Our Clients, Our Wins, and Our Work Archive

The firm obtained a major victory before the Louisiana Supreme Court on behalf of the New Orleans City Council in a closely watched case. Following full briefing and oral argument, the Supreme Court agreed with the firm’s position in full, reversing a prior decision in the case by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.

George C. Freeman, III and Robert J. Dressel recently secured a victory following a three-week FINRA arbitration.  After a full hearing, the panel issued an award denying the claims in their entirety and fully vindicating the firm’s client.

The firm represented a Montana-based gun manufacturer in a lawsuit brought by a Louisiana competitor for defamation and violation of the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act.  The firm helped the client secure victory at the district court level, and on appeal.

The firm successfully defended its client in a three-week FINRA arbitration hearing in which claimants were seeking an award of approximately $24 million in compensatory damages and more than $8 million in interest, fees, and punitive damages.

Recently, the firm obtained its ninth consecutive win on behalf of an international insurance company, when a Central District of California Court dismissed policyholders’ claims for business income losses allegedly suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A New Jersey appellate panel sided with the firm's insurance client and unanimously rejected a hair salon's COVID-19 coverage appeal, finding that a virus exclusion clearly prevents coverage.

The firm successfully obtained an early dismissal with prejudice of plaintiffs’ claims for COVID-19 related business income losses in Louisiana federal court.

The firm had a huge win in the Fifth Circuit against Regions Bank, which was sued for mishandling the renewal of oil & gas leases for three ladies who were longtime clients.

Judy Barrasso and Viviana Aldous of Barrasso Usdin, together with Jenner & Block, represented a group of math and computer science professors at Louisiana State University and Tulane University who filed an amicus brief advocating for the rejection of the Louisiana congressional map enacted by the legislature and submitting a proposed map based on science.

The firm obtained summary judgment on behalf of a knee and bone cement manufacturer. The firm then defended the victory on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which affirmed the client’s complete victory.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed a ruling denying class certification against a purported class of Louisiana GEICO insurance holders, who alleged that the valuation system GEICO used to pay total loss automobile accidents violated Louisiana state law.

The firm was pleased to defend Tiger Athletic Foundation in the pending Title IX suit against the LSU Board of Supervisors and others. 

The firm secured a victory for an insurance client in Louisiana state court, which granted summary judgment based on coverage issues in the policy and dismissed claims stemming from a multi-million dollar alleged bank fraud.

Representing one of the largest property and casualty insurers in the country at the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the firm successfully defended a district court’s summary judgment ruling.

Representing one of the largest property and casualty insurers in the country at the U.S. Fifth Circuit, the firm successfully defended its district court summary judgment ruling, which favorably interpreted liability policy language to exclude coverage under a $1 million policy for all of the third-party plaintiff’s claims.

On behalf of an international insurance provider defending against COVID-19 business interruption claims, the firm obtained another early dismissal with prejudice from a federal district court in Los Angeles, California.

The firm was successful in securing compassionate release for an incarcerated pro bono client suffering from Parkinson’s disease. 

On behalf of an international insurance provider, the firm obtained an early dismissal with prejudice from an Ohio state court on a commercial plaintiff’s COVID-19 business interruption claims.

The firm secured an appellate victory for an insurance client with the Fifth Circuit, which reversed the district court and held the client was entitled to reimbursement of $1 million pursuant to a policy’s deductible provision. 

Barrasso Usdin won a victory at the Louisiana Fourth Circuit, dismissing lost profit claims against the firm's clients in connection with the construction of a large apartment building. 

The firm secured a trial victory for their client in Orleans Parish Civil District Court. The firm was hired less than a week before trial to try the case on an expedited schedule.

Our firm frequently represents energy companies in “legacy” lawsuits brought by landowners claiming property contamination from oil and gas production and exploration activities. In one such case, the landowners sought to recuse a trial judge on constitutional-law grounds based on past judicial campaign advertisements.

In lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the Court sided with the firm's client, awarding the full amount sought on breach-of-contract counterclaim.

The firm was retained to represent a financial advisor in an employment and FINRA regulatory dispute with his former broker-dealer. The action involved claims of bad-faith breach of contract, wrongful termination, and defamation. 

The firm successfully defended a financial advisor against fiduciary duty, contract, and securities claims, obtaining pre-discovery dismissal of all claims with prejudice.

On Barrasso Usdin’s interlocutory appeal in a case brought by the Attorney General for the State of Mississippi, the Mississippi Supreme Court vacated two significant procedural orders by the trial court concerning non-random reassignment of pending cases and delegation of authority to private special masters.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit affirms Barrasso Usdin’s trial victory, finding that insurer did not waive its right to deny coverage under policy’s notice provision.

Law360 selected Richard E. Sarver as a Legal Lion for securing a complete defense verdict in defense of Janssen Pharmaceutical’s Xarelto.

Louisiana Supreme Court Enforces Insurance Policy’s Designated Premises Provision

Barrasso Usdin recently obtained summary judgment on behalf of its client, dismissing a multi-million dollar potential recovery, in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

Barrasso Usdin has achieved victory for its client, an affordable housing developer, in a case regarding the valuation of affordable housing developments for ad valorem taxation. 

The Firm represented a St. James Parish white sugary refinery that helps sustain more than 800 Louisiana sugar cane growers. 

Barrasso trial team successfully defends multi-million attack by excess insurer in insurance dispute.

Barrasso Usdin wins dismissal of putative class action in Virginia coverage dispute.

A Barrasso Usdin trial team successfully defended Johnson & Johnson and DePuy Orthopaedics in the first bellwether trial in the multidistrict litigation involving a DePuy hip implant.

The firm represents an excess liability insurer that issued a $50 million excess policy in connection with sprawling litigation arising out of the discovery of a sinkhole formation and its ensuing impact on the surrounding area.

A panel of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed an injunction against Governor Bobby Jindal and his agencies that prevented them from interfering with the implementation of Common Core State Standards in Louisiana public schools.  

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims against the Firm's client in a complex adversary proceeding arising out of a multi-million dollar bankruptcy.

Barrasso Usdin successfully defended the Firm’s client in a two-week FINRA arbitration, where the claimants were seeking an award of approximately $24 million. 

The Firm won a motion to vacate a FINRA arbitration award rendered against one of the firm’s broker-dealer clients.

In a high-profile coverage dispute arising from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Firm obtained summary dismissal of bad faith claims asserted by Cameron International Corporation (“Cameron”) against Liberty Insurance Underwriters, Inc. (“LIU”).