Baxter D. Drennon
Biography
Baxter D. Drennon is a Partner in our office in Little Rock, Arkansas, and he has more than a decade of legal experience. He is a seasoned trial attorney who protects the rights of clients in complex litigation involving products liability, professional liability, and automobile accidents. Baxter has also successfully defended doctors, nurses, and other medical providers in medical malpractice cases.
Known for his work in high-exposure cases such as catastrophic personal injury and complex business disputes, Baxter has served as lead counsel in hundreds of cases and as trial counsel in over a dozen cases — most of which resulted in complete defense verdicts.
He works closely with each client’s leadership team to ensure the legal strategy aligns with broader business goals while resolving each matter effectively and efficiently. Baxter represents clients across manufacturing lines, including companies in the aerospace, automotive, heating and cooling, electrical component, and vertical transportation industries.
In addition to products liability defense, Baxter often advises businesses on commercial disputes and other day-to-day business and operational matters. He also represents several municipal water and wastewater entities and was honored to serve as legal counsel in the first privatization of a water utility on a military installation in the state of Arkansas. Also, Baxter is the City Attorney for Benton, Arkansas.
Baxter earned a Juris Doctorate degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Arkansas. He also completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Considered a leader among his peers, Baxter has been actively involved in the Defense Research Institute (DRI) since 2010, and previously served as the Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee. In 2019, Baxter was elected to the DRI Board of Directors in 2019 – the first young lawyer elected to the Board. Baxter is also a Future Leader in the Products Liability Advisory Council. He has been repeatedly named a “Rising Star” by Mid-South Super Lawyers.
Experience
Baxter has over a decade of legal experience, protecting the rights of clients inside the courtroom, as well as in their day-to-day business dealings. He has represented clients in numerous high-exposure cases such as catastrophic personal injury and complex business disputes. Baxter has served as lead counsel in hundreds of cases and as trial counsel in over a dozen cases. He works with manufacturers in many industries such as aerospace, automotive, heating and cooling, electrical component, and vertical transportation.
Baxter counsels clients on construction defects litigation, subcontractor disputes, jobsite injury, premises liability, and other related claims.
Baxter represents manufacturing companies in a wide range of sectors, such as aerospace, automotive, electrical component, heating and cooling, and vertical transportation. He has handled many high-risk, high-exposure cases.
Baxter protects the rights of clients in complex automobile accident litigation, including cases involving catastrophic personal injury, brain injury, wrongful death and other related claims.
Credentials
ADMITTED
EDUCATION
Memberships
Recognition
Presentations
- Modern Day Litigation: Using Multiple Media to Appeal to Jurors of All Ages
Presenter, DRI 2021 Annual Meeting, October 2021. - Lessons from the Trenches: Civil Jury Trials During COVID & Beyond
Presenter, Products Liability Advisory Council 2021 Fall Conference, September 2021. - Luddite or Technophile: Start Warnings of Technology Competency Requirements
Presenter, 2021 Texas Association of Defense Counsel Annual Meeting, September, 2021. - Defusing the Nuclear Verdict
Facilitator, Products Liability Advisory Council, September 2021. - Technology Competency Requirements in Tennessee and Nationwide
Presenter, Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association Virtual Annual Meeting & Awards Presentation, September 2020.
- Annual Case Law Update
Presenter, DRI Product Liability Committee Meeting, November 2018, 2019. - Legal Hot Topics
Presenter, Arkansas Water and Wastewater Managers Association, 2018. - The Ethical Pitfalls of Representing Friends and Family
Presenter,Arkansas Association of Defense Counsel, Tennessee Association of Defense Counsel, Kentucky Defense Counsel, and Nebraska Association of Defense Counsel, April 2018. - Luddite or Technophile: Start Warnings of Technology Competency Requirements
Presenter, Arkansas Association of Defense Counsel, September 2017. - The Ethical Pitfalls of Representing Friends and Family
Presenter, DRI Lawyers’ Professionalism and Ethics and Young Lawyers Committees, June 2016. - Ethical Pitfalls of Representing Friends and Family
Presenter, Arkansas Association of Defense Counsel, Tennessee Association of Defense Counsel, Kentucky Association of Defense Counsel, and Nebraska Association of Defense Counsel, June 2016. - Ethics in Negotiations and Mediations
Presenter, DRI Young Lawyers Seminar, June 2015.