Crowe, Norman Jewel

James D. Piel grew up in a small farming community in north-central Oklahoma and quickly learned that average people are far more important than, although often treated by the American justice system as far less important than, businesses and corporations. Following graduation from law school on the east coast, Jim started his legal practice at a major law firm and found himself engaged in complex work on behalf of corporations as diverse as high technology companies, major retailers and, eventually, the tobacco industry. His experiences confirmed his beliefs about the treatment of the common man in our system of justice, disillusionment soon followed, and Jim happily left the world of corporate legal defense to use his skills to work exclusively on behalf of individuals who have suffered physical injury as a result of the wrongful conduct of corporations.

Jim joined Baron & Budd, P.C. in 1999 to work on cases involving persons injured as a result of exposure to toxins and unsafe medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs. He became a shareholder in Baron & Budd's toxic tort litigation section in 2002, and handled such cases as the settlement of physical injury damage claims resulting from the mass exposure of workers in Louisiana to the chemical Ethylene Dichloride, the litigation of physical injuries resulting from the long-term exposure of students to oil production and power generation emissions at Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California, the litigation of personal injury claims on behalf of residents of a Mississippi gulf coast community exposed to emissions from a large chemical production facility, and the litigation of personal injury claims related to medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs.

Jim's many professional accomplishments, include being named a “Texas Rising Star” in 2003 and a “Texas Super Lawyer” in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.