Riley Burnett Managing Partner
Riley L. Burnett, Jr. is the founder and owner of Burnett Law firm, focusing his practice on bad faith insurance claims, personal injury cases, and products liability litigation. Riley has worked in the legal industry for over 30 years since 1991. He is nationally known for his effective work and significant success in handling mass tort litigation.
Riley has represented clients in pharmaceutical mass tort cases nationwide, such as Paxil, Fen-Phen, Avandia, DePuy ASR, DePuy Pinnacle, Vioxx, Xarelto, Zofran, Risperdal, and Zoloft. He has also handled cases for clients involving defective medical devices including hernia mesh, transvaginal mesh (TVM), and IVC filters. Riley is also extremely active in representing victims exposed to Roundup and represents hundreds of clients harmed by GM’s ignition switch recalled vehicles.
Courts have appointed Riley to serve in a national leadership role in multiple consolidated litigations, including as Co-Lead Counsel of MDL 2387 In Re: Coloplast Corp. and MDL 2511 In Re: Neomedic as well as on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for MDL 2187 In Re: C.R. Bard, Inc., MDL 2327 In Re: Ethicon, Inc., MDL 2325 In Re: American Medical Systems, and MDL 2326 In Re: Boston Scientific Corp.
In addition to his success in mass torts, Riley has also served as Plaintiffs’ Co-Liaison Counsel for the lawsuits arising out of the March 23, 2005 explosion at the British Petroleum (BP) facility in Texas City, Co-Liaison Counsel in several counties for the thousands of lawsuits arising out of Hurricane Ike insurance claims disputes, and on several Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees for various MDLs created to manage the Hurricane Ike litigation.
Riley graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1987. Subsequently, he earned his law degree from University of Houston Law Center in 1991, cum laude.
He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, American Association for Justice, and State Bar of Texas.
Practice Areas
- Homeowners’ Insurance Claims
- Commercial Property Damage Lawyers
- Hail Damage Insurance Claim
- Fire Damage Lawyer
- Drug Injury
- Defective Medical Device
- Toxic Torts
Employment History
- Burnett Law Firm
- Managing Partner
- Potts Law Firm
- Of Counsel
Education
- University of Houston Law Center
Juris Doctor, cum laude, 1991 - University of Texas
Bachelor of Arts in Economics, 1987
Bar & Court Admissions
- Texas, 1991
- Pennsylvania, 2008
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Professional Affiliations
- American Association for Justice
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- State Bar of Texas