COMMERCIAL LITIGATION
Administrative Law | Antitrust and Trade Practice | Appellate Litigation | Banking and Lender Liability | Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights | Broker/Dealer | Business Torts | Construction | Contract Disputes | Corporate and Securities/Shareholder Disputes | Environmental | Intellectual Property | Internet/Technology | Media and First Amendment | Oil and Gas, Energy and Minerals | Professional Malpractice | Property Disputes | Telecommunications | Toxic Tort Litigation
The attorneys in the commercial litigation practice represent clients in all manner of business difficulties that concern corporations, both large and small, and individuals. With more than 75 commercial litigators, our practice is one of the largest in the region. We regularly handle cases ranging from large, complex national class actions to smaller landlord-tenant disputes. We appear before federal and state trial and appellate courts, as well as federal and state regulatory agencies and boards. Our experience has led us to represent defendants in multi-million dollar toxic tort class actions, major bankruptcies, construction defect claims concerning several of the region's more prominent structures, high profile breach of contract actions, and significant securities cases. At the same time, our firm readily assists clients in "lower profile," but equally significant matters.
As commercial litigators, we have a great depth of experience in every field of civil litigation. We have tried cases that focus on bankruptcy, banking, broker-dealer disputes, construction controversies, corporate problems, environmental issues, the hotel/hospitality industry, gaming, lender liability, oil and gas law, real estate, securities, tax, and toxic torts. Several lawyers in the group also specialize in criminal defense work, in particular "white collar" cases.
We are sensitive that a trial is not the only way to resolve a dispute. With our clients' ultimate objective in mind, we explore the advantages and the disadvantages of litigation, as well as various forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, mini-trials, and binding and non-binding arbitrations. Many of our lawyers are arbitrators and/or mediators. We believe that our clients benefit from their experiences and views.
We also represent clients at all the stages of the appellate process. We have particular expertise in the United States Fifth and Eleventh Circuits and in the appellate courts in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. Our partners in this practice include two former justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, one former clerk for a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and several former clerks for judges of the federal and the states' appellate and trial courts.
With over 150 years of litigation history, Phelps Dunbar has obtained a reputation for excellence that has earned acknowledgment from the bench and bar. We are adept at responding to emergency situations our clients may unexpectedly encounter, particularly those requiring immediate court intervention.
The firm has as a resource a sophisticated technology department that assists our litigators in organizing and preparing an automated document retrieval system and in the digital presentations of exhibits in court.
We have trained our staff and support personnel to assist our clients through the many perils of difficult lawsuits. We are acutely aware of the expenses involved in litigation and we work with our clients to establish budgets and goals and to contain and/or reduce costs.
Some of the areas of focus within our commercial litigation practice include:
Our litigators have extensive administrative law experience. We have represented clients involved in disputes concerning licensing, zoning, tax issues, oil and gas matters, and other substantive areas requiring them to follow procedures outlined in various administrative codes and statutes. For example, the firm has successfully represented clients before the Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation, the Louisiana Tax Commission, the New Orleans City Council, the Louisiana Public Service Commission, the Pilotage Fee Commission and other administrative bodies.
The attorneys in our antitrust and trade practices area counsel and represent individuals, companies, and associations, both as plaintiffs and defendants, regarding all facets of the federal and the state antitrust laws (illegal combinations and agreements, market shares, and predatory and discriminatory pricing, for examples). Our attorneys also advise and represent clients regarding unfair business practices, unfair competition and other areas of the laws concerning trade regulation. We represent clients in both federal and state courts.
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Attorneys practicing in our banking practice group provide representation to banks and other institutional lenders and loan servicers with respect to structure, documentation, and enforcement of all types of credit facilities, by both state and national authorities, as well as to all aspects of the regulatory oversight (state and federal) of these institutions. These practitioners have counseled leading local and regional lending institutions (including both state and federally chartered consumer and commercial financiers) in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. They also regularly handle the prosecution and the defense of deposit and collection matters, consumer and commercial foreclosures, debt-restructurings, lender bad faith claims, contract disputes, consumer fraud claims, truth in lending disputes, fair debt collection claims, and other issues of creditors' rights. Our banking group is also experienced in handling complex lender-liability issues, securities disputes, and all aspects of bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings.
