DOBS Attorneys Earn Best Lawyers Honors After Year of Record-Setting Results

Kathy Farinas, Darren McDowell and Mark A. Linder contributed to firm’s banner year

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dean Omar Branham Shirley trial attorneys Kathy Farinas, Darren McDowell and Mark A. Linder have been selected to The Best Lawyers in America for their work with the firm’s award-winning plaintiffs personal injury practice.

All three honorees contributed to a series of significant cases against Johnson & Johnson and other defendants that set state and national records for jury awards.

“Kathy, Darren and Mark are the kind of lawyers you want beside you when the case is difficult, the stakes are enormous and the other side has every resource imaginable,” said DOBS partner Trey Branham. “They do exceptional work for our clients, and this recognition is well deserved.”

This is the first selection for Ms. Farinas. The managing partner of the firm’s Indianapolis office, she was part of the DOBS team that obtained a record $1.5 billion verdict from a Baltimore jury on behalf of a nonprofit director with incurable peritoneal mesothelioma caused by asbestos-containing Johnson & Johnson personal care products.

The Dallas-based Mr. McDowell has handled cases involving Winter Storm Uri, exposure to Monsanto’s glyphosate-based Roundup, helicopter crashes and other aviation incidents. A repeat Best Lawyers honoree, he was part of the DOBS team that won a $3 million New Orleans jury verdict for the family of Jeannine Henderson, who died from mesothelioma linked to her use of J&J’s Baby Powder.

Mr. Linder has handled mesothelioma cases since 2008. Earlier this year, the Dallas attorney won a $32 million jury verdict in Los Angeles for the family of Maria Lozano, who died from mesothelioma after years of exposure to asbestos-contaminated talc products. This is his second Best Lawyers selection.

The individual honors follow another year of national recognition for DOBS and its trial team. The firm was recently named the 2026 Products Liability winner in the National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers awards, recognizing its record of results for plaintiffs in consequential products liability cases.

Dean Omar Branham Shirley, LLP, is a nationally recognized trial firm that handles cases across the country for individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries or have died as a result of the irresponsible conduct of others. For more information, please visit http://www.dobslegal.com.