Baron and Budd

A document titled "P.I.D Study Sheet," which was written by Baron & Budd paralegal Judy Bruton, gives information that is similar to the Lynell Terrell "Preparing for Your Deposition" memo. Like the much longer Terrell memo, the "Study Sheet" contains detailed information on the different types of asbestos products that existed, their color, packaging, and common uses, and identifying information about specific products.

Of course, if that was the context 25 years ago, it no longer is. "These folks have such volume, they may have drifted across the line because of the volume," Pepper continues. "I'm sympathetic to that, until you tell me the volume involves people who aren't sick, and then I'm less sympathetic to that."

From 1987 until late 1991, Eads-Tone was a Baron & Budd "girl," a paralegal handling the medical side of hundreds of asbestosis claims. "If there ever was a screw-up, 'the girl' did it. It was a joke," Eads-Tone says.

Baron and his partners move in rarefied circles in the legal profession. In July, he was elected vice president of the American Trial Lawyers Association, the most influential group of plaintiffs' lawyers in the country. He's a past president of the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and a member of several professional groups, among them the American Law Institute, a widely respected body of lawyers, judges, and legal scholars.

About Us The national law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Baton Rouge, Austin, Los Angeles and Miami, is a nationally recognized law firm with a 30-year history of "Protecting What's Right" for people, communities and businesses who have been harmed. Baron & Budd's size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals, government and business entities in areas as diverse as water contamination, Gulf oil spill, Qui Tam, California Proposition 65 violations, dangerous medications and medical devices, Chinese drywall, insurance claims, commercial litigation, securities fraud and asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma. Patient Advocates

Loved working here, people were great, computer programs were user friendly. Worked with clients from all walks of life and enjoyed being able to help them.ProsEverythingConsworking with pople who were very sick and dying

"But if you come in here and say you were in an automobile accident at an intersection, I'm going to say, 'Now if you tell me you ran the red light, that means you are going to lose your case.' And then wait for your answer."

When the first asbestos cases were filed in the 1970s, the victims were horribly ill with cancer, asbestosis, or lung ailments. The original targets of most of those suits were the asbestos manufacturers who had held the largest share of the market. Now, 25 years after those original cases, some of the big manufacturers have been bankrupted by the legal claims, and many of the most seriously harmed workers are in their graves.

Eads-Tone says her supervisor, an office manager, told her when she left the firm that she could not be trusted to "do whatever it takes" to make a case. She agrees. "I wasn't willing to do whatever it takes."

Baron's response was swift and personal. "He's a fruitcake," Baron said of the judge--a comment that was made within earshot of several reporters. Though Baron later apologized to the judge, he also fired off a judicial-conduct complaint. (The complaint was later dismissed.) In a later interview, he alleged that the judge has a habit of referring trivial matters to the district attorney. "We were told that he routinely refers matters to the grand jury and that so far the grand jury has--the DA's office has never accepted any of Marshall's complaints," Baron says.