Warren T. Burns

We are in a battle for the future of our democracy.  The frontline is the courtroom.  Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it?  Maybe a little heavy-handed?   

I write and speak like this because it matters.  And I care. 

At our founding, Thomas Jefferson said this: “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which government can be held to the principles of its constitution.” 

Access to our courts is the bedrock of our democracy. But the truth is that the civil justice system in our country has been under assault for decades.  Politicians have politicized our courts to a remarkable degree, undermining faith in the system.  Powerful interest groups have convinced leaders and millions of ordinary citizens that lawsuits are abusive, even when they protect fundamental rights and the basic functioning of our economy.  Wealthy corporations abuse the system every day, denying justice and barring the courthouse door to ordinary Americans. 

So, what are we going to do?  How do we fight back?  It starts with your case. 

Selecting a lawyer for your case is a very important decision. You want a lawyer who understands your concerns and will fight to achieve your goals. You want a lawyer who believes in our system and knows how to succeed in it. And, most importantly, you want a lawyer who is going to give you candid and meaningful advice. I am that lawyer. 

I focus my practice on high-stakes antitrust litigation, along with other complex class action and commercial cases. I have tried and litigated numerous cases involving price fixing, monopolization, breach of contract, intellectual property, business torts, consumer protection statutes, and accounting malpractice. 

I achieve results. In 2022, after five years of hard-fought litigation in Kansas City, Kansas, and on the eve of a trial that I was poised to lead, I inked a settlement with the remaining defendant in a nationwide antitrust and RICO class action against the manufacturer and marketer of the EpiPen.  In total, the defendants paid $609 million to a class of people and businesses who had paid inflated prices for the lifesaving device.  EpiPen was the first and only consumer and business case to take on corporations for headline-producing pharmaceutical price increases. 

In 2012, I helped lead a trial team that took the first mortgage-backed-securities related case to trial. In a landmark and game-changing trial, we secured a $106 million judgment on behalf of our client and obtained key pre-trial determinations that had a domino effect in related cases. 

I want to know more about your case and to see if there is a way I can help you. I look forward to talking with you. 

Education

Tulane University Law School, summa cum laude 
Served as Editor in Chief of Tulane Law Review 
Received the John Minor Wisdom Award, Tulane’s highest prize for graduating law students.
Post-graduation, served for the Hon. Paul J. Kelly, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. 

Where a man comes from is important. I believe it can tell you a lot about his character and approach to litigation and trials. 

I am from a small town in Mississippi called Kosciusko. My extended family on both sides has lived there for six generations. My upbringing had a profound impact on me. I learned the value of community, the importance of not only joining in the lives of those around you, but making a difference in them as well. 

I spent my college years at Ole Miss. I played four years of rugby for the Ole Miss Rugby Football Club, starting every match I played as a second-row forward. I use the skills I learned on the rugby pitch everyday in litigation. In a fast moving match, you have to be prepared to play offense and defense intelligently. You have to capitalize quickly on your opponents’ mistakes. And you have to bring maximum pressure at the right moment to win. The same is true in litigation. 

After college, I moved to the District of Columbia to work in public relations and fundraising. I took a job as a junior fundraising staffer at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in the Americas. Within a year, I was promoted to serve as the Communications Director at the Basilica. 

I next moved to the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting people with developmental disabilities in their efforts to live full and complete lives. There, I served as the Director of Development and Public Relations. 

Later, I moved to Asheville, North Carolina to assume the role of Development Director at Riverlink, a regional non-profit organization. At Riverlink, our focus was on restoration of the French Broad River and developing the economy along its banks. 

I left Riverlink to attend Tulane Law School. There, I received the John Minor Wisdom Award, Tulane’s highest prize for graduating law students. I also served as Editor in Chief of the Tulane Law Review. 

After law school, I clerked for the Hon. Paul J. Kelly, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. 

My background continuously helps me relate to witnesses and juries in ways that benefit my clients. 

Admissions & Honors

Every year since 2019, I have been named a Texas Super Lawyer. 

Every year since 2014, I have been named to the International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers. 

Since 2015, I have been included in the Top 100 National Trial Lawyers. 

In 2016, I was elected to the American Law Institute. The American Law Institute is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. 

In 2020, I was named one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas by D Magazine and recognized among the Best Lawyers in America 2019-2023 for my work in antitrust and commercial litigation. 

In 2021 and 2022, I was named as one of Lawdragon's 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers and Lawdragon's 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers. 

In 2022, the EpiPens team I led received the Outstanding Achievement in Private Law Practice from the American Antitrust Institute. 

I am a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. The Fellows is an honorary organization of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. Membership in The Fellows is limited to one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. 

I am an active member of the Dallas Bar Association and the American Bar Association. In the ABA, I sit on the steering committee for the international litigation committee. 

