Nicholas S. Baldo

A native of the Northeast, Nicholas S. (“Nick”) Baldo relocated to Texas in 1981 after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.  Nick began his career in the oil and gas industry employed by Getty Oil Company and Texaco, Inc.   In 1985, Nick decided to change career paths and entered law school.

Since his admittance to the bar in 1989, Nick has devoted his entire career to defending job creators in civil litigation.  Early in his career, he concentrated on the defense of asbestos product manufacturers.  At the time, Texas was the epicenter of asbestos litigation in the nation.  Nick tried over a hundred asbestos cases to verdict, while also resolving thousands of cases either by summary judgment, voluntary nonsuit or settlement.  Nick represented several asbestos defendants on a state-wide basis.

As tort reform significantly impacted Toxic Tort litigation in Texas, Nick’s practice evolved.  For the past 15 years, Nick has focused on defending Commercial General Liability insureds with a focus on personal injury, wrongful death and construction defect claims.  He has been retained by major insurers including AIG, Cincinnati, and CNA.  Nick prides himself in learning each insured’s business thoroughly and developing relationships with its personnel in order to provide the best possible defense for each individual defendant.  Nick handles the full gamut of these claims from sprains and strains to catastrophic injury and wrongful death. He is retained to defend cases throughout the Houston – Beaumont region.

The upper Texas Gulf Coast contains the largest petrochemical complex in the nation.  Much of Nick’s casework arises out of this industry.  In 2007, Nick was retained as outside counsel for the Motiva Port Arthur Refinery Crude Expansion Project.  This was the largest construction project in the United States from 2007 – 2012.  All personal injury and wrongful death cases from the Project were referred to Nick.  In litigated matters, he would represent the Owner, the General Contractor and all Subcontractors.  He would also be called to the Project to conduct privileged attorney work product incident investigations and interface with OSHA during on-site post-incident investigations.  Nick has an expertise in the legal issues involving large construction projects and has successfully resolved most of these claims by summary judgment. He currently has the same role for the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana and refinery expansion projects in Beaumont and Baytown, Texas.

Nick is married with two daughters.  His wife Melissa is a former state and federal prosecutor and is now a full-time faculty member at Lamar University focusing on Business Law.  Their older daughter has decided to enter the family business and is enrolled at Texas Tech University School of Law.  Their younger daughter is enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin.

Nick is active in the local community.  He coached youth soccer for eight years, and he volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, the local food bank, and Teen Court.  He has served on the Parish Finance Council at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica for 20 years and has chaired three major capital campaigns.  He also serves as a lector and is a member of the international philanthropic organization, The Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

When not practicing law and raising a family, Nick enjoys travel, reading, music, golf, hiking, grilling and riding his motorcycle.

• Personal Injury and Wrongful Death
• Premises Liability
• Products Liability
• Construction Defect
• Toxic Torts

• 1989 – Texas
• 1990 – U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
• 1990 – U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
• 1991 – U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

• State Bar of Texas
• Jefferson County Bar Association
• Texas Bar Foundation Life Fellow
• Texas Association of Defense Counsel

• Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania (B.S. 1981)

• South Texas College of Law (J.D. 1988)

• South Texas Law Review
• Order of the Lytae Legal Honor Society