Russ Briggs is a native of Beaumont, Texas, the son of two teachers. He is happily married to Rebekah Briggs, and they have two adult daughters, Jessica Briggs and Amanda Briggs. Jessica is a Board Certified infectious disease doctor, and Amanda is a research policy analyst for a national economic and social policy institute.
Education & Legal Experience
Russ graduated from Southwestern University with a B.A. in Political Science, attended South Texas College of Law in Houston, and has been a trial lawyer for close to forty years. Russ began his career working with the trial firm of Leebron & Robinson in 1985 where he concentrated on representing the rights of injured workers and trying all types of personal injury cases to verdict. Russ founded The Briggs Law Firm in 1996, and in 2000 joined Tommy Fibich and Mike Leebron as a partner in the firm now known as Fibich, Leebron, Copeland & Briggs. Russ litigates in Texas and throughout the United States trying pharmaceutical, product liability, commercial business, medical malpractice, automobile and premises defect liability cases.
Experience matters, and Russ has served in leadership in multiple pharmaceutical litigations, including the Ephedra Diet Supplement litigation and the Actos diabetes litigation. Russ has spoken at various seminars concerning his experience in pharmaceutical, medical malpractice, and brain injury litigation.
Personally Invested in Every Case
Russ believes that the best thing about being a lawyer is the honor and responsibility of helping those seeking justice. Personal relationships are crucial when fighting for the injured and Russ is 100% invested in each case, delivering the hard work and personal representation that each person should expect from their lawyer. Those efforts were rewarded when Russ and Greg Fibich secured a 6.6 million dollar jury verdict, one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts ever in Houston against two individual doctors. Recently, Russ secured a confidential settlement for his clients in a products liability case involving allegations of a defective roadside guardrail.
In addition to being the lead trial lawyer on his cases, Russ also represents his clients successfully post-verdict, and has a number of successful published appellate opinions sustaining findings for his clients, including: Otis Elevator v. Shows, 822 S.W.2d 59 (Tex. App. – Houston [1st. Dist] 1991, writ denied); Jamar v. Patterson, 910 S.W.2d 118 (Houston [14th Dist.] 1995, writ denied); Harris County v. Smoker, 934 S.W.2d 714 (Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, writ denied); Byrd v. Estate of Nelms, 154 S.W.3d 149 (Tex. App. – Waco 2004, review denied); Haven Chapel United Methodist Church v. Leebron, 496 S.W.3d 893 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 2016).
As a result of his extensive trial experience, Russ is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (“ABOTA”), is a Houston Bar Foundation Fellow, is recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer, and is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In his personal life, Russ enjoys running half marathons, fishing, teaching and serving in church, and playing acoustic guitar.
- Texas, 1985
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas, 1986
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas, 1986
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas, 1986
- U.S. District Court Western District of Texas, 1986
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1994
- Houston Bar Association, 1985
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association, 1985
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
- Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- American Association for Justice
- Super Lawyers®, 2009 – 2011, 2018, 2024