Laborde & Neuner attorneys Frank Neuner, Melissa Theriot, and Jaclyn Bridges successfully defeated a plaintiff’s homeowners insurance claim on summary judgment in federal court. Agreeing with L&N’s arguments, Judge Englehardt of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held that there was no coverage for the plaintiff’s claim to recover for the alleged theft of personal property from the insured premises because the plaintiff breached his duty to cooperate under the policy. The Court found the plaintiff breached the policy conditions requiring him to provide his insurer with a sworn proof of loss and to submit to an examination under oath. This failure prejudiced the insurer’s ability to timely investigate the suspicious claim which precluded coverage of the plaintiff’s homeowner’s claim. By granting the summary judgment, the Court dismissed all of the plaintiff’s claims for damages, penalties, and attorneys’ fees with prejudice.

Click here for a copy of the opinion.

For the past three years, Laborde & Neuner has sponsored a team in the Giles Automotive Lafayette Corporate Dodgeball Tournament benefiting the Evangeline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which has 4,800 scouts in Acadiana. This year’s competition was held on Saturday June 18, 2011 at the Cajun Dome with more than 30 teams competing for the “Golden Baller Trophy” and a $1,000 cash prize. The Laborde & Neuner team out-dodged, dipped, ducked, and dove the competition to win this year’s tournament. Laborde & Neuner proudly donated the prize money back to the Boy Scouts to further the efforts of this worthy organization.

Pictured above are Jeremy Morrow and Philip Boudreaux of Laborde & Neuner and Chavanne Stine, Finance Executive for the Evangeline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

April 2011 – Ben L. Mayeaux was inducted as President of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel for 2011-2012.  The induction ceremony was conducted during the association’s Annual Meeting in Lyon and Nice, France.  Mayeaux has been a member of the LADC for over 20 years and served in various director and officer positions before elevating in rank to President.

Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Frank X. Neuner, Jr. as the “Baton Rouge Area Best Lawyers Maritime Lawyer of the Year” for 2011.

After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 17th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2011) is based on more than 3.1 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in our surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Steven Naifeh, President of Best Lawyers, says, “We continue to believe – as we have believed for more than 25 years – that recognition by one’s peers is the most meaningful form of praise in the legal profession. We would like to congratulate Frank X. Neuner, Jr. on being selected as the ‘Baton Rouge Area Best Lawyers Maritime Lawyer of the Year’ for 2011.”

James L. Pate has become a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in America.

The induction ceremony at which James L. Pate became a Fellow took place recently before an audience of approximately 812 persons during the 2008 Annual Meeting of the College in Toronto, Ontario.

Founded in 1950, the College is composed of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada. Fellowship in the college is extended by invitation only and only after careful investigation, to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality. Lawyers must have a minimum of fifteen years trial experience before they can be considered for Fellowship.

Membership in the College cannot exceed one percent of the total lawyer population of any state or province. There are currently approximately 5,721 members in the United States and Canada, including active Fellows, Emeritus Fellows, Judicial Fellows (those who ascended to the bench after their induction) and Honorary Fellows.

The College strives to improve and elevate the standards of trial practice, the administration of justice and the ethics of the trial profession. Qualified lawyers are called to Fellowship in the College from all branches of trial practice. They are carefully selected from among those who customarily represent plaintiffs in civil cases and those who customarily represent defendants, those who prosecute accused of crime and those who defend them. The College is thus able to speak with a balanced voice on important issues affecting the legal profession and the administration of justice.

James L. Pate is a partner in the firm of Laborde & Neuner and has been practicing for 28 years. The newly inducted Fellow is an alumnus of Loyola University School of Law.

June 2008 - Frank X. Neuner, Jr. was recently named the 2008 LSU Law Center Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by Chancellor Jack M. Weiss. The award is given annually to an alumnus who exemplifies the highest quality and ethical standards of the legal profession. It also recognizes personal and professional achievements, as well as loyalty to the LSU Law Center. He will be honored Thursday, October 30 at a ceremony in New Orleans. Please read full story here.

January 2008 - The Lafayette Parish Bar Association awarded Laborde & Neuner the Outstanding Large Law Firm for Pro Bono services to the community which include domestic, family and abuse issues. The Firm has received this award six of the last ten years.