Robert M. Campbell
Of Counsel
Judge Robert M. Campbell was a founding principal of the firm. He retired and became of counsel to the firm in 2005.
Judge
Campbell's legal career spanned almost 40 years, during which he
distinguished himself as a trial lawyer, judge, and innovator in the
representation of plaintiffs in product liability cases. He represented
clients in negligence and product cases before his judicial career and
later developed successful strategies to obtain recoveries for
claimants in breast implant, asbestos and other mass tort litigation.
Robert M. Campbell was elected as Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
in 1978, to fill the remaining two years of an unexpired term. In 1980,
he was unopposed for re-election to his first full term and was
re-elected to a second six-year term in 1986. In addition to
discharging his duties on the Supreme Court, Justice Campbell served as
Chairman of the Texas Judicial Budget Board, which prepared a unified
budget for the entire judiciary of Texas.
During Judge Campbell's ten years on Texas' highest civil appellate
court, he authored more than 150 opinions dealing with a wide range of
topics, including the 1980 landmark opinion on venue in Lubbock Manufacturing Company v. Sames. He retired as Senior Justice of the Texas Supreme Court in January 1988.
Judge Campbell was born on March 1, 1935, in Waco, Texas. He attended
undergraduate school at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas,
Arlington State University, Arlington, Texas, and Texas Wesleyan
College, Ft. Worth, Texas, where he received a B.A. degree. He received
his J.D. degree from Baylor University, Waco, Texas in 1964. He was
named as Distinguished Alumni of Texas Wesleyan University in 1978 and
Lawyer of the Year from Baylor Law School in 1979.
Before becoming a lawyer, Judge Campbell farmed, served two terms of
active duty in the U. S. Army, and taught school. He now owns and
operates one of the largest cattle ranching operations in McLennan
County, Texas.
Judge Campbell began his legal career in 1964, engaging in trial and
appellate practice for 14 years. During that period, he worked as
co-counsel on the case which first established negligent design as a
cause of action. Tiffany v. Pizza Inn was perhaps his most significant case as an attorney in private practice.