Founder, The Longhorn Law Firm — Personal Injury Attorney serving New Mexico and Texas
Shawn Barnett founded The Longhorn Law Firm because the personal injury industry too often fails the people it claims to serve. Big firms treat clients like file numbers. Insurance companies treat injured people like adversaries. Lawyers who've never been hurt themselves talk about recovery in ways that miss what recovery actually looks like.
Shawn knows what it looks like. He's been the injury victim — twice. He's recovered from a meniscus tear that ended changed the way he worked out. He's recovered from back surgery after a serious 18-wheeler collision. He's negotiated with insurance adjusters who treat injured people as obstacles. He knows what the medical bills look like, what the depositions feel like, what the long months of physical therapy demand.
That's what makes him a different kind of personal injury lawyer.
It's a question Shawn gets often, and the answer has nothing to do with abstract notions of justice. It's personal.
Shawn has been injured in multiple serious collisions. A head-on with a drunk driver. An 18-wheeler striking the side of his vehicle. The kind of crashes that leave you in a hospital bed wondering how the body that ran a marathon last month can suddenly fail at the basic mechanics of standing up.
He'd already had back surgery. He'd already torn his meniscus. He'd already learned what it takes to come back from injury — the months of physical therapy, the appointments that cost as much as a mortgage payment, the slow rebuilding of strength and confidence.
What he hadn't learned, until those collisions, was what it felt like to be on the other side of the insurance system. To get the calls from adjusters who sound friendly but are recording every word. To get the lowball offers that don't come close to covering the medical bills. To watch lawyers pad files, drag out cases, settle below value because settling is easier.
He decided to be the lawyer he wished he'd had. One who'd been there. One who knew which medical treatments actually help and which are just billable. One who understood that "recovery" is a moving target, not a date on a calendar.
The Longhorn Law Firm exists because Shawn made that decision. Every case the firm takes is informed by the conviction that injury victims deserve representation from someone who actually understands what they're going through.
The ACL tear. An early reminder that bodies break. Reconstruction surgery, months of rehab, the slow process of learning to trust a rebuilt knee. The kind of injury that ends careers — and the kind of recovery that teaches you what comeback work actually requires.
The back surgery. A truck accident, an 18-wheeler colliding with the side of Shawn's vehicle. The kind of impact that shifts something in the spine — and then the slow medical journey: imaging, specialist consultations, surgical decision-making, the procedure itself, and the long rehabilitation after. The kind of injury where you lose count of the medical appointments and learn the specific names of every muscle group in your lower back.
The head-on with the drunk driver. A separate crash, different injuries, the same set of insurance company tactics. The same lowball offers. The same dragged-out negotiations. The same realization that the system isn't built for the injured.
These aren't case histories. They're memories. And they're the reason Shawn Barnett doesn't promise things he can't deliver, doesn't oversell minor cases, and doesn't undersell serious ones. He's been there.
Endurance work isn't a hobby for Shawn. It's how he approaches every case.
The marathons: 11 completed at the time of this writing — including New York, Chicago, Boston, and major regional events. Each one a reminder that the work is the work, and there's no shortcut around 20 hard miles in the middle of a 26.2-mile commitment.
The half marathons: 14 completed. The shorter format isn't easier — it's faster.
Hyrox: A hybrid fitness competition combining running and functional strength events. Three completed — Houston and Washington, DC. The format demands both endurance and strength under fatigue — useful preparation for legal practice.
What does all this have to do with personal injury law? Everything. The discipline of preparation. The willingness to put in hard miles on days when you don't feel like it. The refusal to quit before the work is finished. The understanding — earned mile by mile — that real outcomes come from sustained effort, not last-minute heroics.
Personal injury cases work the same way. The cases that win are the ones where the lawyer did the hard preparation work — the depositions taken seriously, the records reviewed in detail, the experts retained early, the timelines built carefully. There are no shortcuts. There's only the work.
Beyond the practice, Shawn has built three community organizations focused on giving back — particularly to young people who might benefit from what running and mentorship provide.
A youth-focused nonprofit centered on running, mentorship, and shared exercise. Running Down a Dream exists to give young people — especially those without easy access to athletic programs — a structured introduction to endurance sport, the discipline it requires, and the community that forms around it.
The organization has been profiled by major San Antonio outlets including San Antonio Report, KENS5, KSAT, News 4 San Antonio, Voyage SA, and St. Mary's University.
An open, inclusive run club for adults — bringing together people who want to develop their running practice, train for marathons and half marathons together, and build community around shared physical work. The club connects with Running Down a Dream's youth focus while serving the adult runners who form mentors and supporters of the broader mission.
Dreamwell extends the philosophy behind Running Down a Dream and Dreamers Run Club — using physical wellness as a vehicle for mentorship, personal development, and community building. The program connects participants with mentors, structured wellness practices, and a community of people pursuing similar growth.
All three organizations share a common foundation: the belief that movement, discipline, and community can change lives — particularly for young people. Shawn's own path through athletics, injury, recovery, and renewed practice has shaped how these organizations are structured. None of them are theoretical exercises. They reflect lived experience.
Shawn and the community organizations he founded have been featured by major Texas press, including:
See the full press coverage on the firm's about page.
Hiring a personal injury attorney is a personal decision. The lawyer matters — their experience, their attention, their understanding of what you're going through.
What Shawn Barnett offers his clients:
Schedule a free consultation with Shawn Barnett. No fee unless we win your case. Available 24/7 — including evenings and weekends for serious injury and wrongful death matters.
