As a personal injury trial lawyer, Ronald “Ronny” Krist had extensive experience handling a number of high-profile and precedent setting cases in Texas.

His experience and skill as a litigator allowed him to recover numerous multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of people injured in serious accidents or who lost loved ones in accidents.

Ronny was Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 1978. He handled numerous types of serious personal injury matters over the years, including catastrophic aerospace accidents, maritime accidents, aviation accidents, trucking accidents, car accidents, workplace accidents, and defective product injuries.

Among the major cases Ronny handled are:

  • Representing Betty Grissom, the widow of astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, who was killed when the Apollo 1 command module caught fire in a pre-launch test for the lunar mission at Cape Kennedy in Florida.
  • Representing the surviving family members of Space Shuttle Challenger astronauts Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and Judy Resnik, who were killed when the shuttle exploded just after launching in January 1986 because of a faulty O-ring on a rocket booster.
  • Representing the plaintiffs in the landmark product liability case of Turner v. General Motors, which established the Doctrine of Crashworthiness and the rights of Texas citizens to sue auto manufacturers when defects in an automobile cause injuries, but do not cause an auto collision. This gave rise to the ability of injured people to sue automakers for defects such as exploding gas tanks, defective seat belts, and crushing roofs. The Turner case was one of the first recoveries in excess of $1 million in Texas.

Ronny also played a significant role in Texas government by serving as a member of the state Public Safety Commission appointed by then-Gov. Ann Richards, during which time he was commissioned as an honorary captain of the legendary Texas Rangers. He was also appointed by Richards as an ex-officio member of the Texas Racing Commission, and later served as a member of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct overseeing the state’s judiciary. Krist was a native Texan who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and later a law degree, and was admitted to legal practice in Texas in 1962.

Ronny wrote numerous books and articles about various facets of the law, and received numerous honors and awards, including being listed as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” since 1989, the No. 1 Personal Injury Trial Lawyer in Texas by Texas Lawyer Magazine, and one of the seven most successful lawyers in America by Forbes Magazine.

Ronny was listed in 2016 by The Texas Lawbook as one of the “Lions of the Texas Bar,” which honors 50 of the state’s legendary lawyers who are 65 or older and have made significant contributions to the legal profession.

He was a former president of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, board member for the International Society of Barristers, board member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, president of the Houston chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a fellow with the American College of Trial Lawyers, and member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, an invitation-only group limited to the 100 best plaintiff lawyers in the U.S.

Ronny received The Joseph D. Jamail Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Board of Trial Advocates – Houston in 2016. He passed away in April 2025, but his memory and legacy live on.