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About

⚖  Meet Tom Stilwell — Houston Trial Lawyer

30 Years of Trial Experience

For thirty years, Tom Stilwell has been in the courtroom fighting for the outcome that matters — first for some of the largest companies in America, and now for the people those companies hurt.

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That distinction matters. Tom spent the first two decades of his career defending Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies against catastrophic injury claims — commercial trucking litigation, aviation accidents, oilfield explosions, and refinery incidents. He learned how insurance companies build their defense, how corporate counsel prepares for trial, and exactly what it takes to win in front of a Texas jury.

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Today, Tom uses that same insider knowledge for one client at a time: the injured person and their family. At Stilwell Injury Law, that experience isn't a talking point — it's the reason clients trust him with their highest-stakes, highest-damages cases.

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Tom Stilwell possesses the experience you can count on. He is highly competitive and brings relentless preparation and aggressive strategy to every case. He doesn't wait for a company to be honest about what happened — he builds the case, hires the right experts, and prepares every file as if it's going to trial, because that preparation is what makes insurance companies pay full value long before a jury is ever seated.

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⚖  Stilwell Injury Law

A Recognized Leader in Aviation Injury Law

Tom is one of Houston's most experienced aviation injury attorneys. He previously represented major airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and maintenance companies in state and federal court — and now brings that same depth of knowledge to passengers and claimants injured by them.

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He has spoken at national airline law conferences, taught at legal aviation seminars, and published on the Air Carrier Access Act, the Montreal Convention, the Warsaw Convention, and how federal regulation shapes an injury claim. That background allows him to handle the complex jurisdictional and preemption issues that sink most aviation cases before they even get started — from wheelchair-assistance injuries and turbulence claims to overhead-bin accidents, boarding and deplaning incidents, and full-scale aircraft and helicopter crash litigation.

Deep Experience in Oilfield and Energy Litigation

Houston runs on energy, and so does a significant part of Tom's practice. He has recovered more than $33 million for a single client in an oilfield case, and has tried cases involving onshore drilling, hydraulic fracturing, offshore platforms, and oilfield explosions.

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Early in his career, Tom served as national trial counsel for an international oilfield equipment manufacturer, defending claims arising from explosions, fires, blowouts, valve failures, and human error on rigs and platforms across the country. He now applies that same firsthand knowledge of how energy companies operate — and how they defend themselves — to represent workers and families harmed in oilfield and refinery incidents.

A Career Built on Trial Experience

✔  1994–2007: Partner, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP (now Norton Rose Fulbright) — trained to try cases from day one

✔ 2007–2010: Helped build the Houston litigation group for Sutherland Asbill & Brennan (now Eversheds Sutherland)

✔  2010–2017: Partner, BakerHostetler, helping expand the firm's energy litigation team

✔  2017–present: Moved to the plaintiff's side of the docket to fight for injured Texans and their families

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Tom earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin (1991) and his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center (1994), where he served as Managing Editor of the Houston Journal of International Law. He is licensed in all Texas state courts, the Southern, Western, Northern, and Eastern Federal Districts of Texas, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

A Houston Native, Committed to This Community

Tom is a proud native Houstonian who gives back to the city that raised him, including his service on the Houston Marathon Board of Directors and his continued support of the Houston Bar Association's work with The Center Serving Persons with disAbility.

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⚖  Free & Confidential Consultation

Ready to Talk

If you or someone you love has been seriously injured in a trucking accident, aviation incident, oilfield accident, refinery incident, or another catastrophic event, Tom Stilwell is ready to talk with you — and to put thirty years of trial experience to work for your family.

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Call (832) 274-6749 or email tom@tsinjurylaw.com for a free, confidential consultation.

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⚖  Quick Facts

Tom Stilwell

Founder & Trial Attorney, Stilwell Injury Law

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  • 30 years of trial experience

  • Recovered $33+ million in a single oilfield case

  • Former defense counsel for Fortune 100/500 companies, airlines, and aircraft manufacturers

  • J.D., cum laude, University of Houston Law Center

  • B.A. Economics, University of Texas at Austin

Bar Admissions

  • State of Texas (1994)

  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (1995)

  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas (1998)

  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas (1998)

  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (2000)

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (2014)

Professional Associations

  • American Bar Association

  • American Association for Justice

  • Texas Trial Lawyers Association

  • Houston Trial Lawyers Association

  • Houston Bar Association

  • Texas Bar Foundation

  • Houston Area Women's Center — former board member

Selected Publications

  • Keep Calm & Fly On — Your Essential Guide to the Air Carrier Access Act, SMU Air Law Conference (2015)

  • GARA: The General Aviation Act of 1994, SMU Air Law Conference (2007)

  • Warning: You May Possess Continuing Duties After the Sale of Your Product! — Texas Review of Litigation, Vol. 26 (2007)

  • Correcting Errors: Imperfect Awards in Texas Arbitration — Baylor Law Review, Vol. 58 (2006)

  • Choice of Law in International Arbitration, Ch. 7, in International Litigation: Defending and Suing Foreign Parties in U.S. Federal Courts (2004)

  • Kumho Tire: The Battle of the Experts Continues — Texas Review of Litigation, Vol. 19 (2000)

  • Monitoring the Opinions of Biochemists & Beekeepers: The Application of Daubert & Robinson to Engineering Witnesses in Texas — Baylor Law Review, Vol. 51 (1999)

  • Standards Governing the Recovery of Mental Anguish Damages Under Texas Law — South Texas Law Review, Vol. 39 (1997)

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