Texas leads the nation in fatal 18-wheeler accidents, a distinction that is not incidental to why Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP exists and what it has spent more than 25 years building. Founded by partners Scott Armstrong, Joshua Lee, and C.J. Baker, the firm is based in Houston and has recovered more than $250 million for clients, operating with a 98% case success rate and a bilingual (English and Spanish) team that serves clients throughout Texas around the clock.
The firm’s motto, “Severe Injuries Demand Serious Performance,” is a direct statement of scope. Armstrong Lee & Baker does not handle routine cases. It handles the cases where the stakes are highest: catastrophic injury, wrongful death, industrial disasters, refinery explosions, commercial vehicle crashes, and maritime injuries. The settlement record reflects this focus. A single refinery worker’s flash fire case produced $35,800,000. A bus rollover involving a mother and daughter produced $23,600,000. A forklift crash injury produced $6,000,000. These are not figures from a generalist practice; they come from sustained, specialized advocacy in the most serious injury categories.
Practice Areas
Commercial Vehicle and Trucking Accidents
Texas allows commercial trucks to weigh up to 80,000 pounds. When a vehicle that heavy collides with a passenger car, the damage is rarely comparable to a standard two-vehicle accident. The firm handles 18-wheeler injuries as a core practice area, along with commercial vehicle injuries more broadly.
Federal motor carrier regulations govern commercial trucking operations: hours-of-service rules, weight limits, inspection requirements, and driver qualification standards. When those regulations are violated and someone is killed or seriously injured, the firm pursues accountability from both the driver and the company.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful death arising from the following causes falls within the firm’s practice:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Train accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Construction accidents
- Maritime accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Product liability deaths
- Premises liability deaths
The firm’s wrongful death practice spans virtually every causation category in which negligence can cost a life. A $5,800,000 settlement for a trucking accident wrongful death appears among the firm’s documented results.
Oilfield, Refinery, and Industrial Accidents
The Houston area’s concentration of petrochemical and energy industry operations generates a category of serious injury that most personal injury firms are not equipped to handle. Oilfield injuries, refinery accidents, and related industrial incidents involve complex liability questions, multiple corporate defendants, and high-stakes damages that require litigation teams with the experience and resources to compete against large industrial employers and their insurers.
The firm’s largest documented settlement, $35,800,000, arose from a refinery worker injured in a flash fire. The $5,250,000 oil-rig floorhand injury settlement represents another data point from this category.
Maritime Injuries
Maritime injury claims operate under a distinct body of federal law, including the Jones Act for seamen, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act for certain shore-side workers, and general maritime law principles. The firm handles these claims as a specific practice area, recognizing that maritime workers in the Houston area face substantial injury risk and specialized legal rights that general personal injury attorneys often do not understand.
Catastrophic Injury
The firm’s catastrophic injury practice covers brain trauma, amputations, and spinal cord injuries. The lifetime cost of severe brain injuries can reach $3 million, a figure that illustrates why these cases require careful long-term damages analysis and aggressive litigation strategy. A catastrophic injury case settled for inadequate compensation leaves a client financially exposed for decades.
Burn Injuries
Burn injuries occur in refinery and industrial contexts, but also in vehicle fires, defective product incidents, and other settings. The medical treatment required for serious burns is extensive and expensive, and the permanent scarring and functional limitations they produce require thorough damages documentation.
Workers Compensation for Non-Subscriber Employers
Texas is the only state that allows employers to opt out of the state workers compensation system. When an employer chooses not to subscribe and an employee is injured, a powerful legal rule applies: if the non-subscriber employer is even 1% at fault, they must pay 100% of the worker’s damages. Additionally, non-subscribing employers lose most common defenses available to subscribers, including the defenses of comparative fault by the employee, the fellow servant rule, and the assumption of risk defense. The firm handles these non-subscriber injury claims, a category that is specific to Texas and requires specific Texas expertise.
Additional Practice Areas
The firm handles car accidents, drunk driving accidents, motorcycle accidents, dog bites, child daycare injuries, and product liability claims. A computer programmer who slipped and fell at work received a $1,400,000 settlement through the firm, demonstrating that the contingency-based approach to serious injury is not limited to industrial or vehicle contexts.
