Peter Kraus is a founding and managing partner of Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel. A native of Dallas, Peter earned his bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his law degree from the University of Texas. He began his career as a commercial litigator in Washington, D.C., and has since focused his practice on toxic torts, False Claims Act whistleblower cases, wildfire litigation and pharmaceutical injury litigation. He has tried numerous asbestos, benzene exposure, and pharmaceutical cases to verdict in state and federal courts across the country, including many multimillion-dollar verdicts. He is an ardent supporter of consumer and victims’ rights, having testified before the Texas Legislature and frequently lobbied Congress on behalf of asbestos litigants. Peter also serves on several asbestos bankruptcy creditor and trustee advisory committees. He is involved in steering committees for both U.S. and Texas asbestos multidistrict litigation and has served on the ABA Commission on Asbestos litigation. In January 2020, he was appointed by then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to serve a second 5-year term on the board of the Federal Judicial Center Foundation. Licensed to practice law in Texas, California, Hawaii, Missouri, and Virginia, Peter has been elected for membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates by his peers. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the latest Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© magazine for his work on behalf of plaintiffs in Personal Injury Litigation and Product Liability Litigation from 2016 through 2022. He has received this recognition for four consecutive years beginning in 2016. Peter has also been recognized on the D Magazine “Best Lawyers in Dallas” list and the Thomson Reuters Texas Super Lawyers® list repeatedly over the last 20 years.
Peter is active in the community, particularly in the areas of education, medicine, and the legal profession. He is the former chairman of the boards of the Greenhill School and the St. Paul Medical Foundation. He is a current board member of the public radio and television station KERA. He also serves on the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice and the board of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He formerly served on the boards of the Southwestern Medical Foundation, the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, and Public Justice, a public interest law firm that he and the firm continue to support. He also formerly served his alma mater as a member of the Duke University Annual Fund Executive Committee. He is a member of the Dallas Bar Association and The National Trial Lawyers: Top 10 Asbestos/Mesothelioma Trial Lawyers Association, an invitation-only honor.
The reason we take so many of our cases to trial is because a trial can provide a client with better results. Trials are harder, they take longer, they require more energy, research and manpower, but every client we have is worth it. If we didn’t feel that way, we wouldn’t be doing this.”
Peter Kraus
Spotlight
The Larry Schoenbrun Jurisprudence Award is presented annually by ADL Texoma to a member of the legal community for outstanding leadership, exemplary contributions to the community, and a commitment to the ideals of the Anti-Defamation League.
Our Results
Historic settlement for over 1,300 survivors of clergy and adult abuse within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, marking a pivotal moment for justice.
A Philadelphia jury awarded a record verdict against ExxonMobil for failing to warn about cancer risks due to benzene in its petroleum products.
Confidential settlement for the wife of a Rhode Island man who died of mesothelioma cancer after exposure to window glazing compound contaminated with asbestos.
Featured
June 6, 2024 Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel partners Patrick Wigle and Rajeev Mittal and Locks Law Firm partner Andrew DuMont were named among Law360’s “Lions of the Week” for their $725.5 million toxic exposure verdict against ExxonMobil. The May 9 verdict in Philadelphia’s First Judicial District court generated national media attention based on the sheer size of […] READ MORE
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