James L. Pate (P.C.)

Born:

Shreveport, Louisiana, February 16, 1952

College:

Louisiana State University, B.S., 1975

Law School:

Loyola University, J.D., 1979

Admissions:

1979, Louisiana

Membership:

Louisiana State and Fifth Circuit Bar Associations; Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel; Defense Research Institute; Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (Member, 1999-2004 and Chairman, 2004); John M. Duhe, Jr. American Inn of Court; American College of Trial Lawyers

Biography:

In his nearly 30 years of practicing law, there are few government entities in Acadiana that James Pate has not represented. The long list of public clients includes both municipal and parish governments, sheriffs’ offices and levee districts. As a result, Mr. Pate has handled a wide range of cases, ranging from a host of liability issues, including alleged police misconduct and class action suits, to voting and civil rights disputes, to zoning issues. Mr. Pate also specializes in representing insurance companies in coverage disputes and errors and omissions claims. He has recently been involved in several high profile hurricane-related cases, representing the CNA insurance companies in a number of multimillion-dollar claims and as part of a team of attorneys representing the Orleans Levee Board in a post-Katrina class action suit filed in both state and federal court.

A native of Shreveport, Mr. Pate has made his home in Lafayette since 1980. He’s taken on active community roles with St. Barnabas Episcopal Church and serves on its vestry. Professionally, he is in a number of state and local organizations, including the Louisiana and Lafayette Parish Bar Associations, the Defense Research Institute and the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel. From 1999-2004, Mr. Pate served as a member of the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, acting as its chairman in 2004. Mr. Pate was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2008.