Skip to content Leslie A. Benitez

Lawyers

Austin
2705 Bee Caves Road
Suite 220
Austin, TX 78746


Education

J.D., with honors, The University of Texas School of Law, 1977

B.A., with honors, The University of Texas at Austin, 1974 

Honors 

Top Rated Lawyer-AV® Preeminent™,
Martindale-Hubbell

Super Lawyers® distinction in the fields of Personal Injury Defense: Products and Appellate (2006-2012, 2014-2018)

Best Lawyers in America® distinction in Appellate Practice (2009-2025)

Biography

Leslie Benitez represents clients in statewide and national litigation. She has spent over 30 years representing pharmaceutical companies in a wide variety of products liability litigation and mass torts around the nation. She has acted as national coordinating counsel on legal issues in nationwide mass tort litigations as well as working seamlessly with national coordinating counsel in prescription drug mass torts, including one litigation involving diet drugs for over 10 years. She also has handled individual products liability cases for a diverse range of products that includes prescription and over-the-counter drugs, talc used in cosmetic products, cosmetics, child safety seats, farm equipment, automobiles and their components, and has defended health care liability claims against health care facilities. She has extensive motion and appellate experience in product liability and tort cases involving chemical and toxic exposures, and has coordinated legal defenses of her clients at trial and on appeal. She has argued in the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeal, and Texas appeals courts. She is well known as a legal strategist in complex motion practice and error preservation in litigation and at trials.

Prior to entering private practice, Leslie served as General Counsel to the Governor of Texas. She also served as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Texas, where she was Chief of the Law Enforcement Division. She also served as a Briefing and Research Attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Admissions

  • Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Oklahoma
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Memberships

  • DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar
  • DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, Drug & Medical Device Steering Committee

Community Involvement

The University of Texas School of Law Alumni Association, former Executive Committee Member; Co-chair, Law School Class of 1977 Alumni. 
 

Experience
Loading...