Louisiana Complex Litigation Law Firm

Keogh Cox has the experience, capacity and team to manage and try complex cases throughout Louisiana, including mass torts, class actions and multi-party disputes for companies facing serious problems. Our lawyers have been front-and-center in most of the state’s best-known and most contentious court cases for decades, including ones involving:

Asbestos and other toxic tort claims, sometimes as a result of exposure following industrial catastrophes and latent, asbestos-related diseases.
Construction, including equipment failures, product defects, delay claims and serious injuries.
Class actions concerning professional malpractice, pharmaceutical defects, vaccine litigation, Chinese drywall, Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters and more.
Complex insurance coverage following natural disasters, major truck accidents, plant fires, explosions and other significant, disputed losses.
Environmental issues, such as air, ground and water contamination, ruined habitats or the extraction of minerals and the migration of chemicals.
Legacy litigation from the oil, gas and chemical industry sectors such as pipeline claims or the levee litigation brought by the Southwest Louisiana Board of Levees against oil and gas contractors, asserting that their activity caused erosion of the marsh.

We are sought after by businesses regardless of industry after natural disasters, environmental catastrophes, industrial accidents and other high-exposure injuries and occurrences. Our lawyers also handle complex lawsuits relating to consumer protection and other statutory damage claims and causes of action. Regardless of the cause or number of parties involved, these cases all tend to have a large number of pleadings, experts and witnesses, complex facts and sophisticated issues of law. We are in court, in Louisiana, every day, representing private and public entities from our home state and from across the U.S. Our team is supported by an experienced staff and sophisticated technologies capable of managing millions of documents. This combination of well-tested experience, responsiveness, capacity and on-the-ground presence allows us to resolve cases at the most favorable opportunity and fosters relationships with clients that span decades.

Recent Experience Highlights

Client Story: Mass Tort Drywall Litigation

Where we started: Drywall distributors were involved in mass tort actions involving defectively manufactured drywall. Our roadmap: We sought a resolution as part of global settlement agreement within Multi-District Litigation. Resolution: Our lawyers obtained dismissal of all claims through involuntary dismissal or settlement. In re Chinese Manufactured Drywall Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2047 (E.D. La.)

Client Story: Post-Katrina Litigation

Where we started: Our lawyers represented multiple insurers, insurance brokers and agents in actions for damages caused to residential and commercial property by Hurricane Katrina. Our roadmap: We handled multiple matters included in this consolidated, natural disaster litigation. Resolution: One of our clients presented Keogh Cox the Peacemaker Award in this litigation for outstanding legal counsel. In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation, Case No. 05-4182 (E.D. La.)

Client Story: Oil Spill Litigation

Where we started: An insurer and commercial claimants were sued for recovery of damages against multiple parties caused by the explosion of an oil rig in federal waters and resulting oil spill that contaminated the Gulf Coast. Our roadmap: We represent hundreds of businesses who were impacted by the spill, resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenue. Resolution: We are successfully recovering lost revenues for businesses across the Gulf Coast region. In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL No. 2179 (E.D. La.)

Client Story: Defense Verdict in Kaiser Plant Litigation

Where we started: We defended manufacturers of products who were sued for allegedly causing a catastrophic explosion of the Kaiser alumina plant in Gramercy, Louisiana. Property damage and lost revenue claims were estimated at nearly $500 million. Our roadmap: The damage claims were consolidated with personal injury claims by severely injured workers and a class action on behalf of the citizens of the two parishes surrounding the plant. Due to the enormous exposure in excess of available insurance, multiple defendants settled before trial, leaving only Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Thomas & Betts as defendants for the six-week jury trial. Resolution: The jury verdict for the defendants was named the defense verdict of the year by the National Law Journal. In re Gramercy Plant Explosion At Kaiser, Master Docket No. 25,975, 23rd Judicial District Court, St. James Parish, Louisiana.

Client Story: Bayou Corne Sinkhole Litigation

Where we started: Keogh Cox is currently representing one of the insurers in the Bayou Corne Sinkhole litigation pending in Louisiana’s federal and state courts. This case involves ten separate suits, proceeding simultaneously, seeking damages as a result of the formation of a 29-acre sinkhole of unknown origin in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Our roadmap: There are complex causation theories, complex legal issues and a variety of large claimed damages, including business interruption, lost profits, personal injury, property damage and environmental damage. The numerous insurance coverage issues involve the multi-layer insurance programs, such as application of various exclusionary provisions, the triggering and exhaustion of coverage, the potential for multiple occurrences and application of horizontal loss spreading and choice of law issues. Resolution: The firm is actively involved in litigation of this complex, multi-party action.

More Details about Complex Litigation

Keogh Cox has years of experience throughout Louisiana’s local, state and federal courts with the full range of commercial, class action, mass tort and complex litigation issues, including:

Asbestos. We have handled many of the biggest and potentially costly civil lawsuits involving asbestos, benzene and other toxic tort claims in the recent history of this type of litigation in Louisiana. Because of our experience with this area of the law, we are skilled at early investigation, understanding the science, management of expert witnesses and the discernment of technical facts all components of a favorable resolution.
Construction Litigation. We have a lawyer on our team who is also a Professional Engineer. This gives our clients an advantage strategically and tactically at every stage of the litigation process, whether with the selection and management of technical experts, or the early development and the beginning-to-end execution of a plan to deal with difficult delay, product, equipment or other construction-related claims and disputes.
Class Action. These mass tort, service and warranty lawsuits have covered a wide variety of business issues and industry sectors. While some follow a catastrophic event such as an industrial accident others might be the result of a defective medical device or medication or something else in the life sciences. We have also defended insurance advisers and other professional service providers against professional liability class actions.
Complex Insurance Coverage. Our lawyers regularly represent businesses in complex coverage litigation, at the trial and appellate levels. These cases often follow fires, explosions, floods and other high-exposure losses.
Environmental Issues. Clients seek our help on such complex claims that involve air, ground and water contamination, injuries, ruined habitats or the extraction of minerals and the migration of chemicals.
Legacy Litigation. We are often called on to defend companies in the oil, gas and chemical industries in lawsuits brought by a landowner or group of landowners, seeking compensation for various losses, clean-up and other damages. These plaintiffs claim that the companies caused their property to become polluted and contaminated as a result something done in the past, often going back decades and accusing every operator or company that ever worked at or near the site.
Products liability. Our lawyers handle lawsuits involving medical devices, drug recalls, heavy industrial equipment and other defective products.

Our litigation support, e-discovery and document management systems set us apart from more general purpose law firms. They allow us to smoothly and seamlessly conduct large-scale, paperless document production (we have been paperless more than a decade), marshal the facts effectively, keep our clients in the loop in a timely, efficient way and always stay focused on the best resolution.