Craig Lewis - Houston, TX

Craig Lewis was born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. After receiving a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Baylor University in 1969, he entered Baylor Law School, where he received his J.D. degree, cum laude, in 1973. While attending Baylor Law School, Mr. Lewis represented the law school on its national moot court team and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Baylor Law Review.

Mr. Lewis has been a trial lawyer for over 47 years, representing clients in complex cases including catastrophic injuries, products liability, medical malpractice, probate, toxic torts, environmental, oil and gas, breach of contract, and diverse areas of commercial litigation. During Mr. Lewis's legal career, he has obtained judgments and settlements in excess of $1,000,000 for his clients in nearly 100 cases. Refinery explosions, aviation crashes, industrial and recreational product failures, automobile design defects, pharmaceutical disasters, medical negligence, and catastrophic financial losses and/or death - are just a few of the specific areas where Mr. Lewis has tried over 200 lawsuits to a jury, as lead counsel, in representing the victims and survivors of those who have been catastrophically damaged by the negligence and fault of others. In the areas of healthcare and medical malpractice, Mr. Lewis has handled over 1,000 cases where the negligence of physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare providers unfortunately resulted in serious injuries and significant damages to children and adults - including over 100 cases where medical negligence resulted in permanent brain damage to infants and adults.

As a named partner in the former law firm, Fisher, Gallagher & Lewis, Mr. Lewis was involved in many facets of the Howard Hughes Estate litigation, initially successfully representing two unrelated heirs, and later being retained by the Howard Hughes Estate to assist in prosecuting and defending a myriad of probate issues, including heirship, domicile, and over 300 alleged "Last Wills and Testaments" of Howard Hughes.

Since 1987, Mr. Lewis has also represented homeowners, businesses, subdivisions, ranchers, and other victims whose property, water, and health have been contaminated and injured by businesses who have polluted our environment and precious natural resources. Several States have retained Mr. Lewis as counsel to prosecute those who polluted and contaminated the States' natural resources, including public drinking water supplies. He successfully represented an independent school district which was forced to close one of its elementary schools due to its proximity to a Super Fund site. Mr. Lewis has taken the depositions of over 400 corporate executives, petroleum engineers, hydrologists, chemists, toxicologists, geologists, environmental engineers, and the experts retained by those parties responsible for the pollution. As a sub-specialty of environmental litigation, Mr. Lewis has also concentrated on the economic evaluation of our natural resources, with particular emphasis on evaluating the economic loss of surface water and underground aquifers.

In 2010, Mr. Lewis served as National President of the American Board of Trial Advocates ("ABOTA"). ABOTA is an invitation-only organization comprised of attorneys who represent plaintiffs and defendants, and who are selected on the basis of their professionalism and trial experience. Many who are familiar with ABOTA consider ABOTA's members as being the "who's who" of those lawyers in the United States who represent their clients in trial litigation. During 2005, Mr. Lewis served as the President of the Texas Region of the American Board of Trial Advocates (TEX-ABOTA), and in 2004 and 2005, Mr. Lewis served as the first President of the Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates - a Foundation which concentrates on assisting educators and students, nationwide, to appreciate the sanctity and importance of the right to trial by jury as embodied in the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution. The educational materials furnished by the ABOTA Foundation currently reach over 30,000,000 parents, students and educators in the United States, and are available worldwide.

Mr. Lewis has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in the State of Texas, and has previously served as President of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association, President of the Baylor Law Alumni Association, and has been a featured speaker and author of many Continuing Legal Education seminars in Texas and other states.