Frederick M. Baron, 1947 – 2008
Frederick Martin Baron, devoted husband, loving father, trailblazing lawyer, and champion of the working man, died peacefully at his Dallas home on October 30, 2008 after a battle with cancer.
Frederick Baron was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1947. He moved with his mother to the central Texas town of Smithville at the age of fifteen, where he excelled in his studies and played on the high school football team. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Texas and then attended the University of Texas – School of Law, where he served as editor of the law review. While in law school, he spent a summer in Washington, D.C. working for consumer advocate Ralph Nader and developed a commitment to improving the plight of working men and women in this country.
Upon his graduation from law school in 1971, Baron took a job with the law firm of Mullinax, Wells, Mauzy & Baab, one of the few firms in Texas that represented labor unions and union workers. Among his early clients was Karen Silkwood, who alerted the public to unsafe practices at a nuclear power plant in Oklahoma, and Herman Yandle, who developed cancer after working with asbestos at a manufacturing plant outside Tyler, Texas. Fred quickly developed a nationwide reputation for his expertise and skill in representing workers who had developed occupational illnesses.
Baron formed his own law firm, now known as Baron & Budd, in 1977, which specialized in representing victims of occupational disease and industrial pollution. Fred was a pioneer in uncovering the harm caused to the public by the use of asbestos-containing products, and he successfully represented thousands of individuals who had become sick or who had lost loved ones as a result of asbestos exposure. Landmark cases include his representation of 1,600 residents of Tucson, Arizona who had become sick because of their exposure to groundwater contaminated by the chemical TCE; his advocacy on behalf of several hundred West Dallas children who lived under the shadow of a lead smelter that polluted their neighborhood; and residents of the towns of Apollo and Parks Township, Pennsylvania, who were exposed to radioactive emissions in an area near a nuclear plant.
Baron has also been credited for his efforts in challenging abusive class action settlements in which corporations attempted to settle their liability for a fraction of what individuals would otherwise be entitled to recover in the courts. Fred twice led successful battles in the United States Supreme Court to defeat such settlements, and as a result, future victims of toxic injuries can no longer have their rights compromised by class action settlements in which they have no voice.
In addition to his representation of individual clients, Fred was a tireless public advocate for workers and consumers. Together with Ralph Nader and several other prominent lawyers, he founded Trial Lawyers for Public Justice in 1982 and served as that organization's president from 1997 through 1998. Fred was a strong supporter of the consumer group Public Citizen and a founding board member of the American Constitution Society. In 2000, Fred was elected president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now known as the American Association for Justice), an organization with 60,000 members dedicated to safeguarding victims rights, strengthening the civil justice system, and improving public health and safety.
The awards and honors Fred received during his legal career are too numerous to list in full. In 2006, the National Law Journal named Fred one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in the U.S." On November 3, 2005, he received the "Outstanding Service Award" given by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law at the University of Texas School of Law. In June 2000, the legal publication "Texas Lawyer" named him as a lawyer who helped shape Texas law in its series "Legal Legends: A Century of Texas Law and Lawyering." Fred was also a mentor and inspiration to scores of young lawyers who became effective advocates for the less fortunate in their own right. He was a loyal supporter of the University of Texas School of Law. In 2001, the law school honored Fred by endowing the Frederick M. Baron Chair in Law, which is held by a senior professor of the law school engaged in original research on lawyering and the civil justice system.
In 2003, Baron turned his full attention to his life-long love of politics. He served as advisor to John Edwards that year, and in 2004 he headed the general election finance team of the John Kerry-John Edwards presidential ticket. He served as national finance chair of Senator Edwards' campaign for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. Fred was involved in local politics as well, founding the Texas Democratic Trust in 2005. The success of the Trust has led many to credit Baron with single-handedly reviving the Democratic Party in Dallas County.
Fred was widely known and admired for his charitable work. With his wife Lisa, he founded the Baron and Blue Foundation in 2002 to help non-profit organizations fight the problems of homelessness and displacement and to promote the needs of the underserved. The foundation distributed more than $500,000 in grants in 2008. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Fred dedicated his time, energy and money to help the less fortunate, as he spent time at Reunion Arena consoling and counseling the victims, bringing them food and toiletries, and helping them however he could.
Wife, Lisa Blue Baron; son Andrew Baron, daughter Courtney Baron, her husband, Blair Singer, Courtney's daughter Eliza; daughters Alessandra, Caroline, and Nathalie; brother Robert and sister Joan and countless friends, colleagues, former employees, clients, and courtroom adversaries who admired Fred's accomplishments and commitment will miss his dedication, spirit, and enormous heart.
Reprinted with permission from author Brent Rosenthal