Brent Coon & Associates is one of the most well-known and well respected law firms in the United States. But let’s take a minute and learn about the man who founded it and changed the way the legal industry works.
Hailing from Southeast Texas and the heart of the petrochemical industry, Brent readily acclimated to the strong work ethic that built heavy industry in the area, and at the same time bore witness to the tragedies that all too often befell workers engaged in the industrial trades.
Running a successful construction company and then sailing through college and law school in four years, Brent understood that it took hard work, dedication, and discipline to get ahead. He achieved his first million dollar verdict 3 years after graduating and he continued to win many other multi-million dollar verdicts over the next 30 years in a variety of cases involving occupational disease, environmental contamination, transportation injuries, products liability, maritime law and general negligence.
Today, his law firm has grown to national and international prominence. With a number of anchoring litigation offices from Ohio to California, and a network of over 100 associated firms around the country and abroad, the firm has the capacity to take on any type of litigation almost anywhere in the world. Brent has personally obtained jury verdicts for over 200 clients, with over 20 verdicts in excess of a million dollars. He continued to develop and settle thousands of additional cases, with recoveries of up to $200 million in a single year. And he has recovered in excess of a billion dollars for victims of catastrophic injury, occupational disease, pharmaceutical harm and environmental pollution.
Brent is well known as an expert in the petrochemical industry and has been an advocate with multiple media sources, including 60 Minutes, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and most other national media outlets around the world. His firm is at the forefront of the safety debate in industrial workplaces and he has personally testified in various state legislative forums and before the US Congress.
A strong believer in corporate accountability, Brent has not only pursued civil restitution but also criminal indictments against corporate officers for egregious malfeasance, most notably in the BP Texas City Refinery Explosion in 2005. In that case, Brent took the fight all the way to the Texas Supreme Court the right to take the deposition of the CEO of BP, and won. His work then assisted the Department of Justice in obtaining felony criminal pleas against BP and the termination of all key personnel in the chain of command from the plant manager through the CEO, and unprecedented feat. And when the cases settled, Brent made sure over 40 million dollars of fees went to charities that were dedicated to make workplaces safer for everyone.
Brent has served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Trial Lawyers for over 20 years, and numerous other trial advocacy organizations. He is a recipient of the Steven Sharp “Trial Lawyer of the Year Award” from the AAJ and the Clarence Darrow Award, a finalist as lawyer of the year with Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, an ALM Top 100 Plaintiff Lawyers in the Country, a founding member of The National Trial Lawyers Association, a Fortune 500 “Top 100 Go To Attorneys” along with numerous other accolades. He is designated counsel for a variety of advocacy, public policy, environmental and organized labor groups, including numerous aviation, petrochemical, law enforcement, timber, and railroad unions around the country. Brent only works almost exclusively for plaintiffs.
Brent Coon & Associates was founded in 2001. Today, with multiple satellite offices around the country and hundreds of associated firms in various practice areas, it is one of the most recognized trial law firms in the nation and the epitome of the 21st century law practice. Brent Coon & Associates employs a full complement of aggressive litigators with solid experience in individual and complex multi-party, occupational/environmental, health and personal injury cases.
BCA is a public policy firm and has worked with numerous state and federal investigative agencies, including the Department of Justice, multiple state Attorneys General, the United States Chemical and Hazards Investigation Board. BCA serves as institutional or advisory counsel to numerous agencies and organizations, including the United Steelworkers, pilot unions, railroad and other transportation unions. Their work in this arena has led to widespread improvements in the safety and working conditions of industries throughout America and abroad.
The firm and founder have been repeatedly recognized by most leading journals and legal associations including Texas Lawyer Litigation Department of the Year (2013); Forbes “Lawyer of the Month” and Forbes “Top 75 Litigation Firms”; MTMP “Clarence Darrow Award”; Texas Monthly Magazine “Texas Super Lawyers” (2007-2015); “Best Lawyers in America”; Lawdragon “”500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America”; “American Association of Justice”
Education
- Bachelor of Science, 1984, Lamar University Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society, Deans List
- Doctor of Jurisprudence, 1986, University of Houston Law Center
- Associate Editor, Houston Journal of International Law
- Advocates: Blakely Mock Trial Terms, Hippard Moot Court Terms
- Board Member (1998 to present), A.A. White Society
Admitted to Practice
- Texas Bar (Member of Litigation Section), 1987
- U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Texas, 1987
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, 1987
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, 1987
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, 1994
- Supreme Court of United States, 2008
Professional Certifications/Affiliations
- Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization (1992) Recertified – (1997, 2002)
- Board Certified, Civil Trial Law, National Board of Trial Advocacy
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association (1993) – Recertified (1998, 2003): Board of Directors, Legislative Task Force, Sustaining Member, Fellow
- Southeast Texas Trial Lawyers Association: Former President, Current Executive Committeeman
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America Litigation and Environmental Section: Law Firm Fellow, Leaders Forum, Labor Liaison Committee
- Jefferson County Bar Association, Blackstone Nominating Committee, 2001
- Jefferson County Young Lawyers Association (former Chairman): Outstanding Young Lawyer, 1997, Nominating Committee
- Port Arthur Bar Association (officer)
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
- College of the State Bar, 1998
- Jefferson County Dispute Resolution (Mediator)
- Texas Bar Foundation
Areas of Practice
- Toxic and Environmental Litigation
- Personal Injury Litigation
- Class Action Litigation
- Mass Tort Litigation
- Products Liability
- Pharmaceutical Claims
- Transportation Litigation
- Maritime Injury Litigation
Awards
- 1978 “Leadership & Scholarship Award”- American Legion
- 1978 “Businessmen’s Scholarship Award”- Southeast Texas Area Businessmen’s League.