The firm's banking lawyers are adept at handling other matters of special interest to lending institutions as well, including the following: the defense of bank and savings and loan officers and directors; regulatory and securities matters involving banks and bank holding companies; disputes implicating various aspects of the National Bank Act, FIRREA, and other landmark financial legislation; and numerous other matters of unique interest to lenders. Recently, the firm represented several prominent regional and national banking and insurance interests in connection with consumer class action litigation directed to alleged misconduct in connection with the force-placement of collateral protection insurance in motor vehicle sales financing transactions.
Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights
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Our practice in the securities industry involves counseling and representing brokerage firms, representatives and principals of broker/dealer firms, and clients/customers of brokerage firms. We advise clients about the federal and the state laws and regulations, as well as the rules and the regulations of various SROs, relative to all facets of trades and transactions of all exchanges and over the counter products (including various derivative instruments/investments). We have in-depth experience in representing registered representatives in connection with investigations and/or hearings that the National Association of Security Dealers (“NASD”) conducts. We also have represented a number of persons and entities presenting claims against brokerage firms that raised these issues: Rule 10b-5, the “suitability” doctrine, fraud, the “Blue Sky” laws of Louisiana, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, and the rules of the New York Stock Exchange and NASD. Our lawyers in this practice area, in putting together their cases in litigation/arbitration, work closely with financial experts in analyzing the activities of the exchanges, the currency markets, the over-the-counter products (for instance, “swaps” and options (puts and calls)), and the emerging investment and debt strategies.
Our lawyers handle a wide variety of business disputes involving claims of commercial misconduct, including unfair trade practices, trade secret infringement, interference with contracts or business opportunities, commercial defamation, breach of fiduciary duty, contract fraud, tortious misrepresentation, lender liability, unfair debt collection practices, and civil RICO violations. We have represented clients in business tort suits implicating sophisticated legal issues arising under federal and state law in cases of local, regional, and national significance, both in the context of individual lawsuits and in the context of multi-party and class action proceedings.
Our attorneys in this practice area benefit from the firm's state-of-the-art technology and information systems, and the many logistical resources offered through the firm's five regional offices in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. As a result, we are uniquely situated effectively and efficiently to handle business tort litigation of all sizes, including those posing even the most extreme discovery and documentation demands.
We have successfully represented clients in a variety of industries/businesses, including the following: commercial and consumer lending; telecommunications; brokerage and investment; insurance; information technology; petrochemical manufacturing; petroleum exploration, drilling, refining, and transportation; and a vast spectrum of national and regional manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and service providers. In the course of these representations, the firm has achieved an uncommon level of distinction, realizing beneficial results for clients at the trial and appellate levels in both state and federal forums. Our business torts practitioners have also cultivated extensive experience representing clients in nontraditional proceedings, including mediation and arbitration.
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The firm's commercial litigators offer skills and experience handling a full range of contract claims involving numerous industries, including oil and gas, petrochemical, transportation, utilities, telecommunications, banking, medical and health services, insurance, maritime, and hospitality and gaming. Recent representative lawsuits include the alleged breach of a South American furrier's requirements contracts, the alleged breach of coastal mineral rights leases, and a multi-million dollar dispute over the alleged breach of a software licensing agreement.
Corporate and Securities/Shareholder Disputes
Our commercial litigation attorneys have vast experience litigating matters involving publicly held companies, closely-held corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and joint ventures on issues ranging from proxy fights and tender offers to alleged violations of federal and state securities laws. Our clients have included individual and corporate investors, parties to contested corporate takeovers, directors and officers, brokers and brokerage houses, and professionals who have rendered advice concerning securities transactions.
Some of our commercial litigation partners act as "general counsel" to closely-held corporations, advising them on shareholder issues and litigation avoidance techniques.
We have handled securities-related class actions and derivative cases, and regularly represent corporate officers and directors against allegations of breach of fiduciary duty. In connection with this practice area, our litigators have tried cases to judges, juries and panels of arbitrators.
Sample securities cases include our representation of a publicly-held corporation in an injunction proceeding concerning noncompliance with a corporate merger agreement and our representation of directors and officers of a former savings and loan association against allegations of breach of fiduciary duty by RTC/FDIC. We also recently represented several brokerage firms in national class action "order flow" litigation, and the shareholders of closely-held company in disputes concerning stock ownership.
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Our Internet and technology practice has kept pace with the development of e-commerce and cyber law issues. We advise clients on a number of topics, including the following: privacy issues arising out of the use of the Internet in the workplace; privacy and defamation claims arising out of the anonymous posting of confidential and proprietary information on the Web; copyright, trademark and other intellectual property law matters unique to the Internet; and concerns relating to contracts with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Webmasters.
