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Litigation is our major field of endeavor, and at any given time the firm is involved in major cases in many parts of the United States. Clients are regularly updated on the status of all pending cases and receive prompt evaluations as matters proceed.
The Woodley, Williams law firm engages in virtually every type of litigation. The firm has substantial expertise in the following areas of litigation:
• Admiralty
• Appellate Practice
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Litigation
• Corporate and Securities
• Eminent Domain
• Insurance Defense, including Reinsurance and Excess Insurance
• Oil and Gas Litigation
• Real Estate
In addition, members of the firm have participated in significant precedent-setting decisions in the areas of arson and fraud defense; commercial law; employment; health care; insurance coverage; worker’s compensation; medical malpractice; and product liability, including asbestos litigation.
Corporate and Commercial Law
As a full-service firm, Woodley, Williams has always been heavily involved in the commercial transactions that are the lifeblood of a growing economy. Members of the firm are widely respected in entity formation and dissolution, corporate practice; construction litigation; and, general business. Through its connection to this industry, and various members’ association with local groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce, the firm has been involved in the financing of major local projects for many years.
Woodley, Williams' lawyers are among the most experienced in Lake Charles in title examinations and curative work. On the business front, lawyers in the firm have been involved in major antitrust and patent litigation; violations, by businesses, of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act; and in representing clients before various state regulatory agencies.
Environmental Law
Ever mindful of the problems encountered by clients from the smallest local business to the largest multinational corporation, Woodley, Williams has endeavored to keep abreast of all developments in this changing area of the law. On the commercial front, lawyers in the firm are constantly aware of the liability created by past environmental problems in real estate transactions. From a liability standpoint, the firm has litigated some of the most difficult problems arising on the ecological scene, including pollution, benzene exposure and asbestos removal.
Employment Law
From the simplest agreement to the frontiers of workplace liability, lawyers of Woodley, Williams have provided client service in what is becoming the most-regulated aspect of American life. Clients of the firm have been faced with claims arising from alleged race and age discrimination to alleged sexual harassment that Woodley, Williams has litigated in their favor. The firm also maintains an active practice in the field of worker’s compensation, including litigation before the state commission and the United States Department of Labor.
Admiralty
Although the firm prides itself on its place in the history of Jones Act litigation through its representation of McDermott in the Wilander case, that is but one chapter in a long history of representation of clients in the admiralty courts. Since its inception, Woodley, Williams has participated actively in all fields of admiralty, including liability litigation; stevedoring claims; “blue water” claims such as demurrage and cargo storage; and, the enforcement of maritime liens.
The firm has specific expertise in litigation problems encountered by service companies and small boat companies operating in connection with the state’s oil industry.
In Texas, we have represented various Louisiana clients who have found themselves hailed before foreign courts, where we have successfully litigated questions of jurisdiction and venue.
As an adjunct of its general litigation practice, Woodley, Williams' lawyers receive direct assignments from various London companies issuing protection and indemnity and maritime employer liability coverage, and in that representation have been at the forefront of the various contractual and conceptual problems that have arisen.
Arson and Fraud Litigation
Consistent with its aggressive approach to the practice of law, Woodley, Williams' lawyers have historically been among the leaders in defense of fraudulent claims. The firm was counsel for the nation’s second-largest carrier in the leading Louisiana case on arson defense, and has been successful in retrieving client funds expended in litigation of claims adjudicated fraudulent by the courts. In the sometimes more subtle area of fabricated or exaggerated claims, the firm enjoys a high success rate due to its inventive approach to litigation and the liberal use of effective investigative techniques.
Oil and Gas Law
The firm has historically been very active in significant oil and gas litigation representing the interests of producing companies, land owners and mineral interest owners. No Louisiana firm can claim general expertise without involvement in the state’s energy industry, and Woodley, Williams is no exception. Drilling and exploration representation, evaluation of legal ownership of subsurface rights, and related fields are within the firm’s area of practice. Industries so connected routinely seek the firm’s guidance in pipeline right of way work, liability resulting from blowouts or subsurface losses and pipeline construction projects. The firm has represented the nation’s largest and second-largest pipeline companies in property loss and personal injury litigation.
Creditor's Rights and Bankruptcy
Woodley, Williams represents a large segment of the Lake Charles commercial community in the field of creditor’s rights and has a department devoted to this area of practice. Members of the firm practice in the federal bankruptcy courts in corporate reorganizations and in the representation of creditors.
Insurance Defense
Historically, the Woodley, Williams law firm has been recognized as a leading firm in the area of insurance defense and currently represents approximately eighty insurance companies in the United States and fifty underwriters and companies in the London market. This representation includes all lines of casualty defense, including:
• toxic tort, EPA and asbestosis
• products liability
• general liability
• admiralty
• subrogation
• auto claims
• worker's compensation
• property damage and arson
• professional indemnity
• errors and omissions
• reinsurance and excess insurance
• medical malpractice
• directors and officers liability
• environmental
• fidelity and surety
We have been involved extensively in a number of the leading cases involving environmental problems and toxic chemical.
Our location, in the petrochemical oil and gas and maritime area of the Gulf Coast has given us opportunity to be extensively involved in litigation arising from these and other sources.
Real Estate
The Woodley, Williams law firm covers all transactions involving the acquisition, development, leasing, management, financing, foreclosures, syndication and transfer of real estate, including industrial, shopping centers and other commercial properties as well as multi and single family residential.
The firm represents clients in the sale, purchase, design, construction, leasing and management of real property, and in forming real estate general and limited partnerships.
The firm has participated in industrial development bond financing as counsel for the user (developer).
Woodley, Williams is an issuing agent for a major title insurance company.
Probate
The firm provides full service in the confection of wills and trusts, and in the administration and distribution of decedents' estates.