Photo of Steven W. Usdin

Steven W. Usdin

Member
f: 504.589.9701

Clerkships

  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Adrian G. Duplantier, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Education

University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1980

Trinity College, B.S., 1976

Recognitions

American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow, since 2008

Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial

The Best Lawyers in America, since 2001

Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star

Louisiana Super Lawyers, since 2008

New Orleans Magazine, Top Lawyers, 2017

Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating

Bar Admissions

  • Louisiana

Steven W. Usdin is a founding member of the firm. His practice is concentrated in commercial litigation, including insurance coverage, contracts, class actions and complex litigation, oil and gas litigation and intellectual property. Throughout his career, his diverse representations have included, among many other cases, representing large public companies in shareholder litigation, a shipbuilder in a multi-million dollar contract dispute, and insurance companies in large property, coverage, errors and omission, and director and officer litigation through the country.

A Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and a strong trial lawyer, Steve has been noted by his peers as being “proactive” and is “highly prized for his strategic thinking and intelligence.” Steve frequently is hand-selected by senior management for representation in high-profile and highly significant cases. He has been recognized by Chambers USA as a top commercial litigator in Louisiana and by Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star. 

Chambers-2023_Steven W. Usdin      

Notable Representations

Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith

  • Selected by insurance industry defendants as lead trial counsel in defense of excess insurers against corporate entity seeking in excess of $300 million in commercial insurance property claims, resulting in successful resolution.
  • Lead trial counsel for international insurer defending multi-million dollar claims arising out of natural gas leak and contamination.
  • Co-lead trial counsel defending $40 million business interruption claim and bad faith in Mississippi, resulting in judgment of approximately $10,000 and no bad faith after full trial and appeal.
  • Successful resolution after trial of Hurricane Katrina property damage claim involving novel damages and engineering theories.
  • Obtained dismissal of D&O insurer based on lack of coverage in a class action relating to an alleged toxic exposure.
  • Selected by senior management of international insurance company to defend company in numerous cases throughout the country.

Commercial Litigation

  • Lead trial counsel in defense of housing development management company in lead paint class action covering decades of alleged exposure with thousands of plaintiffs.
  • Successful defense of international accounting firm based on jurisdictional and venue defenses resulting in dismissal of all claims.
  • Representation of multinational pharmaceutical company in pricing litigation.
Professional and Civic Activities

Steve has been actively involved in professional and community activities for the past twenty-five years. He currently serves on the Board of KIPP NOLA, A's and Aces, the Bureau of Governmental Research, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation. He served as Co-Chairman of the Louisiana State Bar Association's Summer School for Lawyers in 2003 and again in 2004. He served on the Boards of Directors of the Audubon Institute, Isidore Newman School, and Tulane University Medical Center, and was Co-Chairman of the American Cancer Society's New Orleans Hope Lodge Capital Campaign. He is a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Trinity Episcopal School and the Tulane University Hospital and Clinic, and a past Board member of the New Orleans Bar Association, the New Orleans Children's Museum, the Jesuit Program for Living and Learning Boys' Hope Program, the Anti-Defamation League (South Central Region), and the Louisiana Nature and Science Center.

News
Publications and Presentations

Presentations

Steve has lectured at seminars sponsored by the American Bar Association, Practicing Law Institute, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Association, and Lorman Education Services.

Past Experience
  • Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann, L.L.C.