About Matthew Franks

Matthew Franks is an experienced personal injury attorney at Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP who has successfully represented clients against major corporations, railroads, and trucking companies across Texas and nationwide. Known for his client-centered approach, Franks won his first multi-day jury trial against one of the largest insurance companies in Texas just three weeks after passing the bar exam.

Franks graduated in the top of his class from South Texas College of Law Houston, where he participated in mock trial tournaments, earned a CALI Excellence for the Future Award, and served as president of a student organization. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also studied abroad at the University of Malta. He is a graduate of the Trial Advocacy College of Texas.

Franks is admitted to practice in Texas, Illinois, and before federal courts in multiple districts. His membership in both the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a distinction held by less than 1% of all attorneys, reflects his track record of significant recoveries for injured clients. Before joining Armstrong Lee & Baker, he practiced at Tilton & Tilton LLP.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Armstrong Lee & Baker

These results are credited to Armstrong Lee & Baker. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

$4.5 millionVerdict

A Texas appeals court affirmed a $4.5 million jury award for Jerry Thomas, an East Texas man who lost his hand at a sawmill in Rusk, holding that the owner never established an employment relationship and could not invoke the workers' compensation exclusive-remedy defense.

Texas Twelfth Court of Appeals (Tyler); trial court: 2nd District Court, Cherokee County · 2026Workplace InjuryRead the full story →
Verdict

Armstrong Lee & Baker won reversal of a federal preemption dismissal, reviving negligence claims brought by the family of a Tyson Foods meatpacking worker who died of COVID-19 after a coworker with a known positive test continued coming to work.

U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit · 2025Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

South Texas College of Law Houston
Juris Doctor (J.D.)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Texas
State Bar of Illinois
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
Texas Trial Lawyers Association
Houston Trial Lawyers Association
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

Awards & recognition

Super Lawyers Rising Star (2025, 2026)
Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
CALI Excellence for the Future Award
Trial Advocacy College of Texas - Graduate

Other attorneys at Armstrong Lee & Baker

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other Houston firms

The Lanier Law Firm
The Lanier Law Firm
$4.85 Billion Vioxx MDL Settlement for Heart-Attack and Stroke Victims
The Buzbee Law Firm
The Buzbee Law Firm
$1.1 Billion Verdict for Child Left Brain-Damaged by Oil-Fortune Heir
Arnold & Itkin
Arnold & Itkin
$2.07 billion · Cobb County Jury Awards John Barnes $2.065 Billion in Roundup Cancer Trial
Williams Hart & Boundas
Williams Hart & Boundas
$15.3 billion · Texas Recovers $15.3 Billion From Tobacco Industry in Landmark 1998 Settlement
The Ammons Law Firm LLP
The Ammons Law Firm LLP
$812 Million Verdict for Family of Worker Killed in Pecos Chemical Plant Explosion, Part of $1.6 Billion

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.