Attorneys
Partners Scott Armstrong, Joshua Lee, and C.J. Baker lead the firm. The broader attorney team includes Kathleen Banks, David Bradle, Hannah Bowersmith, Priyanka Kasnavia Crawford, Emma Coomes, Laura Gomez Duarte, Matthew Franks, Adam Grable, Camille Gonzalez, Shruti Modi, Savannah Oommen, Wady S. Rahbani-Chavez, Clint Reed, Kelly Viktorin, Ryan Wagner, and Lindsey Weathersby.
This depth of attorney staffing reflects the firm’s capacity to handle multiple serious cases simultaneously without compromising the attention any individual client receives.
Notable Settlements
- $35,800,000: refinery worker injured in flash fire
- $23,600,000: mother and daughter injured in bus rollover
- $10,000,000: internal organ damage
- $6,000,000: forklift crash injury
- $5,800,000: trucking accident wrongful death
- $5,500,000: surgical back injury
- $5,250,000: oil-rig floorhand injury
- $2,750,000: neck and head injuries
- $1,400,000: computer programmer slip and fall at work
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Each case is evaluated on its specific facts, evidence, and applicable law.
Location, Availability, and Client Services
Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP is available 24 hours a day. Free consultations are available, and the firm works on a contingency fee basis, meaning no attorney’s fee is collected unless the firm recovers compensation for the client.
Address: 2800 N Loop W #900, Houston, TX 77092
Phone: 832-402-6637
Website: https://albtriallawyers.com/
The firm serves clients in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Tyler, San Antonio, Deer Park, Missouri City, Pasadena, Pearland, Sugar Land, Austin, El Paso, Longview, San Angelo, and throughout Texas.
The bilingual (Spanish) capacity of the firm is a practical recognition of the demographic reality of the communities it serves across Texas.
FAQ
What makes 18-wheeler accident cases different from standard vehicle accident cases?
The weight differential alone, up to 80,000 pounds for a commercial truck versus roughly 4,000 pounds for a typical passenger vehicle, produces dramatically different injury patterns. Beyond the physical disparity, commercial trucking cases involve federal motor carrier regulations, commercial insurance policies with higher limits, potential liability for both the driver and the carrier, and complex discovery into logbooks, inspection records, and driver qualification files. These cases require attorneys who specifically understand federal trucking law and have experience against the major commercial insurers and carriers.
What is the Texas non-subscriber workers compensation rule and why does it matter?
Texas permits employers to opt out of the state workers compensation system. When they do and a worker is injured, the employer loses most standard defenses: comparative negligence by the employee, the fellow servant rule, and assumption of risk. More importantly, if the employer is found to be even 1% at fault, it bears 100% of the damages. For injured workers whose employers opted out of the system, this creates a significantly more powerful legal position than standard workers compensation claims in other states.
I live in San Antonio, not Houston. Can Armstrong Lee & Baker still represent me?
Yes. The firm serves clients throughout Texas, including San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Tyler, Pasadena, Sugar Land, El Paso, and many other cities. The Houston office handles cases from across the state.
What should a family do immediately after a wrongful death accident?
Preserve everything: photographs, video from the scene, witness contact information, and any documentation related to the circumstances. Contact an attorney before speaking with insurance adjusters. Insurance adjusters for the responsible party’s carrier are gathering information to minimize the claim. An attorney protects the family’s rights from the earliest stages of the process.
Does the 98% success rate apply to all case types?
The firm reports a 98% case success rate across its practice. Individual case outcomes depend on the specific facts, evidence, and legal issues involved. The rate reflects the firm’s overall history with the kinds of cases it accepts.
Closing
$250 million recovered. 98% success rate. 25 years. A team of partners and attorneys equipped for the Texas cases that demand the most, from refinery explosions to wrongful deaths to maritime injuries to catastrophic crashes involving 80,000-pound trucks. Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP is available every hour of every day at 832-402-6637. Free consultations. No fee unless recovery is obtained.