Law360 (November 24, 2025, 4:29 PM EST) -- For the plaintiffs attorneys representing families of girls killed in the July 4 flooding in Texas' Hill Country, the cases represent a "mission" to hold Camp Mystic accountable after a tragedy that hit close to home.

Paul Yetter of Yetter Coleman LLP said he and fellow firm partner Justin P. Tschoepe each have friends who lost daughters when the camp flooded, "and there was just no question we were going to help them."

The Yetter Coleman attorneys are among the lawyers from six firms pursuing at least four wrongful death lawsuits in Travis County on behalf of parents of 20 of the 25 campers and two counselors who died at the camp.

The attorneys blasted Camp Mystic for failing to prepare for a flood emergency and then waiting too

long to evacuate campers and counselors. Lawyers defending the camp have said leadership believed the girls would be safe in the cabins and that evacuation warnings did not come until it was too late.

Kyle Findley, who is leading a team from Arnold & Itkin in the representation of six campers, said the camp should be held accountable for failing to prepare for a flood emergency, particularly given its location "on a moving body of water."

Mark Lanier of the Lanier Law Firm, whose firm represents the parents of six girls, said the plaintiffs' lawyers on the four cases are communicating and coordinating with one another just as the parents are "united in their grief."

Lanier noted that warnings of the potential for dangerous flooding in the area, commonly known as "flash flood alley," had begun the day before but that camp leadership waited until the wee hours when floodwaters were overtaking cabins to attempt to evacuate.

"The grief of these families can't be rectified by a lawsuit, but at least if they can sort through this

and assess responsibility, they'll feel like they've made the world a better place in the future for other campers," Lanier said.

Sean Breen of Howry Breen & Herman LLP, who is representing the parents of an 8-year-old flood victim along with fellow partner Randy Howry and attorneys from Tefteller Law PLLC and the

Armstrong Firm PLLC, said the camp had experienced less-severe flooding in the past, which put it on notice that the potential for a catastrophe existed.

Camp Executive Director Dick Eastland, who died attempting to evacuate campers, had served on the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority board, making him even more aware of the possible flood danger, Breen noted.

While Jeff Ray, president of Ray Pena McChristian PC, who is representing the camp, has claimed families and alumni support reopening the Cypress Lake portion of the camp, Howry said the camp's reopening plan is "completely disrespectful to the families" who lost children in the flood.

"They've announced that they're going to put up a memorial and reopen the camp with no consultation with the parents and while there is still one little girl missing," Howry said. "It's profits over safety. It's profits over people's feelings."

Yetter Coleman

Yetter and a team from his boutique litigation firm are representing two Camp Mystic teen counselors and five campers who died in the flood. The team includes Yetter, Tschoepe, senior counsel J. Reid Simpson and associate Shannon N. Smith.

They want the facts to come out, the truth to come out. They want accountability from those responsible, and they want to prevent this from ever happening again.

Paul Yetter
Yetter Coleman

The firm has had a hand in major litigation involving energy companies, including securing a take- nothing defense verdict for Apache Corp. that was upheld by the Texas Court of Appeals in January, according to the firm's website.

The firm recently achieved an appellate reversal for IBM of a $1.6 billion judgment in a dispute with Houston software company BMC. The firm has also obtained key dismissals on behalf of a private equity client, Welsh Carson, after it was hit with a suit by the FTC and related consumer litigation. The government argued in a 2023 enforcement action that the company's acquisition of anesthesia services had created a monopoly.

Yetter said his 28-year-old firm has more than 50 lawyers, all litigators, who handle almost any type of civil matter.

Yetter said the firm also has a long-standing history of acting to protect children in the Lone Star

State. The primary focus of Yetter Coleman's pro bono work has been its long-running representation of a class of foster children with an eye on systemic reform.

"Protecting children has always been a part of what we do," Yetter said.

Yetter said Tschoepe is an experienced, high-stakes commercial litigator, that Simpson is "one of the most experienced injury and death litigators in Central Texas" and that Smith is a "rising star young litigator."

Lanier Law

Lanier Law is representing the families of six girls who died at Camp Mystic.

The grief of these families can't be rectified by a lawsuit, but at least if they can sort through this and assess responsibility, they'll feel like they've made the world a better place in the future for other campers.

Mark Lanier
Lanier Law Firm

Lanier said that the grandfather of one of the flood victims is a criminal lawyer in Dallas who reached out to him and that others came to him following that referral.

Lanier said he is lead counsel for the state of Texas in an antitrust action against Google and added

that in January he tried one of the first social media addiction cases in California. The firm announced Thursday that it is also serving as outside legal counsel, along with McKool Smith, for the state of Texas in a lawsuit against pharmaceutical giants Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and several Sanofi entities for allegedly failing to disclose the efficacy and safety profile of the drug Plavix, which is used as a blood thinner.

Lanier said he is also representing a family with claims related to the recent crash of a UPS plane in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed 14 people. He was also involved in litigation against Johnson & Johnson over the alleged presence of asbestos in the company's talcum powder, leading to a roughly $4 billion verdict in St. Louis.

Lanier's practice has included pharmaceutical litigation, including opioid multidistrict litigation. "I've done this for 41 years," Lanier said. "But this case is a mission. Some cases you take for economic reasons, some cases you take because it's a legitimate case, but occasionally there are cases, like this, that are mission-worthy."

Lanier said that the work his firm undertakes on the Camp Mystic litigation is a team effort and that there will probably be 15 of the firm's attorneys who will be involved at some point.

Arnold & Itkin

Attorney Kyle Findley, founding partner Kurt Arnold and of counsel Kala Sellers are among the team from Arnold & Itkin representing the families of six campers who were killed in the flood.

All they did was hope for the best. And when you are entrusted with the lives of people's children, that's just unacceptable.

J. Kyle Findley

Arnold & Itkin

Findley said families approached the firm through referrals from mutual acquaintances.

Findley said his firm routinely "represents people who have experienced the worst day of their lives." In 2019, the firm helped secure an $8 billion judgment against Johnson & Johnson over the drug

Risperdal, which led a young man to grow female breasts, according to the firm's website.

The firm also represented clients in litigation against the makers of herbicide Roundup, winning a judgment of $2.25 billion in one case and $2.07 billion in another.

The firm has also achieved successful results in cases involving plant explosions, train accidents, construction site accidents, pipeline explosions, unsafe working environments and workplace accidents, Findley said.

--Additional reporting by Emma Cueto. Editing by Kelly Duncan.