D Magazine has named Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel founder Peter Kraus and partner Patrick Wigle as Best Lawyers of 2022, an exclusive list which honors the top lawyers in Dallas as chosen by their peers.
The winners are spotlighted in the magazine’s May 2022 issue. D Magazine’s annual list is compiled by asking lawyers with a valid Texas Bar number to nominate two lawyers outside their firm and one within their firm across all voting categories, keeping the following question in mind: “Which local lawyers, of those whose work you have witnessed firsthand, would you rank among the current best?”
Because the selection process is based entirely on peer review, D Magazine is able to ensure that honorees who make the final cut are those who have earned the respect and esteem of their colleagues.
After the votes are tallied, an anonymous, independent panel of prominent lawyers meets with D Magazine’s editors to evaluate and compile the Best Lawyers® list. The lawyers must practice in the Dallas area.
Peter Kraus
Kraus is a founding and managing partner of Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel, a national law firm devoted to helping families in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Kraus, a Dallas native, earned his bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his law degree from the University of Texas.
He has been regularly selected by his peers to the D Magazine Best Lawyers list for his work on behalf of plaintiffs.
Kraus 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, and pharmaceutical injury litigation. He has taken numerous asbestos, benzene exposure, and pharmaceutical cases to verdict in state and federal courts across the country, including many multimillion-dollar verdicts.
Kraus is a strong supporter of consumer and victims’ rights, having testified before the Texas Legislature and frequently lobbied Congress on behalf of asbestos litigants. He 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 American Bar Association Commission on asbestos litigation.
Licensed to practice law in Texas, California, Hawaii, Missouri, and Virginia, Kraus has been elected for membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates by his peers.
Patrick Wigle
Wigle is a partner at Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel in the firm’s Dallas office. His focus is representing plaintiffs involved in product liability and toxic tort cases, and his work includes helping people who have been injured by asbestos exposure and their families seeking recovery through the legal process.
He also was recognized by D Magazine on the 2021 “Best Lawyers Under 40” list. Wigle earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He was awarded his law degree from Southern Methodist University’s School of Law. In 2017, he was accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Wigle is a member of the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, the Texas Bar Foundation, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the State Bar of Texas and The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 Under 40, an invitation-only honor.
He also serves as a board member for the Texas Youth Scholarship Organization. Wigle holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating and has been selected for recognition on the Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for the past nine years.
He was named as one of the Top 100 Up-and-Coming Texas Rising Stars in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Wigle also was selected as an associate member of the Patrick E. Higginbotham American Inn of Court for the 2011 to 2012 term.
About Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel
Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel is a national plaintiffs’ law firm devoted to helping families in personal injury and wrongful death cases involving asbestos and mesothelioma, benzene exposure, dangerous pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and birth defects caused by pesticides, toxic chemicals, opioid use, and semiconductor chip manufacturing. The law firm also represents plaintiffs in qui tam whistleblower matters and cases that uncover false claims submitted to the government. Based in Dallas, Texas, with offices in Los Angeles, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, and by appointment in Moline, Illinois, Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel has represented families from all 50 states and many foreign countries, as well as foreign governments.