Baron & Budd shareholder Burton LeBlanc advocates for individuals who have been harmed by corporate wrongdoing and deserve justice and accountability. LeBlanc began his legal career more than twenty-five years ago representing victims of toxic exposure and workplace hazards. His lifelong commitment to service through the legal system was fostered by family as a child in his home state of Louisiana, a state where danger in the workplace was common and expectations for most workers were of a life shortened by the necessity of making a living.
LeBlanc’s extensive accomplishments are renowned in the courtroom, and paved the way for him to be named as one of the top 75 plaintiff’s attorneys in the United States by The American Lawyer in 2014. He focuses his current practice in the areas of pharmaceutical, environmental, securities and asbestos litigation. In addition to his work representing individuals, LeBlanc has successfully represented many governmental entities, including the States of Hawaii, Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Virginia in complex consumer fraud litigation. He was part of Baron & Budd’s team that pursued litigation on behalf of seven states’ attorneys general against GlaxoSmithKline regarding its fraudulent marketing of the diabetes drug Avandia, litigation which settled for $177 million. LeBlanc is a 2017 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Honor from America’s Top 100 Attorneys for his career dedicated to the protection of America’s civil justice system. He has also been selected for inclusion in the Louisiana Super Lawyers list from 2012 to the present (Thompson Reuters).
Today Mr. LeBlanc’s passion for championing the rights of individuals extends to the national stage where he recently served as president of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). As president of AAJ, the largest trial lawyer non-profit group in the United States, Mr. LeBlanc advocated for protection of America’s civil justice system and rallied resources when corporate interests attempted to infringe on individual rights. He is an adamant crusader for the abolition of forced arbitration and a supporter of the fundamental right to a trial by jury.
Mr. LeBlanc’s election as AAJ president followed a long history of involvement on both the local and national levels of AAJ and its affiliate organizations. He previously served as president-elect, vice president, treasurer and parliamentarian of AAJ. In addition, Mr. LeBlanc has been a member of AAJ’s Executive Committee and the Board of Governors, where he was awarded the Wiedemann Wysocki National Finance Council Award two separate times, most recently in July 2010. Mr. LeBlanc has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the AAJ PAC Committee, chairman of the AAJ National Finance Council, a sustaining member of the AAJ and a member of the Leaders Forum. He is also a member of the AAJ’s Section on Toxic Torts and Business Torts. At the local level, LeBlanc served as the President of the Louisiana Association for Justice (LAJ) and frequently testifies before the Louisiana legislature.
LeBlanc is a member of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) State Attorney General and State Department of Justice Issues Committee as well as a committee member of the ABA’s Section on Toxic Torts. He is also a member of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA) the National Association of Shareholder & Consumer Attorneys (NASCAT), the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, Baton Rouge Bar Association, Texas State Bar Association, American Bar Association, College of the State Bar of Texas, the Louisiana Bar Foundation and a supporting member of the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Foundation. He is a frequent lecturer and speaker on issues of environmental law, asbestos litigation, chemical exposure cases and the importance of access to the civil justice system. In November 2013, he testified before the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules regarding proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
LeBlanc and his wife are active in the Baton Rouge community and serve on multiple boards, including Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge, where he served as president. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University and Loyola University School of Law, and is licensed in the states of Louisiana and Texas, several federal courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
