Frederick Baron

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Frederick Martin Baron (born 1947 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is a trial lawyer best known for representing plaintiffs claiming toxic and chemical exposure. He has also been an active figure in politics as a fund-raiser for the Democratic Party

Legal career

Baron is one of America’s most prominent trial lawyers. He is a founder of Baron & Budd, P.C., a Dallas, Texas law firm and a former president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.asbestos exposure. His firm has become one of the largest firms in the country representing victims of toxic and chemical exposure particularly claims of

One academic estimated that Baron & Budd, along with Ness Motley, was one of two firms responsible for half of the hundreds of thousands of asbestos litigation claimants in the country.United States Supreme Court to de-certify nationwide asbestos class action settlements involving future claims of people who are not yet ill, but who may later develop asbestos-related illnesses. The decertification addressed the problem that asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma (a fatal cancer of the lining of the lung), have a latency period of 20-40 years from the date of exposure.^[3] Baron successfully convinced the

Politics

Baron has been an active figure in politics as a prominent fund-raiser for the Democratic Party and fellow trial lawyer, Sen. John Edwards. Baron was the finance chair of Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign before co-chairing the Kerry Victory '04 committee, a joint effort of the Democratic National Committee and the Presidential campaign of John Kerry. Baron gave $1.7 million to the Texas Democratic Trust in the last two years and is also heavily involved in Edwards's 2008 presidential campaign, moving to North Carolina to head up fundraising there.

Baron has joked about the prominence he and other trial lawyers have in the Democratic Party. In a July 2002 speech, he noted a Wall Street Journal editorial that said that "the plaintiffs bar is all but running the Senate." Baron pointed to the editorial and said, "Now I really, strongly disagree with that. Particularly the 'all but.'"

Controversy

Asbestos litigation tactics

Baron & Budd have been criticized by attorneys for both plaintiffs and defendants for their role in asbestos litigation in aggressively seeking payment for plaintiffs who have suffered no injury; as a result, many defendants have been bankrupted and seriously injured plaintiffs have been unable to recover.

The Baron & Budd Script Memo controversy

Main article: Baron & Budd Script Memo controversy

The Baron & Budd Script Memo controversy is an incident in asbestos litigation where it is alleged that Baron & Budd engaged in subornation of perjury and a cover-up. Though (and because) no attorneys were disciplined or sanctioned over the incident, it is frequently cited by United States civil justice reformers and politicians as an example of ethical problems in the plaintiffs' bar and asbestos litigation. Baron and some academics argue that the memo was the act of a single paralegal, and that it was within the bounds of "zealous representation."However, the Dallas Observer conducted an investigation of the memo, and found that "a number of former Baron & Budd employees say that the information and techniques contained in the memo are widely used, even taught to employees" and that the "memo was not truly an aberration, but a written example of how the product-identification staff works at Baron & Budd."

Resignation from Baron & Budd and litigation

In 2002, Baron left Baron & Budd along with his wife, Lisa Blue. The separation from the firm he founded has not been without controversy. Baron sued his former firm for breach of contract; Baron & Budd counterclaimed alleging that Baron and Blue breached contractual, fiduciary and legal obligations to the firm by failing to receive prior consent from Baron & Budd for plans to form a new firm.