As a child, I remember watching my father get up and go to work for long hours to help those who had been harmed. Emmett Cole Jr., my father, was different than most lawyers I met. Emmett represented people like us, not big companies or government agencies. After my third year of college, I took a summer off to assist my father in a three week trial in San Antonio. It was my father's client against three large corporations and an army of lawyers.

That trial changed everything. I returned to college with a new plan: law school. I also understood what it was that pushed my father to work those long hours and stand up against those who harm our communities. It is a desire that each time you stand up to the wrongdoer you are helping to make the world a safer place.

Since graduating from Baylor Law School in 1981 and returning to Victoria I have spent my career doing something I consider the highest calling of a lawyer - working to ensure the safety of the community. Not just the community where I was born and raised and the community that I raised my family, but communities across Texas and across the nation.

Areas of Practice:

Personal Injury Law
Products Liability Law
Admiralty and Maritime Law
Maritime Personal Injury
Dram Shop Liability
Airplane Crash Litigation
Business Litigation
Civil Rights
Discrimination
Commercial Litigation
Construction Litigation
Contractors Litigation
Consumer Litigation
Contract Litigation
Insurance Litigation
Employment Litigation
Civil Litigation
Trial Practice
Premises Liability
Professional Liability
Torts
Will Contest

Certification/Specialties

Personal Injury Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
Civil Trial Advocate, National Board of Trial Advocacy

Bar Admissions

Texas, 1981
U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas, 1982

Education

Baylor University School of Law, Waco, Texas, 1981 - J.D. (Honors: Harvey M. Richey Moot Court Society)
Baylor University, 1980 - B.A.

Published Works

Breast Implant Litigation: A New Twist to Old Questions of Strict Liability
Medical Malpractice, Breach of Warranty and Negligence
Co-Author, Butterworth Legal Publishers, Texas Personal Injury Law Reporter, 1992

Honors and Awards

Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
Rated AV / Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell
Listed 2007-present in Super Lawyers, a Thompson Reuters service
10/10 Avvo Rating

Professional Associations and Memberships

Director Federal Bar Association
Chair - District 11 Grievance Committee 2013-2014 State Bar of Texas
American Board of Trial Advocates - Associate
Victoria County Bar Association - Member
American Bar Association - Member
State Bar of Texas - Member
Texas Trial Lawyers Association - Member
American Association of Justice - Member
Texas Bar Foundation - Life Fellow
Victoria Independent School District, President, Board of Trustees 1994
Phi Alpha Delta - Member