The following is a sample of our clients in this area: a computer software company seeking the appeal of an adverse judgment on its claim of copyright infringement against a former customer and another computer software company; a financial institution seeking the removal of anonymous postings that disclosed confidential commercial information; a health care provider needing advice regarding the initial posting of its web site; and a utility defending against a multimillion dollar claim of breach of contract involving the technology transfer of a computer software system to a start-up value added reseller.
Phelps Dunbar has represented media organizations and others on First Amendment issues for decades. Our media clients include television stations, television networks, newspapers, magazines and book publishers. We litigate defamation actions, invasion of privacy and other news gathering torts, negligent publication claims and other publication causes of action, such as infliction of emotional distress, interference with contractual relations, and breach of contract. We routinely assert the reporter's privilege when objecting to or moving to quash subpoenas served upon media clients, and handle litigation involving media access issues, such as open meetings, public records, closed courtrooms, gag orders, prior restraints, and sealed court records. Our lawyers also regularly advise media clients regarding pre-publication and pre-broadcast review.
Recent successes include the following: the first appellate decision in Louisiana post-Gertz holding that constitutional actual malice is the appropriate standard in cases that involve public concern but not public figures or public officials; a federal appellate decision interpreting Louisiana law to hold that the broadcast of sex acts by a priest was "newsworthy" and hence not an actionable invasion of privacy; and a decision of a federal district court unsealing a court record that had been sealed for several years.
We are active in the Media Law Resource Center's (MLRC) Defense Counsel Section. The firm authors or co-authors the Louisiana and Mississippi outlines for the MLRC 50-State Survey of Employment Libel and Privacy Law, the MLRC 50-State Survey of Media Privacy and Related Law, and Tapping Officials Secrets, a public meetings and records handbook published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Oil and Gas, Energy and Minerals
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When litigation expectations are not fulfilled, more litigation often ensues. Our litigators who handle professional malpractice deal with this reality. Due at least in part to the firm's long-standing reputation of excellence in the legal community, we have frequently represented attorneys against malpractice claims. In one lawsuit, we successfully represented a New Orleans law firm. The court required the plaintiff to pay the firm damages for the wrongfully filing the suit.
Our construction litigators also have vast experience representing design professionals in professional malpractice matters. Architects, engineers, contractors and subcontractors frequently obtain professional liability advice from our construction lawyers, some of whom have undergraduate design degrees.
From classic lease contests to the exotic vagaries of Louisiana servitude law, our commercial litigation practice has extensive experience in handling an array of property disputes. Our lawyers frequently take on commercial and residential landlord-tenant claims, evictions, contested foreclosures, succession (estate) contests, claims between adjoining landowners over their respective rights and obligations, property tax issues, as well as the defense of expropriation actions by public agencies.
We have also been involved in zoning and land use issues. We have litigated subdivision restrictions and challenged the constitutionality of administrative procedures. To this end, our lawyers are knowledgeable about current developments of both substantive and procedural natures, as well as the historic antecedents of Louisiana's civil law system, which give rise to a variety of unique land rights issues.
By no means limited to real property disputes, our attorneys also handle contests over personal property rights, including succession disputes and claims of adverse ownership. Giving definition to the nature of property as well, our lawyers also have litigated what property is "real" or "movable."
As needed, our lawyers can rely upon the skill of their Phelps Dunbar colleagues who focus their practice on bankruptcy, construction, intellectual property, admiralty, and energy/oil and gas matters to assist in resolving particular claims. The diversity of the firm's practice areas allows us to represent clients ranging from individuals as owners or tenants, to huge multinational corporations feuding over billion-dollar transactions. We also represent the owners of major office buildings, industrial complexes, and shopping centers, national retail chains, financial institutions, and large private landowners.
Our telecommunications practice offers representation across the full spectrum of legal issues affecting the telecommunications industry. Practitioners in this area bring a unique, multi-disciplinary background to bear in advising clients about federal, state, and local laws and regulations, as well as in representing clients before courts and local regulatory agencies in all manner of formal and informal proceedings.
Our telecommunications attorneys are also uniquely situated to assist businesses at the fringe of the wire-line and wireless telecommunications fields concerning laws and regulations that govern the operations of communications service providers. With the explosive growth and evolution of internet-based commerce, the experience of these practitioners provides an invaluable resource to businesses seeking to foster and exploit short-lived innovations, while effectively addressing and resolving governmental regulatory concerns.
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