Waters & Kraus, LLP is proud to announce that Dallas attorneys Caitlyn Silhan, Christopher Johnson, Sam Iola, and Patrick Wigle have all once again been selected for inclusion on the 2021 Texas Super Lawyers® Rising Star list. The lawyer rating service is an honor reserved for lawyers who exhibit excellence in practice and strive to perform outstandingly for plaintiffs every year. The variety of practice areas they excelled in include civil litigation, products liability, and general personal injury. To be nominated for the designation, an attorney must be 40 years old or younger and have practiced law for 10 years or less. Caitlyn, Chris, Patrick, and Sam all qualify under those requirements. They are considered among the top 2.5% of attorneys in Texas eligible for the list.
About Caitlyn Silhan
Caitlyn Silhan is a partner at Waters & Kraus. As a litigator, she takes on cases under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and qui tam whistleblower matters. She has consistently focused her practice on prohibiting fraudulent acts exposed by plaintiffs in both Texas and California as well as across the country. Caitlyn graduated magna cum laude with her Juris Doctor degree from Tulane University Law school, during which she was a Dean’s Scholar. She is also a recipient of the 2016 Kristi Couvillon Pro Bono Award granted by the Texas Civil Rights Project. Caitlyn has also recently been involved with a case that is actively changing the way people vote in Texas.
About Christopher Johnson
Chris Johnson concentrates his practice on toxic tort and complex civil matters, including aiding victims dealing with mesothelioma resulting from asbestos exposure. Chris earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin with honors and was later awarded a Juris Doctor degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. As a law student, he maintained a consistent Dean’s Scholar status and served as SMU International Law Review editor. Chris is an AV® Preeminent™ ranked lawyer with a peer review rating of 5.0 out of 5.0; ranking and peer review surveys are conducted by Martindale-Hubbell. His recognition on the 2021 Super Lawyers Texas Rising Stars list is reflective of his skill within the field of law.
About Sam Iola
Sam Iola focuses his practice on helping people who have been catastrophically injured by asbestos exposure seek recovery through the legal process. Sam also represents people involved in other types of personal injury, product liability, and toxic tort cases. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Redlands and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Texas A&M University School of Law. TopVerdict.com recognized Sam’s work on its 2019 list of Top 20 Wrongful Death Verdicts in California for obtaining a verdict on behalf of his client, the plaintiff in Vanni, et al. v. AMF Bowling Centers, Inc., et al. Sam has been selected for recognition on the Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for five years running.
About Patrick Wigle
Waters & Kraus welcomed Patrick Wigle as a partner in early 2020. Patrick has been selected for recognition on the Texas Super Lawyers Texas Rising Stars list for eight consecutive years. His practice primarily entails product liability and toxic torts. Patrick’s nominations for honors and awards such as Super Lawyers is evidence of his commitment to helping people who have been injured by asbestos exposure. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and then moved on to earn his Juris Doctor Degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
What Makes a Texas Rising Stars Qualifier?
The Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars edition is a Thomson Reuters publication. It recognizes top lawyers in Texas by adhering to a multiphase selection process. The purpose of compiling such a directory is to ensure that clients can find effective counsel from a broad pool of esteemed attorneys. Many evaluative aspects are considered when selecting attorneys for the list. Professional achievements and positive peer recognition are the most significant indicators of whether an attorney will be nominated. The process comprises four phases: nominations, independent research, peer evaluation, and finally, selection.
First, an attorney may be nominated by a peer, third-party feedback, or the Super Lawyers’ research team. Next, Super Lawyers perform independent research, evaluating different professional factors such as experience, honors/awards, number of verdicts and settlements, and even the attorneys’ education. Later, the top candidates that emerge through phases one and two are evaluated against other candidates within their primary practice areas. Finally, a representative number of attorneys from different sized law firms are selected to be in the top 2.5% of attorneys, culminating in the Rising Stars list.
