Vance, Catherine

John Langdoc is no stranger to the complex medical and scientific issues involved in the cases he tries. Before becoming a lawyer, he was a scientist who studied how the brain works. At Baylor College of Medicine, he researched the brains of people with schizophrenia, depression, and autism. Earlier, in graduate school, he helped discover that some prescription anti-depressants can cause brain birth defects.

"I've always loved science. As a scientist, I loved the puzzle of trying to figure out how our brains work," he says. "Today as a lawyer, you'd be surprised how much of my practice is devoted to fighting to expose phony science – phony science that when you dig deep enough has almost always been funded in one way or the other by industry to avoid responsibility for the harms their toxic products have done to people and to the environment."

John melds his scientific training and experiences with a core belief that the best way to work on a legal case is "to not do any of the stuff they teach you in law school." He says, "Most lawyers seem to be trained to do everything they can to distort the truth to help their side of the case. No matter how cleverly a lawyer spins things, my belief is that you just can't cover up the truth."

As a lead trial attorney, John has been successful in obtaining some of the most significant verdicts of their kind, across the country. Some of his recent verdicts include a $9M verdict against the Dow Chemical Company for a man who was exposed to carcinogens while working at their plant, Dow has announced that it plans to continue to have lawyers fight the verdict on appeal; a $20M verdict for a woman who was unknowingly exposed to carcinogens from drywall when she helped her husband clean up on some home remodeling projects, the verdict was upheld on appeal in California; a $12M verdict for a man who was exposed to carcinogens at a paper mill, the verdict resulted in a settlement agreement the day after the verdict in Pennsylvania; an $8M verdict for the wife of a man who was exposed to carcinogens as a pipe fitter, and an $11M verdict for a man who was exposed to carcinogens as a painter.

When John believes in a case he is a tireless advocate. "I've even been threatened to be held in contempt of court by a judge who insisted the family I represented dismiss their case and that the jury not be allowed to know that the other side had paid a witness millions of dollars. It turned out to be a bluff, and he never made me serve any time in the local jail cell, but he made it seem like I'd be spending a week in jail. I would have proudly served my time over abandoning those folks."

John is a frequent lecturer at continuing legal education seminars for attorneys. He is typically asked to lecture on his experiences working on significant legal cases and focuses on his belief that the best thing lawyers can do is work on their cases like they were never mis-trained to spin and distort the truth.

John has been elected into The National Trial Lawyers Association: Top 40 under 40, a Super Lawyer Rising Star, and was elected a Shareholder and Lead Trial Attorney at Baron & Budd faster than any lawyer in the firm's history.

"I love what I do. I'm honored to fight for people. I'm honored to fight for the environment."