Robert Schwartz | Houston Personal Injury Lawyer

Mr. Schwartz was born and raised in Galveston, Texas. Mr. Schwartz is the son of former State Senator and Mrs. A.R. "Babe" Schwartz. Babe Schwartz, also born and raised in Galveston, worked on every major legislative committee while in the House of Representatives and Senate.

Mr. Schwartz is a graduate of the University of California at San Diego and South Texas College of Law. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1982. Mr. Schwartz is a trial attorney licensed to practice law in every state and federal court in the State of Texas. He is admitted to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in New Orleans, Louisiana, which court considers appeals from federal courts in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Mr. Schwartz is also licensed to practice law in the state of Missouri. In addition to the State Bars of Texas and Missouri, Mr. Schwartz holds memberships in the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Houston Trial Lawyers Association, and the Houston Bar Association. After serving on the Houston Trial Lawyers Association's Board of Directors, Secretary/Treasurer, and Vice President, and president-elect for 2003-2004, Mr. Schwartz served as the Houston Trial Lawyers' Association President in the October, 2004 - October, 2005 term. Mr. Schwartz served as the President of the Houston Trial Lawyers' Foundation from the end of his Houston Trial Lawyers' Association Presidency in October, 2005 through October, 2008. Mr. Schwartz is also currently a Member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Trial Lawyers' Association, and has been an invited member of its Executive Committee.

Mr. Schwartz started his legal career with his father's law firm, handling general civil litigation matters and representing clients' interests as a lobbyist before the Texas Legislature. After four years, Mr. Schwartz's concentrated interest in litigation resulted in his establishing his own law practice and office in Houston. For the next 11 years, Mr. Schwartz maintained a successful, general civil law practice. Mr. Schwartz's general civil practice consisted of handling all types of personal injury cases, ranging from premises liability, motor vehicle collisions and product liability, as well as business litigation cases, cases involving violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and of the Texas Insurance Code. From mid 1990 through November, 1996, Mr. Schwartz was also "of counsel" to the long tenured Houston oil and gas law firm, Wilson & Johnson. Mr. Schwartz handled the business and oil and gas litigation matters for Wilson & Johnson's oil and gas industry clients.

Mr. Schwartz joined the Williams Bailey Law Firm (now known as Williams Kherkher) in November, 1996. Mr. Schwartz's first docket management assignment at the Williams Bailey Law Firm was the representation of approximately 680 plaintiffs in state court litigation involving personal injuries and damages resulting from the development of a residential subdivision on a toxic waste superfund site in Friendswood, Texas. After the successful conclusion of that litigation, Mr. Schwartz worked on the Texas Tobacco Litigation as a member of Williams Bailey's Texas Tobacco Litigation team, participating in the discovery phase of that complex, federal court litigation, and later managing the law office established in Texarkana, Texas, by the five Texas Tobacco Litigation law firms for the trial of that case. The Texas Tobacco Litigation concluded with a historic settlement where the tobacco industry agreed to pay the state of Texas $15 billion over 25 years and to pay approximately $2.3 billion through 2003 to Texas counties and hospital districts based on their provision of indigent health care. Mr. Schwartz then started the pharmaceutical docket at Williams Bailey with the 3,000 clients in the Fen-Phen litigation. He expanded the pharmaceutical docket to represent seriously injured victims of other dangerous prescription drugs, over-the-counter remedies and dietary supplements. After nearly 7 1/2 years with the Williams Bailey Law Firm, Mr. Schwartz joined Bailey & Galyen on March 1, 2004, to start and manage a mass tort and pharmaceutical department.

Mr. Schwartz has extensive, successful mass tort, pharmaceutical, state and federal consolidated and Multi-District Litigation (MDL), and trial experience. He brings with him an aggressive, ethical attitude, a proactive approach, and a strong work ethic in order to achieve our collective goal of providing the best representation possible for Bailey & Galyen's clients.