I am a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society, and a member of the Trial Law Institute and Diversity Law Institute.

I am also a member of the American Association for Justice and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. And I am a Fellow in the Southern Trial Lawyers Association. 

I sit on the Board of Advisory Editors of the Tulane Law Review, a national board comprised of distinguished alumni. 

Engagements

Litigation Trends in the $50 Era, 2015 Energy and Environmental Law Summit (October 2, 2015)

King Cake or Po-Boy? Do Class Actions Offer Meaningful Compensation to Class Members, or do They Simply Rip Off Consumers Twice?, 19th Annual National Institute on Class Actions, American Bar Association (October 22, 2015)

Representative Cases

ANTITRUST CLASS ACTION/CLASS SETTLEMENTS: Co-Lead Counsel and Lead Trial Counsel in In re EpiPens Marketing, Sales and Antitrust Litigation, in the District of Kansas.  Obtained $609 million in settlements for the Class.

ANTITRUST CLASS ACTION/CLASS SETTLEMENT: Lead Counsel for subclass of purchasers of administrative services from BlueCross/BlueShield entities.  Negotiated $2.6 billion settlement and final agreement for the class and subclass, resulting in final approval in 2022. 

ENVIRONMENTAL CLASS ACTION: Lead Counsel in environmental case alleging that rum aging process on St. Croix, USVI, resulted in damage to nearby properties from Rum Fungus.  Obtained a class settlement funded in part by sale of warehouse facilities in 2022. 

USVI MASS ACTIONS: Lead Trial Counsel for hundreds of individuals exposed to asbestos by oil refining facilities.  Negotiated a confidential settlement on behalf of nearly 500 plaintiffs in 2018 on the eve of trial.  Negotiated a $90 million settlement for current claims in bankruptcy proceedings in 2023. 

BREACH OF CONTRACT CLASS ACTION/CLASS SETTLEMENT:  Co-Lead Counsel for a class of dentists suing a crown manufacturer for defective products in Bhatia, et al. v. 3M Co., File No. 0:16-cv-01304-DWF-DTS.  Obtained $32.5 million settlement for the Class. 

USVI CONCRETE ANTITRUST CLASS ACTION: Lead Counsel in putative class action against concrete companies alleging illegal conspiracy to divide the USVI market.  Case is ongoing. 

ANTITRUST CLASS ACTION / LEADERSHIP: Executive Committee Member in In re Domestic Airlines Antitrust Litigation (2015-present) now pending in the District of Columbia. The clients have alleged that the nation’s four major airlines conspired to restrict capacity to fuel record-high profits. 

ANTITRUST CLASS ACTION / CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENTS: Co-Lead Counsel in In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation (2011-2015) in the Eastern District of Michigan.  Case resulted in over $1 billion in settlements.

COMMERCIAL CASES / CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENTS: Lead trial counsel in three cases against the gas giant Chesapeake for breach of contract and underpayment of royalties relating to the oil and gas lease on the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. 

COMMERCIAL CASE / CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT: Lead trial counsel in a confidential arbitration representing a telecommunications company in its suit against its former billing aggregator.

SECURITIES CLASS ACTION / DEFENSE COUNSEL: Counsel in Brady v. Kosmos Energy, Ltd. (N.D. Tex.) (2012-present) He defended a start-up oil and gas company against allegations centering on its initial public offering.

COMMERCIAL CASE / JUDGMENT EXCEEDING $100 MILLION: Counsel in Assured Guaranty v. Flagstar Bank (S.D.N.Y.) (2011-2012), the first case to go to trial related to the residential mortgage-backed securities market meltdown. 

CLASS ACTION / JUDGMENT EXCEEDING $16 MILLION: Counsel in In re Universal Service Fund Litigation (D. Kan.) (2005-2013). Won a breach of contract case claim for AT&T’s California landline telecommunications customers. 

ANTITRUST CLASS ACTION / SETTLEMENTS EXCEEDING $50 MILLION: Counsel in In re Ready-Mixed Concrete Antitrust Litigation (S.D. Ind. 2005-2010). The case was resolved before trial with class members receiving more than 100 percent of their actual damages after deduction of attorneys’ fees. 

PATENT CASE / CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT: Counsel in Individual Network v. Apple (E.D. Tex.) (2007-2009) representing an inventor in its patent infringement case against Apple and the case was resolved before trial. 

ANTITRUST CASE / CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT: Counsel in Morris & Dickson Co. v. Abbot Labs. (M.D. La.) (2006-2008), representing a regional pharmaceutical wholesaler in its suit against Abbott Laboratories for violation of the Robinson-Patman Act by unfairly favoring my client’s competitors, and the case was resolved before trial.