HOUSTON —– The Lanier Law Firm is pleased to announce that firm attorneys Natalie Armour, Ryan Ellis, Caroline McLeod, Rebecca Phillips, and Christopher Phipps have been named among the state’s top young lawyers on the 2023 list of Texas Rising Stars.
“This distinction speaks to the quality of young talent we are able to attract and retain and reflects the overall strength we offer as a firm,” says Mark Lanier, the firm’s founder. “Our attorneys are remarkable practitioners, and I’m proud to walk into a courtroom with any of them.”
Ms. Armour is recognized for her work in trial and appellate litigation involving mass torts, pharmaceutical and medical devices, and other types of product liability cases, personal injury matters, and commercial disputes. She was a key member of the firm’s talcum powder litigation team that won a multimillion-dollar jury verdict against Johnson & Johnson in 2018 and was a member of the firm’s appellate team that briefed the matter before the Missouri Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld a $2.1 billion judgment against the company.
Named to the list in the area of Business Litigation, Mr. Ellis focuses his practice on business disputes—such as fraud claims, contractual disputes, business torts, employment disputes, trade secret, and other intellectual property disputes—as well as on environmental class action matters. He has represented individuals and companies of all sizes and across a wide range of industries in both state and federal court, as well as in private arbitration.
Ms. McLeod joined the Issues and Appeals section of The Lanier Law Firm in 2018. Her practice involves briefing in trial and appellate courts in the areas of mass tort litigation, product liability, personal injury, and commercial litigation. She was recently recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as a Top 40 Under 40 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyer in Texas, an honor given to only a select group of lawyers for their superior skills and qualifications in the field.
Honored in the area of personal injury litigation, Ms. Phillips has a diverse practice encompassing mass torts, class actions, and complex business cases. Most recently, she focuses her time on litigation concerning the opioid epidemic and other pharmaceutical-related matters. She has been recognized as Top 40 Under 40 attorney by the National Trial Lawyers, and she was selected as a member of the American Association for Justice’s Fifth Leadership Academy.
Mr. Phipps focuses on bankruptcy-related actions for the firm’s acclaimed Asbestos and Toxic Exposure practice, where he applies his extensive administrative and regulatory knowledge to protect the rights of the firm’s clients and achieve the greatest results. Prior to joining the firm, he worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. In the past year, he has been named to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 in Texas and to the list of The Best Lawyers in America.
The Texas Rising Stars list recognizes the outstanding work of the state’s top attorneys under the age of 40 or who have practiced law for no more than 10 years. Only 2.5 percent of eligible Texas lawyers are selected to the list each year based on nominations from other lawyers, independent research and a review by separate advisory boards. The full list is published in the April 2023 issues of Texas Monthly and the Texas Rising Stars issue of Super Lawyers magazine.
