Attorney Profiles

Biography

Kelly Reddell, Of Counsel to the firm, joined Baron & Budd with a demonstrated commitment to fighting difficult battles for her clients.  She represents clients who suffer from silicosis or work-related hearing loss or who have suffered other serious bodily injuries.  When a client has been seriously hurt and needs a tenacious advocate, Kelly is ready.

In her most publicized case, Kelly represented the family of a disabled man in an attempt to hold the Denton State School accountable for the beating that punctured his intestines and left him nearly paralyzed, depending on a feeding tube and confined to a wheelchair.  Ironically, Denton State School officials initially claimed that the young man had been injured by a seatbelt in the school’s van.  If he had been, Denton State School could have been held responsible for his injuries and forced to compensate the family, making it possible to care for the young man at home. 

However, because this man was beaten by a caregiver with his hands and feet (rather than a bat or other object) and because he was not injured in a vehicle, his case did not fall within the two narrow exceptions to “sovereign immunity’’—the legal doctrine that keeps the state from being held liable in court, like an individual or company would be, when someone is negligently or intentionally injured.  Kelly knew she was facing enormous obstacles in pursuing justice for the family.  She went to the Texas Legislature, testifying before House Civil Practice Committee in April 2007 to ask that lawmakers give the family a waiver, letting them sue the Denton State Hospital for his injuries and future care.  The House unanimously approved the waiver, but the Senate refused to act on the request. 

The family did not get the compensation they needed to care for this victim of abuse, but the case did attract the attention of the media and prompted a federal investigation of conditions at Denton State School.

Kelly came to Baron & Budd because she wanted to be part of a team that was making a difference in individual lives and in communities.  “I had known some of the lawyers at Baron & Budd for years,” she said.  “They were enthusiastic about their cases and really saw themselves as fighting for justice.  I wanted to be part of that.”

Kelly’s personal life is equally rewarding and challenging.  She and her husband stay very active with their four children.