative therapy for Mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The firm has also given generously to the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, Lung Cancer Alliance and to other asbestos awareness advocacy organizations.

Mr. Budd serves on the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and previously served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA).

On July 13, 2010, Mr. Budd was awarded the prestigious Harry M. Philo Award Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the American Association for Justice (AAJ) at the organization’s annual conference in Vancouver, BC. The award was presented in recognition of his dedicated and consistent leadership in protecting the rights of individuals through the civil-justice system. In 2007, he earned the prestigious Wiedemann Wysocki National Finance Council Award from the American Association for Justice, an award honoring attorneys for their commitment to the legal profession and their efforts to improve the civil justice system.

Under Mr. Budd’s leadership, Baron & Budd has won numerous awards. The firm was recently named by National Law Journal’s to its "Hot List" of exemplary plaintiffs’ firms in the United States and has been included in the Hot List eight times.

Mr. Budd and his wife are very involved in the community and one of the causes closest to his heart is Habitat for Humanity, which gives hardworking Dallas families a chance at first-time home ownership. He has personally contributed generously to the "Building on Faith" project, a collaborative initiative between the Dallas Faith Communities Coalition (DFCC), the City of Dallas and Habitat for Humanity to build 100 affordable single-family homes in West Dallas. In addition, Mr. Budd has donated land to the City of Dallas that enabled the completion of a massive bike and hike trail. In 2010, Mr. Budd was the only attorney selected to serve on the Foundation Board of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).

Practice areas

Class Action/Mass Torts: Plaintiff, Personal Injury - Products: Plaintiff
  • 50% Class Action/Mass Torts: Plaintiff
  • 50% Personal Injury - Products: Plaintiff

First Admitted: 1979, Texas

Professional Webpage: http://www.baronandbudd.com/about/our-attorneys/russell-budd

