{{Short description|American lawyer (born 1952)}} {{Infobox person | name = Lisa Blue Baron | image = Lisa Blue Baron headshot.png | birth_name = Lisa Blue | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|10|12}} | birth_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | education = University of Georgia (BA)<br>University of Virginia (MA, EdS)<br>South Texas College of Law (JD) | spouse = Fred Baron | political_party = Democratic | website = {{URL|baronandblue.com|Official website}} }} '''Lisa Blue Baron''' is an American trial lawyer. Previously a psychologist, she worked in the field for nearly a decade before becoming a jury consultant and graduating from law school. She then became an assistant district attorney in Dallas County, Texas before joining the Baron & Budd law firm. Following her time with Baron & Budd, she started her own firm, Baron and Blue, and was elected president of the American Association for Justice in 2014. Blue is also a fundraiser for the Democratic Party and a philanthropist through the Baron and Blue Foundation.
== Early life and education == Baron was born in 1952 and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Her father worked as a surgeon, her mother was a homemaker, and she had three brothers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.superlawyers.com/texas/article/the-sex-therapist-who-upended-the-law/339774fc-bf0f-4373-a88b-5fcc8fd3d6af.html|title=LisaBlue Ph.D. - Texas Lawyers – The Sex Therapist Who Upended the Law|work=Super Lawyers|access-date=2017-07-10|language=en}}</ref> In 1973, she received a bachelor's in psychology from the University of Georgia before studying at the University of Virginia, earning a master's degree in counseling psychology and a post-master's Education Specialist (Ed.S.).<ref name="dallas">{{cite web|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/news/2011/11/12/lisa-blue-baron-wants-to-reinvent-herself-after-husbands-death|title=Lisa Blue Baron wants to 'reinvent' herself after husband's death|website=Dallas News|last1=Jennings|first1=Dianne|date=13 November 2011 |accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref>
== Career == Starting her career as a teacher and counseling psychologist at a psychiatric hospital in Houston, Baron worked as a forensic psychologist and jury consultant.<ref name="tex month">{{cite web|title=The Unsinkable Lisa Blue|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-unsinkable-lisa-blue/|last1=Hollandsworth|first1=Skip|website=Texas Monthly|date=December 2012 |accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref> She then attended the South Texas College of Law, graduating with her Juris Doctor in 1980. Her legal career began with a position as an assistant district attorney in the Dallas County District Attorney's office, where she prosecuted more than 125 criminal trials to verdict and later advanced to the Organized Crime Division.<ref name="D mag" />
She began specializing in environmental and toxic tort law in 1986 when she joined her husband, Fred Baron, at his law firm Baron & Budd, the largest environmental law firm in the United States. While at Baron & Budd 2001, she won her largest verdict to date, $55.5 million, in the El Paso asbestos case Hernandez v. Kelly-Moore Paints.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/31/business/company-news-man-wins-55-million-verdict-against-kelly-moore-paint.html|title=COMPANY NEWS; MAN WINS $55 MILLION VERDICT AGAINST KELLY-MOORE PAINT|date=August 31, 2001|website=New York Times|access-date=July 10, 2017}}</ref> After selling their interest in the firm in 2002, Baron continues to work in the legal field with her firm, Baron and Blue, and maintains a private consultancy in jury selection and forensic psychology.<ref name="D mag">{{cite web|last1=Sinelli|first1=Courtney|title=Lisa Blue Baron: The Irrepressible Widow|url=https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2011/june/lisa-blue-baron-the-irrepressible-widow/|website=D Magazine|date=25 May 2011 |accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref>
In 2012, she was elected vice-president of the American Association for Justice<ref name="tex month" /> and began her leadership of the organization in 2014 when she moved to Washington D.C.<ref name="biz journal">{{cite web|last1=Carlisle|first1=Candace|title=Preston Hollow estate of attorney Lisa Blue Baron gets new $33.5M price tag|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2015/02/04/preston-hollow-estate-of-attorney-lisa-blue-baron.html|website=Dallas Business Journal|accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref> She became a top fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential Campaign,<ref name="nat law">{{cite web|last1=Bronstad|first1=Amanda|title=Q&A with Lisa Blue, 'Hillblazer' for the Clinton Campaign|url=http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202744311822/QampA-with-Lisa-Blue-Hillblazer-for-the-Clinton-Campaign?slreturn=20170502112434|website=The National Law Journal|accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref> hosting events at her Dallas estate in Preston Hollow.<ref name="star tele">{{cite web|last1=Recio|first1=Maria|title=Hillary Clinton heads back to North Texas to raise money|url=http://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/politex-blog/article76361577.html|website=Star-Telegram|accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref> Baron is also a Democratic Party fundraiser for local and state elections.<ref name="nat review">{{cite web|last1=Pulliam|first1=Mark|title=What's in a Name|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/429207/texas-supreme-court-elections-eva-guzman-vs-joe-pool-jr|website=National Review|date=4 January 2016 |accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref>
In 2001, she was named one of the top fifty female litigators in the United States by the ''National Law Journal'',<ref name="tex month" /> and later as one of its "Top 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America." In 2015, she was inducted into the U.S. Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.<ref name="hof">{{cite web |title=Lisa Blue Baron |url=https://www.triallawyerhalloffame.org/inductees/lisa-blue-baron/ |accessdate=2 June 2017 |website=The Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame}}</ref>
Baron has co-authored numerous articles on jury selection as well as four books.<ref name="D mag" /><ref name="dallas" /><ref name="biz journal" /> One of the most well-known names in jury selection in Texas and across the United States, The American Association for Justice notes that Blue's 2004 book, ''Blue's Guide to Jury Selection,'' is "considered the 'bible' of jury selection."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/for-john-wiley-price-case-jury-consultants-are-already-in-demand-6422737|title=For John Wiley Price Case, Jury Consultants Are Already In Demand|last=Schutze|first=Jim|date=August 11, 2011|website=Dallas Observer|access-date=July 10, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.org/news/lisa-blue-sworn-president-national-trial-bar|title=Lisa Blue Sworn in as President of National Trial Bar|website=The American Association for Justice|access-date=July 10, 2017}}</ref>
== Personal life == She was married to attorney Fred Baron from 1980 until his death from cancer in 2008. She is the mother of three children and two stepchildren.<ref name="D mag" /> As a philanthropist, Baron runs the Baron and Blue Foundation through which she raises money for causes, including those that combat homelessness.<ref name ="dallas" />
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron, Lisa Blue}} Category:American women lawyers Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:Lawyers from Atlanta Category:Franklin College of Arts and Sciences alumni Category:Curry School of Education alumni Category:South Texas College of Law alumni Category:Texas lawyers Category:Texas Democrats Category:Law firm founders Category:American women non-fiction writers Category:American political women Category:American women philanthropists Category:American political fundraisers Category:Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign