Kurt Arnold, Jason Itkin Named 2027 "Lawyer of the Year" as 12 Arnold & Itkin Attorneys Earn Best Lawyers® Recognition

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Aug 21, 2026, 08:00 ET

The firm's Houston trial attorneys each earned the "Lawyer of the Year" distinction in a separate practice area

HOUSTON, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The two founders of Houston trial law firm Arnold & Itkin have each been named a 2027 "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers®, the firm announced today. Kurt Arnold was recognized in Houston for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs, while Jason Itkin was recognized in Houston for Admiralty and Maritime Law.

Best Lawyers presents the "Lawyer of the Year" title to a single attorney in each practice area and metropolitan region annually. The distinction is determined entirely through peer review, based on confidential evaluations submitted by other lawyers in the same field, and is widely regarded as one of the most selective honors the organization awards to individual attorneys.

Arnold & Itkin has litigated some of the largest verdicts in the country against pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers in high-profile mass tort cases. In October 2019, the firm won an $8 billion punitive damages verdict against Johnson & Johnson over its antipsychotic drug Risperdal, which the company had marketed to children while withholding data linking it to a hormonal growth disorder in boys; at the time, it was the third-largest jury verdict ever awarded to an individual plaintiff in the United States. The Houston trial lawyers previously won a separate $76.6 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a Risperdal trial. In litigation against Bayer/Monsanto over the weed killer Roundup, the firm has secured a string of record verdicts on behalf of clients who developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, including a $2.25 billion verdict in Philadelphia in January 2024 and a $2.065 billion verdict in Georgia in March 2025. The latter is the largest single-plaintiff injury award in that state's history.

The firm has also been practicing maritime law for more than two decades, representing offshore workers and seamen in accidents along the Gulf Coast and beyond. After the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 workers and injured dozens more, the firm came to represent roughly a third of the rig's surviving crew, more than any other law firm in the country, and later secured a $171 million settlement described as one of the largest confidential settlements in maritime litigation history. Arnold & Itkin's other maritime and offshore settlements include $193 million for two workers injured in a pipeline explosion, believed to be the largest settlement of its kind in U.S. history, and $185 million for a group of seamen injured aboard a vessel during a severe storm at sea.

The two awards were announced alongside broader recognition for the firm: 12 Arnold & Itkin attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2027 edition of Best Lawyers® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America. Those selections, like the "Lawyer of the Year" honors, are based entirely on peer review within the legal profession.

2027 Best Lawyers® Honorees

2027 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® Honorees

About the Firm

Arnold & Itkin LLP is a Houston-based law firm representing individuals and families in catastrophic injury, maritime, product liability, and mass tort litigation across the country. More information on the Best Lawyers selection methodology is available at bestlawyers.com/methodology.

Media Contact

Aya Garfaoui
Arnold & Itkin LLP
[email protected]

SOURCE Arnold & Itkin LLP