Representative Clients:
  • Myers v. John-Manville Sales Corp., 600 F. Supp. 977 (D.Nev. 1984)
  • Martin, et al. v. Owens-Corning Fibreglas Corp., No. 91-08017-H (160th Jud. Dist. Ct., Dallas County, Texas)
  • Wasiak, et al. v. Owens Corning Fibreglas Corp., No. 92-02238-A (200th Jud. Dist. Ct., Travis County, Texas)
  • McCleary v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., 913 F.2d 257 (5th Cir. 1990)
  • Sigler, et al. v. Keene Corp., No. 89-04989-G (134th Jud. Dist. Ct., Dallas County, Texas)
  • Gibson v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., 648 F.Supp. 1538 (D. Colo. 1986)
  • Pittsburgh Corning Corp. v. Thomas, 668 S.W.2d 876 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 1984, no writ)
  • Oliver D. Smith & Peggy Ann Bowen Smith v. Crane Co. et al., No. 06CV1393 (122nd Jud. Dist. Ct., Galveston County, Texas)
  • Hurley, et al. v. Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp., No. 92-09252-A (200th Jud. Dist. Ct., Travis County, Texas)
  • Pace v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., 578 So.2d 281 (Ala. 1991)
  • Yeager, et al. v. Keene Corp. and Owens Illinois, Inc., No. 88-11287-G (134th Jud. Dist. Ct., Dallas County, Texas)
  • Brisboy v. Fibreboard Corp., 418 N.W.2d 650 (Mich. 1988)
  • Sykes, et al. v. Keene Corp., No. 89-10326-H (160th Jud. Dist. Ct., Dallas County, Texas)
  • Ridling v. Armstrong World Indus., et al., 627 F.Supp. 1057 (S.D. Ala. 1986)
  • Privitt v. City of Irving, 666 S.W. 2d 541 (Tex. App. Corpus Christi 1983, writ ref’d n.r.e.)
  • Stone v. Owens-Corning Fibreglas Corp., No. 92-16996A (201st Jud. Dist. Ct., Travis County, Texas)
  • Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Malone, 972 S.W.2d 35 (Tex. 1998)
  • Mason, et al. v. Keene Corp., No. 88-9327-A, 88-11246-A, 89-09636-A, (14th Jud. Dist. Ct., Dallas, County, Texas)
  • Dow Chemical Co. v. Alfaro, 786 S.W.2d 674 (Tex. 1990) cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1024 (1991)
  • Gardner v. Keene Corp., No. 89-10242-H (160th Jud. Dist. Ct., Dallas County, Texas)
  • Larson v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 427 Mich. 301, 399 N.W.2d 1 (Mich. 1986)
Pro bono/Community Service:
  • Asbestos Creditors Committee, NARCO
  • Trust Advisory Committee, Armstrong World Industries
  • Trust Advisory Committee, Combustion Engineering
  • Trust Advisory Committee, Owens Corning/Fibreboard
  • Asbestos Creditors Committee, G-I Holdings
  • Co-Chair, WR Grace – Asbestos Creditors Committee
  • Trust Advisory Committee, Babcock & Wilcox
  • Trust Advisory Committee, JT Thorpe Co. (TX)
  • Trust Advisory Committee, USG
  • Asbestos Creditors Committee, Federal Mogul
  • Asbestos Creditors Committee, Pittsburgh Corning Corporation
  • Trust Advisory Committee, ACMC
  • Chair, Fuller Austin – Trust Advisory Committee
  • Chair, Trust Advisory Committee, Swan Transportation
  • Asbestos Creditors Committee, ASARCO
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
  • Speaker, "Multidistrict Litigation in Texas", Texas Bar Association's 28th Annual Advanced Civil Trial Course, September 28, 2005
  • Panelist, "Anatomy of a Successful Asbestos Bankruptcy", Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy Conference, June 10, 2005
  • Speaker, Andrews' Asbestos Litigation 2005 Conference, April 28, 2005
  • Panelist, "Overview of 2004 and Anticipating 2005 on State and Federal Legislation Front",  Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy Conference, December 6, 2004
  • "Wall Street Forum: Asbestos", (Co-Chair), Mealey Publications & Conferences Group, April 20, 2004
  • Panelist, "Critical Issues in Mass Tort Litigation", Law.com, April 9, 2003
Educational Background:
  • Trinity University, B.A., cum laude, 1976
Bar/Professional Activity:
  • Public Justice Foundation
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas, 1981
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1985
  • Texas, 1979
  • American Board of Trial Advocates
  • Texas Trial Lawyers Association
  • United States Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1980
  • Trial Lawyers Care, Inc.
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1985
  • American Bar Association
  • Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Association for Justice
  • U.S. District Court Western District of Texas, 1983
  • Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 1981
  • Michigan, 1985
  • Dallas Bar Association -Life Fellow
Honors/Awards:
  • Wiedemann Wysocki Finance Council Award, American Association for Justice, 2007, Wiedemann Wysocki Finance Council Award, American Association for Justice, 2007
  • Steven J. Sharp Public Service Award, American Association for Justice, 2024
  • 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, Lawdragon, 2024
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Elite Trial Lawyers, National Law Journal, 2024
  • Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine, 2024
  • 500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers, Lawdragon, 2024
  • 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Lawdragon, 2024
  • Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, Lawdragon 500, 2023
  • Plaintiffs' Attorneys Trailblazers, National Law Journal, 2023
  • Harry M. Philo Award Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, American Association for Justice, 2010, Harry M. Philo Award Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, American Association for Justice, 2010
  • Johns Manville – Selected Counsel for the Beneficiaries
Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):
  • Kroger Multistate Settlement – National Prescription Opiate Litigation MDL Russell Budd served as one of the lead settlement negotiators in settlement discussion with  retail pharmacy giant Kroger Russell Budd and the negotiating team appointed by Judge Polster in MDL 2024 was able to negotiate not only an end to the litigation but a $1.4 billion settlement from Kroger for the role it played in the nation’s opioid crisis.    , 2023
  • Russell Budd was instrumental not only in convincing Walgreens to end its litigation but also in ensuring that the $500 million settlement — the largest settlement obtained to date from a single defendant by the New Mexico Attorney General — that was negotiated with the defendants would be used to abate the opioid crisis in medical care, treatment, rehabilitation, law enforcement and childcare. This settlement is also credited with helping pave the way for the nationwide opioid settlement. , 2023

Office location for Russell W. Budd

3102 Oak Lawn Avenue
Suite 1100
Dallas, TX 75219

Phone: 866-528-0634

Attorney resources for Russell W. Budd

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