Awards and Achievements
Derek Merman has been recognized throughout his career by both local and national agencies as being an exceptional lawyer for personal injury victims. He has consistently been ranked among the top 100 lawyers in the country in his field as well as being ranked specifically in Texas, where his practice is focused. Mr. Merman has consistently ranked so high primarily because of his unblemished ethical record, peer reviews from both sides of the bar, and his exceptional results. While the Merman Law Firm prides itself on its past achievements, the accolades we cherish most are those of our clients. We take seriously the trust placed in us by our clients and strive to leave each one in as good a place as we can when we conclude their case.
Houstonia Top Lawyer 2015
Super Lawyers – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Using a patented processes, Super Lawyers researches attorneys that have attained certain honors, results, and peer-recognition and nominates the top five percent for inclusion in the exclusive list of “Super Lawyers.” These candidates are then thoroughly reviewed by a blue-ribbon panel to assure that they possess the types of skills, experience, and results to warrant inclusion in the exclusive group of Super Lawyers in Texas. Mr. Merman was selected to this group the first year he was eligible.
Rising Stars 2009, 2013, 2014 – Top Young Lawyers in Texas – Super Lawyers/Texas Monthly Magazine
Mr. Merman was selected for inclusion in the 2009 Rising Stars edition of the Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations, only 5% of attorneys are selected.
NAOPIA “Nationally Ranked Top 10 Attorney Award” – 2013
The National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys “is an organization devoted to recognizing the top Personal Injury attorneys in the nation. With over a million attorneys in the United States, choosing the best lawyer is difficult. However, through a stringent selection process, the NAOPIA awards the best Personal Injury attorneys in each state with our most prestigious honor of being named “TOP 10”. The very few attorneys (less than 1%) that are good enough to make our list have demonstrated an extraordinary amount of knowledge, skill, experience, expertise and success in their practice of Personal Injury.” Mr. Merman was selected to this prestigious group in 2013 and remains one of the top 10 attorneys under 40 in Texas.
Top Verdicts – 2012 Roye v. DuPont
Many attorneys go their entire careers without winning a single verdict over $10,000,000; Mr. Merman did it in consecutive years. The opportunity to win a verdict of that size depends on the facts of the case and does not come around very often. Every time Mr. Merman has had the opportunity to demand more than $10,000,000 from a jury he has been successful.
Top 40 Trial Lawyers under 40 – The National Trial Lawyers Association 2012-2015
In 2012, Mr. Merman was selected as one of the top 40 lawyers under 40 in Texas by the National Trial Lawyers Association. “Membership into the Top 40 Under 40 is by invitation only and is extended exclusively to those individuals who exemplify superior qualifications, trial results, and leadership as a young trial lawyer.” Mr. Merman was one of only forty trial lawyers from the State of Texas chosen for membership in this exclusive and austere group of exceptional lawyers.
Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Texas – The National Trial Lawyers Association 2009-present
The National Trial Lawyers is a national organization composed of The Top 100 Trial Lawyers from each state. Membership is obtained through special invitation and is extended only to those attorneys who exemplify superior qualifications of leadership, reputation, influence, stature and profile as civil plaintiff or criminal defense trial lawyers. Mr. Merman was first selected as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in Texas in 2009 and has remained a member of this exclusive group for four years and counting.
Top Verdicts in Texas – 2013 – $11,965,000 – Industrial Accident
B.R. v. EI DuPont de Nemours, et. al., Cause No. 200980504 in the 165th Judicial District of Harris County
B.R. was badly burned when he attempted to repair a steam trap on a line at the DuPont chemical plant in La Porte, Texas. B.R. received burn injuries over 46% of his body when the ground collapsed and dropped him into a hole three feet deep and full of boiling water. B.R. barely escaped with his life. DuPont claimed the accident was the fault of B.R. and his employer but we were able to prove through exceptional expert testimony and argument that B.R. could not have anticipated the hidden danger. Mr. Merman was co-lead counsel with Dan Barton of the Barton Law Firm and received a verdict in excess of $11,000,000 in actual damages for Mr. and Mrs. B.R. after three weeks of trial.
Largest Individual Civil Rights Verdict in Texas History – January 2011
Mr. Merman and his Co-Counsel, Robert Luke, won an unprecedented $16,050,000 verdict in the Federal District Court in Beaumont, Texas in 2011. The verdict was more than four-times the verdict rendered in the Rodney King assault and is the largest reported civil-rights verdict in Texas to date.
Top Verdicts in Texas – 2011 – $16,050,869 – Police Brutality
Joseph Roberts was punched in the face and thrown into a wall while in handcuffs in the Jefferson County Jail. Mr. Merman and his partner, Robert Luke, tried the case to verdict in Federal Court in Beaumont in 2011. Mr. Merman’s civil rights case was selected for inclusion in the top 100 verdicts in Texas for the year 2011.
AVVO 10 out of 10 rating, 5 Stars
