Other Toxic Substances

Laura J. Baughman

For Laura Baughman, her decision to become an advocate for people and communities hurt by exposure to toxic substances was personal. As a child, Laura's pediatrician feared that she was one of several children in her community who had developed leukemia suspected to be caused by contamination... Read More


Stephen T. Blackburn

Stephen Blackburn remembers the precise moment he decided to study law. In his home state of Florida, he attended a county commission meeting to speak out against a company planning to build a cement plant that would spew dioxin and other pollutants into the air. The company threatened to... Read More


Celeste A. Evangelisti

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... Read More


Melissa K. Hutts

Melissa Hutts, a Baron & Budd shareholder, is an accomplished trial lawyer who has won significant jury awards in Texas and Louisiana on behalf of workers who developed mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Beloved by Baron & Budd staff and clients alike, Melissa is known... Read More


Renée Melançon

Renée Melançon is a shareholder with Baron & Budd's appellate section. Since joining the firm in 2001, Renée has worked on a variety of toxic tort cases involving complex and novel legal issues. For example, Renée was a member of the team that in 2006 was awarded the prestigious... Read More


Thomas M. Sims

With a background in public interest law and a passion for doing the right thing, Tom Sims came to Baron & Budd right after law school graduation. He worked on a variety of toxic tort cases, representing individuals who had been injured by exposure to mercury, chromium, dioxin, PCBs, TCE and... Read More