Jessica Dean (Attorney)

Jessica Dean is a partner at the law firm of Dean, Omar, Branham & Shirley who has practiced law since 2003.

She credits her father, who sometimes worked 80 hours a week for McDonnell-Douglas, with passing along a strong work ethic and desire to protect front-line workers.

Education and Admissions

Jessica Dean graduated magna cum laude from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1999. She completed her legal education at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, graduating cum laude in 2003.

Attorney Jessica Dean has received admission to the bar in Texas, California, and Pennsylvania. Texas was the first state where she gained admission after graduating from college in 2003. California came in 2008 and Pennsylvania in 2012. She has also gained admission to the United States District Court for the Northern District, Eastern District, and Western District of Texas. These admissions came in 2003 and 2004.

Early Legal Experience

The first client Jessica Dean took on was a 62-year-old man who had developed mesothelioma after years of asbestos exposure on the job decades earlier. The client worked for a naval shipyard repairing gaskets and packing equipment when he was in his twenties. Like most workers from that era, Jessica’s client had no idea he was damaging his lungs and would eventually develop cancer.

Jessica Dean’s experience with a client who had mesothelioma inspired her to begin researching what local companies knew about asbestos and its tie to the fatal disease. She was particularly interested in learning when businesses learned about the connection and what they did after finding out that working with asbestos put workers at risk. Her goal is to hold businesses accountable for actions or lack of actions taken now that the connection between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma has become undeniable.

Jessica Dean’s Legal Career Today

Most of Jessica’s clients are working-class and hold blue-collar jobs. Besides asbestos exposure claims, she assists clients with suing for personal injury, unpaid wages, and shareholder liability. Jessica Dean also represents clients who have joined class-action lawsuits in court trials against large corporations.