Gonzalo Joseph Barrientos, “Joseph” was born and raised in Austin, Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1983 and his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1987. He served as an assistant Travis County Attorney in Austin, Texas from 1987 to 1988. In 1998 he became a felony prosecutor with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office representing victims of serious crime from 1988 to 1992. Joseph concluded his prosecutorial career in 1992 as the chief prosecuting attorney in the 147th Judicial District Court.
In 1992 Joseph became associated with the plaintiff’s personal injury firm of Perry & Haas, L.L.P. in Corpus Christi, Texas where he met and worked with Mikal Watts. He became a member of the firm of Perry & Haas in 1994 and focused his work on negligence, product liability, premises, automotive and heavy truck cases involving catastrophic injury and death against companies such as Ford, Navistar, Paccar, Builder’s Square and Briggs-Weaver.
Over the course of his membership in the Watts Law Firm and Watts Guerra Craft, L.L.P. Joseph has continued his representation of the catastrophically injured and their survivors, resulting in successful settlements with companies such as CRST Trucking, Duke Energy, Zachry Construction Corporation, TXU Energy Services, General Motors, Chrysler, Firestone, Michelin, Sears & Roebuck, and Flotek Industries.
Joseph is licensed to practice in the state courts of Texas, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Joseph has been a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), the Attorney Information Exchange Group (AIEG), the Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) and the State Bar of Texas. He has served as an Associate Director of TTLA and was the founding Chair of the TTLA Advocate’s organization. Mr. Barrientos has served on the Board of Directors of the Corpus Christi Bar Association, holding the office of president for the 2003-2004 term. He has served on the Coastal Bend Legal Services Board of Directors and is currently a Board member of the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation – the body that funds legal services providers for indigent Texans. Joseph has also served as a panel member of the District 11A Grievance Committee of the State Bar of Texas. He is fluent in written and spoken Spanish.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
- Sara Cruz, et al v. Michelin – Obtained an $11,923,000.00 jury verdict in Willacy County, Texas in a product liability case involving a defectively manufactured tire that failed and caused a head on collision that resulted in the deaths of six people. During the case the Court granted a motion to compel documents against Michelin and made findings that Michelin engaged in activities intended to prevent former Michelin employees from speaking with Plaintiff’s counsel.
- Grusenmeyer/Ibarra v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. – Obtained a $9,450,000.00 jury verdict in Webb County, Texas in a product liability and negligence action tried with Mikal Watts. After settling claims against the tire manufacturer, Watts and Barrientos represented surviving family members of the young victims of the tire failure and subsequent rollover. The trial issues included tire servicing and maintenance practices of a Sears’ Automotive Center.
- Adames v. Texas Department of Corrections – In a civil rights case where they were appointed by a Federal Judge in the Southern District of Texas to represent an inmate housed in a Texas Department of Corrections facility who was attacked and stabbed 13 times by another prisoner, Barrientos and Mikal Watts obtained a $70,000.00 jury verdict, including punitive damages, against prison officials. The claims revolved around a problematic cell security system found in several Texas prison units that allowed prisoners to rig and then leave their cells without authorization and the prison administration’s knowledge of threats against the inured inmate.
- Ocampo v. T&D Moravits Construction – Obtained a $2,500,000.00 jury verdict in Webb County, Texas in a fatal motor vehicle collision case tried with Mikal Watts in which they represented the decedent’s surviving children.
- Patricio Soliz, et al v. Kenworth Truck Company – Participated in and helped negotiate a confidential settlement in this multiple fatality product defect claim involving an engine brake on a truck tractor built by Kenworth. In this Duval County, Texas case, the Kenworth truck was equipped with what was commonly known as a “Jake Brake” but had no electronic cut-off switch to deactivate the device when the attached trailer’s wheels began to spin at a higher speed than the tractor’s wheels, resulting in a jack knife and the fatal collision.
- John Caballero v. Esenjay Petroleum Corporation – Obtained a $43,000,000.00 jury verdict in a premises liability case tried with David L. Perry in Nueces County, Texas in which they represented a 40 year old oilfield service worker who was struck by a pressurized stream of drilling mud when an improperly secured valve gave way in a blowout and suffered catastrophic injuries.
- Rosalinda Gomez v. Builder’s Square – Obtained a $22,000,000.00 verdict in a premises liability case tried with David L. Perry in Nueces County, Texas representing a 39 year old nurse who was struck by falling merchandise and suffered life threatening injuries and debilitation as a result.
