Attorney Profiles
Biography
When Brent Rosenthal joined Baron & Budd straight out of law school in 1980, the fledgling firm had two other attorneys–the firm's two founders. At the beginning of his legal career, Brent had the vision and foresight to recognize that his aspirations and those of the firm were well-aligned. “I wanted to be a part of history,” he recalls, “to shape the policies of our society and to make a practical difference in peoples’ lives. I believed that Fred and Russell were (and are) exceptional lawyers whose primary interest was to further the public good.”
Brent has certainly done much to further the public good during his distinguished legal career. The founder of Baron & Budd’s Appellate Section and now Of Counsel to the firm, Brent’s resume includes a long list of significant cases–some recognized as landmark decisions– in federal and state courts across the country. Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Brent has briefed and argued cases impacting the rights of the injured and the integrity of our civil justice system before the United States Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, the Alabama Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and several other state and federal courts. Deeply committed to preserving the environment, Brent received the Public Justice Achievement Award in 1993 from Trial Lawyers for Public Justice for his “outstanding contribution to environmental protection and the public interest” while representing the National Wildlife Federation in litigation involving the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill. He was also instrumental in the briefing and preparation of two landmark cases on class certification in the United States Supreme Court, both of which resulted in important protections for plaintiffs’ rights.
A frequent speaker on the topics of civil litigation, appellate law, and mass torts, Brent has served as an adjunct professor for the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law for over a decade. Well-known and regarded in Texas legal circles, he is a past Chair of the Dallas Bar Association Appellate Section; has served on the Board of Contributors of Texas Lawyer; is a member of the City of Dallas Permit & License Appeal Board; and is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. On the national level, Brent was named to the American Bar Association’s Committee on Analyzing the State of Expert Testimony in 1990 and has served on the three-member Trustees’ Advisory Committee in the H.K. Porter bankruptcy proceedings since 1998. He has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer by Law & Politics Media and Texas Monthly Magazine in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 and was named to the publications’ list of “Top 100 Dallas/Fort Worth Super Lawyers” in 2003. While in law school, he was a co-founder and the Note Editor of The Review of Litigation. He holds an AV rating by Martindale Hubbell, Law Directory, the publication’s highest.
In addition to his legal practice, Brent is active in the local community. He is Chair of the Board of Directors at Lakehill Preparatory School and is a member of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral. A devoted husband and father of four, he has coached boys’ Little League and girls’ softball teams and announces the home games for his children’s high school football teams
Education
University of Texas School of Law (J.D., with honors, 1980)
Columbia University (B.A. 1977)
Bar & Court Admissions
Texas
United States Supreme Court
United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits
United States District Courts for the Northern and Western Districts of Texas
Professional Associations
American Bar Association
American Association for Justice
Texas Trial Lawyers Association
Texas Bar Foundation
Dallas Bar Association
Dallas Bar Foundation
Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
Presentations
State Bar of Texas, October 1989, Seminar on Civil Practice, on “Utilizing Experts in Litigation”
ATLA National Convention, San Diego, California, July 23, 1990, address to Constitutional Litigation Section on “Trial by Jury or Judiciary: Judicial Activism in Toxic Tort Cases”
University of Texas School of Law, Guest Lecturer in Toxic Torts Seminar, February, 1990 and November, 1990 (Prof. Ellen Widess)
Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, February 1991, Seminar on Toxic Tort Litigation, on “Trends in Expert Testimony in Toxic Tort Cases”
