Edward M. Slaughter

Ed Slaughter is Partner-in-Charge of the Dallas office of Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP. 

He has been a trial lawyer for more than twenty years. Ed has represented corporations and individuals in high risk litigation including business litigation, product liability, toxic exposure cases and employer practices liability claims. He has represented defendants as national trial counsel and national coordinating counsel including employers, school systems, design engineering and construction firms and manufacturers of dozens of different products. Ed has served as lead counsel in trials across the country, including the landmark mesothelioma defense victory in O'Neil v. Crane et al., which established product manufacturers could not be held liable for injuries caused by replacement parts or materials used in association with their products.

In 2014, Ed won a complete defense verdict for the sole trial defendant in Felton v. Maremont Corp, a mesothelioma trial that received national attention. Plaintiffs offered evidence that plaintiff ground defendant's brake re-linings without any respiratory protection for years. The jury found the defendant's asbestos containing brake linings were not defectively designed and that the company had no duty to warn. Instead, the employers who were not parties to the case were at fault for violating California law by failing to provide respiratory protection and ventilation.

As national coordinating counsel, Ed manages expert development and national trial preparation. Ed has successfully managed dockets of mass tort cases, obtaining thousands of dismissals without payment in the earliest stages of litigation. Ed has also been actively involved in reshaping the Texas litigation landscape through tort reform. He assisted in drafting legislative proposals and testified before the Texas House Civil Practices Committee to close the loophole that allowed thousands of out-of-state claims to be filed in Texas.

Ed is also a frequent author and invited speaker of various topics, including alternative fee arrangements and developing efficient models for legal project management and cost control in litigation.