Stuart J. Starry

Stuart Starry has extensive experience in complex and serious cases.

STUART STARRY has over 21 years of experience in trial and appellate law. He has handled many personal injury, wrongful death, and commercial cases. His experience includes work on trucking accidents, jobsite injuries, industrial accidents, and oil and gas fraud. He is also experienced in product liability, drug litigation, construction defect, securities fraud, breach of contract, divorce, and other civil cases. Because he has also had careers in construction and manufacturing, his approach is based on his real world experience. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on January 18, 1961. He graduated in 1983, Cum Laude, from the University of Southern California, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. He was also inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honors fraternity. He received his Juris Doctor in 1986 from Vanderbilt Law School. Mr. Starry is a Mediator and received his Certification from the University of New Mexico. He has spent time on both the Plaintiff and Defense side of the Bar, giving him a broad perspective.

Legal Experience:

Admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1986, he joined the aviation section of Beirne, Maynard & Parsons in Houston, Texas, where he devoted a substantial portion of his practice to defending claims brought against commercial airlines. He has also represented several aircraft and aircraft component manufacturers in aviation product liability cases. Mr. Starry represented American Airlines in the preemption cases of O'Carroll v. American Airlines, 863 F.2d 11 (5th Cir. 1989) cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1106 (1989) and Baugh v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 915 F.2d 693 (5th Cir. 1990). While at Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, Mr. Starry also represented certain large corporations in toxic tort cases, mass actions, class actions and commercial fraud cases. He also defended automobile accident and workplace injury cases for a number of insurance companies.

In 1991, Mr. Starry joined the Houston firm of Fleming, Hovenkamp & Grayson and until 1997 devoted part of his time to plaintiff's aviation litigation and appeals for that firm. Mr. Starry argued the landmark case Hodges v. Delta Airlines, 44 F. 3rd 334 (5th Cir. 1995) (en banc) on behalf of the plaintiff, which overruled his previous victory in Baugh v.Trans World Airlines. While at the Fleming Firm, Mr. Starry also represented thousands of investors in mass action and class action securities fraud cases. He successfully argued several complex class action related motions in the polybutylene plumbing litigation. He handled a busy docket which included, automobile accidents, workplace injuries, industrial accidents, toxic torts, pharmaceutical “bad drug” cases, and a host of other civil matters.

Mr. Starry established his own practice in September of 1997. He continues to entertain cases and appeals, along with a broad spectrum of cases involving products liability, serious personal injury, commercial disputes, securities fraud, and mass torts. In 1998 Mr. Starry won another high profile en banc preemption appeal. See, Charas v. Trans World Airlines, 160 F.3rd 1259 (9th Cir. 1998) (en banc).

In 2014, Mr. Starry established "Law and Fact Legal Writing," a business devoted to providing licensed attorneys with quality written motions, briefs, and memoranda. In 2019 he established a Midland, Texas office to serve Midland and surrounding counties.

Mr. Starry has been a frequent lecturer and writer on federal preemption. His lectures include appearances at the 1992 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California (Federal Preemption in Commercial Aviation), and the 1993 SMU Air Law Symposium in Dallas (Impact of Hodges v. Delta Airlines).

His writings include “Preemption in the Skies,” Trial, March, 1994; “Federal Preemption in Commercial Aviation: Tort Litigation Under 49 U.S.C. §1305," Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Spring, 1993; “Torts at Twenty Thousand Feet,” The Brief, Fall, 1993; “Asserting and Avoiding the Preemption Defense,” Chapter 52 of Civil Trial Practice:Winning Techniques of Successful Trial Attorneys, 2000.

Mr. Starry has been admitted to practice by the State Bar of Texas in all Texas courts, the United States Supreme Court; the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the United States District Courts for the Northern and Western Districts of Texas. He has been a member of the American Bar Association (Sections on Litigation, Aviation, and Tort and Insurance Practice), the State Bar of Texas, the American Trial Lawyers Association, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

Construction Experience:

In 2004 he entered his father’s business of residential construction, doing business as “Contemporary Classic Homes.” His first project was awarded 2007 Custom Home of the Year (under $400,000.00) and 2007 Custom Home Front Elevation of the Year by the Greater Houston Homebuilder’s Association. For his unique approach to homebuilding, Mr. Starry has received write-ups in both Builder/Architect Magazine and Builder’s Journal.

Manufacturing Experience:

In 2007 and 2008, Mr. Starry invented a number of unique devices including “the pole-to-ski coupling arrangement” which forms the technological basis for what are now known as “quickpoles.” By mid-2008 the development and marketing of “quickpole” technology became one of his passions. The business was expanded with venture capital in 2009 and “Quickpoles, LLC” was formed. The company manufactures the only ski pole which snaps into a skis bindings, instantly forming a handle to easily carry and maneuver the skis.

Awards

AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell, 2019

Custom Home of the Year under $400,000, Greater Houston Builder's Association, 2007

Custom Home Elevation of the Year under $400,000, Greater Houston Builder's Association, 2007

Work Experience

Attorney, Stuart Starry, Attorney at Law, 2013 - Present

Attorney, Starry & Associates, PC, 1997 - 2004

Attorney, Fleming Hovenkamp & Grayson, 1991 - 1997

Attorney, Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, LLP, 1986 – 1991

Publications

Civil Trial Practice: Winning Techniques of Successful Trial Attorneys (Lawyers and Judges Publishing Co.), Asserting and Avoiding the Preemption Defense, 2000

Trial Magazine, Preemption in the Skies, 1994

Journal of Air Law and Commerce (SMU), Federal Preemption in Commercial Aviation: Tort Litigation Under 49 U.S.C. §1305, 1993

The Brief (ABA), Torts at Twenty Thousand Feet, 1993

Speaking Engagements

SMU Air Law Symposium, Impact of Hodges v. Delta Airlines, 1993

ABA Annual Meeting, Federal Preemption in Commercial Aviation, 1992

Legal Cases

Charas v. Trans World Airlines, 160 F.3rd 1259 (9th Cir. 1998) (en banc)., Appellate Victory

Hodges v. Delta Airlines, 44 F. 3rd 334 (5th Cir. 1995) (en banc), Appellate Victory

Baugh v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 915 F.2d 693 (5th Cir. 1990), Trial Court Victory

O'Carroll v. American Airlines, 863 F.2d 11 (5th Cir. 1989) cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1106 (1989), Appellate Victory

Associations

American Bar Association, Member, 2014 - Present

State Bar of Texas, Member, 1986 - Present