Charla Aldous is Advocating for the Underserved in Texas

Charla Aldous approaches her work with courage and compassion. Her client’s stories tug at her heartstrings and for Aldous – who spends much of her working life fighting for justice for people who have been grossly mistreated, abused and marginalized – it's crucial not to become calloused.

Among her current cases, Aldous is representing several families who lost children in the Uvalde school shooting, as well as a pediatric endocrinologist who was offering gender-affirming care to transgender youth in Texas and whose clinic was recently shut down.

Aldous has developed iron-clad self-care rituals that enable the acclaimed litigator to focus on getting results for her clients, who are often going through the toughest years of their lives. “I'm kind of a fatalist,” Aldous says. “Bad stuff is going to happen. The thing is, people need to be held accountable.”

As a young single mother, Aldous opened her own firm and wrote her own rulebook for how that would look. She brought the work home with her in a way that fortified the family and instilled positive values in her children. She openly shared details of the cases she was working on with her kids and even attached pictures of her clients to the fridge. They were in it together. 

“I really tried to engage them in the process, so they'd understand that mom just wasn't neglecting them. I was making a living, but also really trying to help people who, but for me, would not have a voice,” she says. “I think it instilled in them a level of compassion for those who have suffered through tragedies.”

Thirteen years ago, Aldous realized in order to do more of the work she loved so much, she’d need to expand: So, she teamed up with Brent Walker to form Aldous / Walker.  The Dallas-based firm's mission centers around impacting change through their results and treating their clients like family. Speaking of which – Aldous’s daughter Eleanor now practices at the firm alongside her mother: “A dream come true,” for Aldous.

Aldous is equally passionate about providing mentorship to young female trial attorneys. It’s a big part of why she decided to join Athea Trial Lawyers where she’s gotten to team up with “her sisters,” in a meaningful way. The power of this union is palpable – Athea has quickly become an inspiration to many females in the field.

Lawdragon: When did you first decide to practice personal plaintiff work?

Charla Aldous: I started in insurance defense and did that for about 10 years. I got a lot of experience, but I didn't like that I couldn't pick and choose my cases. If the insurance company called you and it was their client, you had to take the case. And quite frankly, I got tired of jacking with insurance companies over the bills.

LD: Was it difficult to make the move?

CA: Strangely enough, at that time, my defense firm had one plaintiffs’ case, a well water pollution case. They asked me to try the case and it was one of the coolest experiences of my career at that time – representing those unfortunate people against this gazillion dollar company. It felt like this was what I was born to do. That solidified my decision to switch over to the plaintiff side.

LD: How did you first decide you wanted to be a lawyer?

I was supposed to be home, barefoot and pregnant. No question. Women were not supposed to be [lawyers].

CA: I was raised by a Pentecostal preacher and education was not top of the heap, so to speak, in my family. I was in the vocational office education program in high school, in Sherman, Texas, and a female family lawyer came to speak to our class. After that, I knew that's what I wanted to do, I wanted to work in a law firm.

LD: What was your parents' reaction to you wanting to be a lawyer?

CA: Not real positive because they wanted me to be more involved with the church. I was supposed to be home, barefoot and pregnant. No question. Women were not supposed to be in those roles. I faced sexism throughout my career, but it was easy for me to deal with because I faced it in my family. I think that’s part of what motivated me.

LD: What came next, after the defense firm?

CA: I practiced with a friend of mine named Steve Malouf for about a year and then I went out on my own. I was a single mom of four kids. You just cross your fingers and hope the phone rings. Those were scary days, but I knew from that first plaintiffs’ case that this was what I needed to do. I've never looked back. It feeds my soul.

My kids ask me now, "Mom, how did you do it?" And I say, "Well, I figured out early on I couldn't give you back. You liked food, shelter, and clothing. So, there weren't a lot of options there." But we did it. I would always put pictures of my clients on the refrigerator and tell my kids about the cases, so they'd know if I were gone for a day or so, what I was working on. I think it instilled in them a level of compassion for those who have suffered through tragedies.

LD: They understood that you were helping people.

CA: Exactly. They would ask me questions, "How are they doing? What's going on?" I really tried to engage them in the process, so they'd understand that mom just wasn't neglecting them. I was making a living, but also really trying to help people who, but for me, would not have a voice.

LD: That's brilliant. And your daughter Eleanor is a lawyer now too?

CA: She is, and she practices with me. It’s such a blessing. We are having a ball.

LD: How great. How did you link up with Brent Walker?

CA: Thirteen years ago, I finally realized I was turning down so many good cases and I needed help. I asked three judges for a recommendation and literally all of them mentioned Brent Walker – he was doing med-mal defense at the time. I reached out to him, we met and immediately hit it off and here we are 13 years later. It's a great partnership.

LD: What’s your philosophy on pro bono work?

CA: We do a lot of pro bono work and take some cases where we know we're never going to recover a dime. It's just the right thing to do. We always try to have one significant pro bono case in our office that we think will make a difference in society. One example was a little girl that was raped by three football players when she was 14 and inebriated, and we sued the rapists knowing we'd never collect anything, but she needed somebody to fight for her and she needed them to be held accountable because criminal charges were not filed for various reasons – which were pretty shady.

I knew from that first plaintiffs’ case that this was what I needed to do. I've never looked back. It feeds my soul.

Currently, we are pro bono representing a pediatric endocrinologist here in Dallas who, because of political pressure, her university UT Southwestern and her hospital forbade her from giving gender-affirming care to transgender youth. She developed Genesis Clinic, which was the best clinic in the Southwest to treat children with gender dysphoria and it was abruptly closed down because of political pressure. These kids were left destitute with no healthcare. We got an injunction that allowed her to continue treating her patients and even see new patients.