ATLA National Convention, Toronto, Canada, July 1991, address to Constitutional Litigation Section on “Expert Testimony”
South Texas College of Law, February 1993, Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, on “Technological Opportunities for the Small Budget”
State Bar of Texas, July 1993, Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, on “Toxic Torts”
ATLA Mid-Winter Convention, Maui, Hawaii, February 1, 1995, presentation to Constitutional Litigation Section entitled “Future Shock: The Use of Class Actions To Resolve Unaccrued Personal Injury Claims” (paper only)
University of Houston Law Center, Guest Lecturer in Mass Torts Seminar, September 1995 (Prof. Sofia Androgue-Gustafson)
Andrews Publications Twelfth Annual Asbestos Litigation Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 24, 1997, “Update: Flanagan v. Ahearn”
Dallas Bar Association, Appellate Section Luncheon, January 15, 1998, “Hot Issues in Mass Tort Litigation”
Mealey Publications Conference, “New Fronts in the Asbestos Wars” Boston, Massachusetts, September 14, 1998, “Big Tobacco’s Possible Culpability in Asbestos Litigation”
Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) National Convention, Washington, D.C., July 13, 1998, panel on “Ethics of Mass Tort Settlement”
University of Texas School of Law, Tenth Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals, Austin, Texas, June 8, 2000, Texas Supreme Court practice panel
Dallas Bar Association Appellate Section, Seminar for the Dallas Court of Appeals, Dallas, Texas, August 31, 2000, “Texas Supreme Court Update”
Mealey Publications Conference, “Asbestos Litigation 2000,” Chicago, Illinois, September 15, 2000, “Appellate Rulings in the Last Year”
Dallas Bar Association, Appellate Section, Seminar on “Practice Before the Dallas Court of Appeals,” Dallas, Texas, September 14, 2001, “Ten Tips for Effectively Presenting the Appellee’s Case to the Court of Appeals”
University of Texas School of Law, Twenty-Fifth Annual Page Keeton Products Liability and Personal Injury Law Conference, Austin, Texas, November 20, 2001, “Tricky Limitations Issues in Texas Products Liability and Personal Injury Cases: Application of the Discovery Rule in Latent Injury Cases After Childs and Pustejovsky”
Mealey Publications Conference, “Asbestos Litigation 101,” Pentagon City, Virginia, February 11-12, 2002, Co-Chair and presentation entitled “The History of the Litigation”
University of Texas School of Law, Twenty-Sixth Annual Page Keeton Products Liability and Personal Injury Law Conference, Austin, Texas, October 3, 2002, “Damages Update”
Mealey Publications Conference, “Asbestos Litigation 101,” Dallas, Texas, June 16-17, 2003 (Co-Chair)
University of Texas School of Law, Twenty-Seventh Annual Page Keeton Products Liability and Personal Injury Law Conference, Austin, Texas, October 31, 2003, “Cap Busting and Maximizing Economic Damages” (with Michael Sean Quinn, Austin, Texas)
Dallas Bar Association\Tarrant County Bar Association, Joint Appellate Seminar, Fort Worth, Texas, November 6, 2003 (Co-Chair and Moderator)
University of Texas School of Law, Fourteenth Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals, Austin, Texas, June 3, 2004, “Where will the Big Cases come From After House Bill 4" (panel)
University of Texas School of Law, 2004 Page Keeton Civil Trial Conference, Austin, Texas, October 28, 2004 (Co-Chair)
University of Texas School of Law, Fifteenth Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals, Austin, Texas, June 3, 2005, “Standards for Judicial Review of ‘Soft’ Compensatory Damages: Recent developments
Publications
“Panacea or Pandora’s Box,” Texas Lawyer, June 21, 1993
“When Opt-Out Class Actions are Charades,” Legal Times, Vol. XVI, No. 8, July 12, 1993.
“Georine v. Amchem Products, Inc.: The Asbestos ‘Future Claims’ Class Action,” Voir Dire (a publication of the American Board of Trial Advocates), Vol. II, No. 2, Spring, 1995
“Toxic Torts and Mass Torts” in Survey of Developments in Texas Law, 55 SMU L. Rev. 1375 (Summer 2002)
“Toxic Torts and Mass Torts” in Survey of Developments in Texas Law, 56 SMU L. Rev. 2053 (Summer 2003)
“Toxic Torts and Mass Torts” in Survey of Developments in Texas Law, 57 SMU L. Rev. 1267 (Summer 2004)
“Toxic Torts and Mass Torts” in Survey of Developments in Texas Law, 58 SMU L. Rev. 1183 (Summer 2005)
Reported Cases
Vilardebo v. Keene Corp., 431 So.2d 620 (Fla. App. 1983, appeal denied).
