We regularly advise and defend major oil, gas, and pipeline companies in energy-related matters ranging from regulatory compliance to personal injury and property damage. Our attorneys are experienced in the defense and resolution of claims brought by private landowners and government entities for historic (“legacy”) contamination, as well as claims for land loss and other property damage. Additionally, our attorneys represent oil, gas, and pipeline companies in the defense of personal injury and property damage claims related to exposure from chemical spills or industrial releases, including claims for exposure to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). We also handle claims for third-party liability and defense of related class actions.

We represent vessel and offshore platform owners and operators, towing companies, marine construction companies, fleet operators, pipeline owners, shipyards, operators of offshore supply vessels, and their insurers in litigation concerning personal injuries and property damage occurring on inland waterways and in the Gulf of Mexico in maritime and Jones Act cases, including claims for maintenance and cure, wrongful death, contractual defense and indemnity, limitation of liability, breach of the warranty of seaworthiness, collisions, allisions, additional assured coverage issues, and platform and pipeline damage claims. We also represent maritime employers in Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation proceedings and national trucking companies in cases arising out of motor vehicle accidents.

We represent manufacturers in litigation arising from alleged injuries resulting from the use of our clients’ products, regardless of whether the claims arose prior or subsequent to Louisiana’s Products Liability Act, including claims for negligence, strict product liability, failure to warn, defective design, and defective construction or composition.

We defend property owners who have been sued for alleged injuries that occurred on their premises, including claims for strict premises liability arising out of an allegedly unreasonably dangerous condition of the property.

We represent insurers and their insureds in coverage disputes under a variety of policies, such as protection and indemnity, hull and machinery, maritime employer’s liability, marine general liability, commercial general liability, bumbershoot and excess, automobile, and homeowner’s policies, including issues involving the duty to defend, waiver, additional insured coverage, contractual liability coverage, and others.

We help employers draft employment agreements and policies. We also defend complaints filed against them with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and participate in EEOC mediations. While we prefer to become involved in the process before a lawsuit is filed, we nevertheless have many years of experience litigating employment-related disputes, including claims of discrimination, wrongful termination, issues of occupational safety and health, workers’ compensation, and unemployment compensation, among others.

A sizable portion of the matters that we handle, such as claims arising from toxic exposure, environmental contamination, and product liability, are brought as either class or mass actions. As a result, our attorneys have amassed significant experience in managing and defending lawsuits involving hundreds—and often thousands—of claimants, and they bring to bear a comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved in these actions, both practical and legal.

We represent companies large and small that are involved in a range of general commercial disputes, including antitrust, bad faith, breach of contract, fraud and misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty actions, business torts, construction claims, and debtor–creditor relations. We also defend business owners, homeowners, and automobile owners who are involved in a variety of disputes based on breach of contract and tort theories, including negligence, gross negligence, strict liability, and intentional tort, as well as disputes arising out of slip-and-fall incidents and other premises liability-related issues.