Abrams, Samuel B.

In only her first two years at Baron and Budd, Alana Kalantzakis Ackels established herself as one of the firm's prominent toxic tort litigators.

A rising star among Texas plaintiff's attorneys, Ackels has earned multi-million dollar verdicts for families suffering from the negligence of large corporations. In her first trial that went to verdict, Ackels was part of a trial team that won an $11 million verdict for the family of a mesothelioma patient whose cancer was attributed to working with asbestos-laden paint and wall products.

In 2011, Ackels helped win two multi-million dollar verdicts for the families of men who died of mesothelioma from their exposures to asbestos at the Dow Chemical Plant in Freeport, Texas. The first came in March 2011 when she helped win a $9 million verdict for the widow and daughters of an insulator who was exposed to asbestos by Dow employees at the facility in the late 1960s.

Then in December 2011 she helped win an $8.4 million verdict for the widow of a pipefitter who was exposed to asbestos from pipes, gaskets and insulation at Dow in the 1970s.

Ackels prides herself on developing close relationships with the clients she represents. Many of Ackels' clients are working-class citizens who have become victims of life altering occupational health hazards caused by negligent corporations. These cases arise when companies fail to provide safety measures for workers.

Ackels joined Baron and Budd in August 2009 after a distinguished academic career at Southern Methodist University. She majored in English and Spanish, and also studied philosophy and psychology. When she completed her bachelor's degree, she studied law at the university's Dedman School of Law where she graduated in 2009.

She spent the summer before her final year of law school working for Baron and Budd. A year later she joined the firm as an associate after seeing firsthand the difference that she could make in people's lives.