Attorney Profiles

Biography

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 sue the county if it placed a citizens’ initiative on the ballot to raise air quality standards in the area. “Everyone could plainly see the company was flexing its substantial legal muscle to intimidate the commissioners,” he recalls. “None of the citizens speaking up on behalf of clean air confronted the company’s legal arguments, and the commissioners seemed too preoccupied by the threatened legal challenge to really listen to their constituents.” Awaiting his turn at the podium, Stephen decided he would fight such corporate intimidation tactics by becoming a lawyer.

Stephen currently channels his fervor for fighting environmental injustice as an attorney with Baron & Budd’s water contamination litigation group, representing communities and individuals facing environmental contamination caused by pollutants such as MTBE. Previously with the firm’s appellate section, he honed his legal theory skills as an intern with the American Civil Liberties Union, where he worked on an amicus brief for the landmark environmental case of Chavez v. Martinez, 538 U.S. 760 (2003). The arguments set forth in the amicus brief helped form the basis for Justice Souter’s important Part II opinion for the Court.

Stephen remains active in the ACLU as a board member of the organization’s Dallas chapter and as a member of the state affiliate’s legal panel. Stephen is also a guitar virtuoso and a recording artist who once performed in a handful of punk rock and emo bands.

Stephen finds Baron & Budd to be a great fit for his goals as a lawyer. “Baron & Budd is one of the nation’s most respected toxic tort firms. I have an interest in emerging toxic torts—cases where the science and legal theories are new and exciting. Being a Baron & Budd attorney allows me to be on the leading-edge of some of the most important cases in courtrooms today.” Stephen equates his experience to the super-hero TV shows of his childhood where regular people are taken advantage of by corrupt bad guys: “While being a lawyer is not as cool as driving around in a talking car, at the end of a long day I’m able to lay my head on my pillow knowing I’m fighting for a more just and equitable society.”