Pittsburg Corning Corp. v. Thomas, 688 S.W.2d 876 (Tex.App. - Houston [14th Dist.] 1984, no writ).
Meyer v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 820 F.2d 329 (9th Cir. 1987).
Sun Oil Co. v. Wortman, 486 U.S. 717, 108 S.Ct. 2117 (1988).
Whatley v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., 861 F.2d837 (5th Cir. 1988).
In re Temple, 851 F. 2d 1269 (11th Cir. 1988).
Irving v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 864 F.2d 383 (5th Cir.) Cert. denied, 493 U.S. 823 (1989).
Oakes v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp., 546 So.2d 427 (Fla. Ct. App. 1989).
Edwards v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 911 F.2d 1151 (5th Cir. 1990).
Holloway v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., 557 So.2d 611 (Fla. App. 1990, review denied).
McCleary v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., 913 F.2d 257 (5th Cir., 1990).
Willis v. Raymark Industries, Inc., 905 F.2d 793 (4th Cir. 1990).
Celotex Corp. v. Colon, 580 So.2d 801 (Fla. App. 1991).
Pace v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 578 So.2d 281 (Ala. 1991).
Welch v. Celotex Corp., 951 F.2d 1235 (11th Cir. 1992).
Kochan v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 610 N.E. 2d 283 (Ill.App. 1993, cert denied).
Keene Corp. v. Rogers, 863 S.W.2d 168 (Tex.App. - Texarkana 1993, no writ).
Celotex Corp. v. Edwards, 514 U.S. 300, 114 S.Ct. 1493 (1994).
Keene Corp. v. Belford, 881 S.W.2d 608 (Tex.App. - Corpus Christi 1994, no writ).
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation v. Keeton, 922 S.W.2d 658 (Tex.App. - Austin 1996, writ denied).
Smith v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 927 S.W.2d 85 (Tex.App. - Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, writ denied).
Amchem Products v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 138 L.Ed2d 689 (1997).
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Martin, 942 S.W.2d 712 (Tex.App. - Dallas 1997, no writ).
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Malone, 972 S.W.2d 35 (Tex. 1998).
North American Refractory Co. v. Easter, 988 S.W.2d 904 (Tex. 1998).
Walters v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp., 1 S.W.3rd 759 (Tex. App. - Corpus Christi 1999, pet. filed).
Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corp., 527 U.S. 815, 119 S.Ct. 2295, 144 L.Ed.2d 715 (1999).
Pustejovsky v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp., 35 S.W.3d 643 (Tex. 2000).
In re Union Carbide Corp., 145 S.W.3d 805 (Tex.App. - Houston [14th Dist.]
Significant Trials
McCleary v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 913 F.2d 257 (5th Cir. 1990)(San Antonio federal court, the Hon. Edward Prado presiding)
Whatley v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 861 F.2d 837 (5th Cir. 1988)(Dallas federal court, the Hon. Barefoot Sanders presiding)
Newsrss
Brent Rosenthal elected to the prestigious American Law Institute
Baron & Budd attorney Brent M. Rosenthal has been elected to the American Law Institute (ALI), a very selective and distinguished group of lawyers, judges, and law professors. As a group, ALI members are extremely accomplished professionally and they have shown interest in the improving and clarifying the law. Read More
Texas Super Lawyers Honors Baron & Budd Attorneys
Attorneys from the Dallas office of Baron & Budd, P.C. have been named to the 2005 list of Texas Super Lawyers. Read More