- 1978 “Student Scholarship Award”- Junior Engineering & Technical School
- 1992 “Public Service Award”- Lamar University
- 1997-1998 “Young Lawyer of the Year”- Jefferson County Bar Association
- 2000 “AA White Society”-University of Houston Law School
- April, 2006 “Attorney of the Month” – Forbes Magazine. Including: SkyRadio interview with Stephen Murphy
- 2007 Humanitarian Award (USMWF) The United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities.
- 2007 “The Lawdragon 500 Leadings Plaintiffs’- Lawyers in America
- 2007 “The Clarence Darrow Award” – presented by Mass Torts Made Perfect. (Award is given to Plaintiff Trial Attorneys for outstanding achievement in representation and exhibiting the standards of their profession. Past recipients include Robert Kennedy, Jr., Eliot Spitzer, Johnnie Cochran, Morris Dees, Ed Blizzard, John O’Quinn and Ron Motley.)
- 2007-2014 Texas Super Lawyers- Texas Monthly Magazine
- 2007 “Steven J. Sharp Public Service Award” (Presented annually to those attorneys and clients whose cases tell the story of American Civil Justice and help educate state and national policy makers and the public about the importance of consumers’ rights.)
- 2007 Public Service Award, American Association for Justice
- 2010-2014 “The Best Lawyers in America”
- 2010 “Walk of Fame” star- Vidor Chamber of Commerce
- “Nations TOP ONE percent” Award- National Association of Distinguished Counsel.
- 2013 “Go To Law Firm” in Litigation- American Lawyer
- 2014 “Top 75 Plaintiff Lawyers in the United States”, Forbes Magazine
- 2014 “Top Attorney in Texas” – Texas Monthly Magazine.
- 2014 “Litigator Award” – Trial Lawyers Board of Regents.
- 2014 “Texas Top Lawyers” – Texas Monthly Magazine
- 2014 21st Edition of The Best Lawyers in America
- 2015 “Best Law Firms of 2015”, U.S. News & World Reports
- 2015 22nd Edition of The Best Lawyers of America
- 2015 Texas Super Lawyers, Texas Monthly Magazine
- 2015 Law 360 MVP Awards
- Litigator Award (litigatorawards.com)
- National Association of Distinguished Counsel Top 1% Nation’s Lawyers
- 2015 Global Director of Who’s Who Top Lawyer
- 2016 “Best Law Firms of 2016”, U.S. News & World Reports
- “Best of the Best”, American Registry
- “Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury Litigation”, Best Lawyers
- 2016 “Texas Super Lawyer”, Texas Monthly Magazine
- “The National Trial Lawyers Top 100”, National Trial Lawyers Association
- “2016 Dealmaker Award”, Corporate America-News
- “Nations Top Attorneys”, National Association of Distinguished Counsel
- “A1 Businesses of Distinction Award”, Acquisition International
- The National Association of Distinguished Counsel Top 1% Nation’s Lawyers
- “America’s Most Honored Professionals”, American Registry
- “Best Lawyers in Texas”, The Wall Street Journal
- “Distinguished Award of Ethical and Professional Excellence”, Martindale-Hubbell
- “Best Lawyers in Texas” Peer Recognition, published by Houston Chronicle
- 2018 “Top Lawyers in Texas” Texas Monthly
- 2019 “Best Lawyers in America” selected by peers, The Best Lawyers in America – 2019
- 2019 “Best Lawyers in Texas” – Wall Street Journal.
- 2019 “Top Attorneys of Texas” – as seen in Texas Lawyer.
- 2019 America’s Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys – America’s Top 100.
- 2019 National Trial Lawyers Top 100
- 2019 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers HALL OF FAME.
- 2019 Selectee, Excellence in Practice – Super Lawyers.
- 2019 Best of 2019 – Port Arthur News
- 2019 America’s Most Honored Professionals.
- 2019 Top Attorneys in Texas, as published in Texas Monthly.
- 2020 Legal Ability & Ethical Standards – Martindale Hubbell
- 2020 Best Lawyers in America – Best Lawyers.