LD: Those clinics are really being attacked right now.

CA: Yes, and I don't know what's going to happen given that the law was recently passed to ban this kind of care. Pediatric Endocrinology Society, American Medical Association, the Pediatric Association – all major medical associations have said this is the standard of care. This is not an outlier. There is so much misinformation out there. They're not doing sex changes on children. The work they're doing is not irreversible, it is helping children deal with gender dysphoria. It's a lot of counseling.

To marginalize these children and to interfere with a parent child relationship and the physician patient relationship – that is a scary, slippery slope.

LD: It's such important work that you're doing.

CA: Now, unfortunately, Dr. Lopez is moving to California in August. Once Texas passed the law, she said, "I cannot live in a state where I fear I cannot practice within the standard of care." This took a huge emotional toll and psychological toll on her. She said, "My oath with patients is to do no harm. And they're putting me in the situation where I'm having to commit medical malpractice.”

LD: That’s got to be incredibly difficult. What other cases are you working on right now?

CA: I just settled a really interesting case. Lylah Baker was a five-year-old little girl who started feeling sick. She was neurologically declining and they couldn't figure out what was going on at the local hospital, so they brought her to Dallas Children's Medical Center. Eventually they did a brain biopsy and found a bacteria in her brain called Burkholderia, which is endemic in Eastern India and Australia – very rare in the United States. Lila’s now neurologically devastated for the rest of her life. She can respond, she knows what's going on – she just can't use her body. She has a feeding tube and a diaper. This family, as you can imagine, was absolutely devastated.

There were two other cases of it in the United States right around the same time. They traced it back to a lavender spray that was sold at Walmart with a “Better Homes and Garden” seal on it. The spray was manufactured by a German company at a plant in Eastern India. Walmart ended up recalling 3000 bottles of this spray. Walmart and the manufacturer stepped up and they ended up settling the case for an amount of money that I couldn't turn down because it will take care of Lila very well for the rest of her life.

LD: That's terrifying...

CA: It really is. Those are the kind of cases we work on. They're meaningful, but they're extraordinarily sad.

LD: You often work with people at the hardest points in their lives. Do you have any self-care practices?

CA: Therapy. I do therapy usually about every other week because I really have to process some of the sadness that I feel. I also exercise a lot – yoga, weights, that kind of stuff. If I can just get all of it out through exercise, it really helps me cope more. People always say I'm way too emotionally involved in my cases, and I absolutely agree with them. And I think if I become un-emotionally involved in my cases, I need to go do something else. I need to do mergers and acquisitions or something like that.

There is so much misinformation out there. They're not doing sex changes on children. The work they're doing is not irreversible, it is helping children deal with gender dysphoria. 

I’m working now also with a team on the Uvalde school shooting case. Sixteen people died, and we're representing 14 of the families who lost a child.

LD: Where is the case at right now?

CA: We are still in the investigation phase. This is truly one of the saddest things I've ever seen in my life. These families knowing that their children were trapped in this room, not knowing how long they suffered, it's just horrific. We have got to make some changes in our gun laws. This is ridiculous.

LD: Amen to that. You were born and raised in Texas, do you ever get frustrated by the political climate there?

CA: Oh, absolutely. Especially in Texas right now, we fight upstream. Our Supreme Court, the legislature, does everything within their power to prevent the victim from recovering what they deserve. A lot of people ask me, "Why do you still practice in Texas?" I practice here because this is where my heart is. I know I could make a lot more money in other states, but there are people here who need good lawyers, so we stay and we fight.

LD: Does it ever impact the way you see the world? Working on these emotional matters?

CA: You know what? I'm kind of a fatalist. Whatever's going to happen is going to happen. And so I try to just focus on helping these people. Bad stuff is going to happen. The thing is, people need to be held accountable. That's how I feel about these cases. Now some of them are just outright horrible gross negligence, but in a lot of the medical negligence cases, it's a mistake. They just weren't paying attention at that given time, but it causes horrible consequences to people's lives. And they need to be held accountable. And that's why they have insurance.

LD: You did a stint on television, can you tell us about that?

CA: My kids almost died when I told them I was going to do this reality TV show. And I just did it because it sounded like fun. It was called “You the Jury.” Judge Jeanine Piro, from Fox News, was the MC of the program. It didn't take off, thankfully, because I would not have continued to participate. I just didn't have time, but it was an interesting couple of weeks.

LD: Tell us about joining Athea Trial Lawyers.

CA: Lisa Blue, who's a dear friend of mine, told me about Deb Chang’s idea to form an all-female law firm for purposes of handling some of the significant cases together, learning from each other and being role models for young women in our profession. I did not want to miss out on an opportunity to practice with my sisters – I love all the partners involved. They're women that I've worked with over the years that I have the utmost respect for. I've been practicing 37 years and when I was a young female trial lawyer, there weren't many of us out there. I didn't have a female mentor, no one to teach me the ropes in this good ol' boy network in which we still, to a certain extent, live.

It’s good for young female trial lawyers to see strong women – that have made it on their own against all odds – come together and lift each other up and learn that we will help pull them up as well. I can't tell you the number of young women in Dallas who called me and said, "It's so powerful to see powerful women working together and pulling together." We've done quite a few seminars, and the feedback has been outstanding. I think it really has made an impact across the nation on female trial lawyers, on the plaintiffs’ side, especially, showing what can be done when women come together.