Edwin C. Laizer

Edwin Laizer has many years of experience litigating cases in the insurance, energy, marine, transportation, construction and commercial arenas. This includes advising clients on insurance coverage issues and handling sophisticated coverage litigation, as well as defending complex personal injury and death, property damage and construction dispute claims, as well as litigating all manner of contract disputes, commercial disputes and maritime claims.

He has served several clients as outside general counsel and, as a result, has developed a broad range of knowledge on a variety of issues faced every day by his clients. Ed has been involved in a number of high-profile, complex, mass tort, class action and maritime limitation of liability actions.

In the transactional part of his practice, Ed has experience drafting, litigating and negotiating maritime and construction contracts, particularly those involving indemnity and insurance coverage. He has negotiated and drafted contracts and subcontracts for several large construction projects and has also worked on several mergers and acquisitions involving entities in the offshore and construction industries.

Ed also has experience in the negotiation and litigation of financing, labor and employment issues and employee benefit disputes. He also counsels clients on methods to reduce risk and solve problems in their business operations. Ed is also serving his third three-year term as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, and he was one of the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group leaders for four years.

Representative Experience:

• Insurance
  • Winning a judgment on the pleadings in favor of an insurer in a multi-million dollar claim on a manufacturer’s errors and omissions claim related to a failure of equipment in an industrial plant
  • Winning a summary judgment under the Louisiana anti-dram shop statute in favor of a casino employee personally sued following a fatal automobile accident
• Maritime
  • Winning dismissal in a case of first impression for an environmental contractor of claims asserted against it under the Oil Pollution Act by a vessel owner seeking to recoup payments made by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund
  • Winning summary judgment exonerating a towing contractor from any liability for damage to a sub-sea pipeline caused by the dragging anchor of a drilling rig
  • Briefing, arguing and winning the seminal U.S. Fifth Circuit case applying the Louisiana independent contractor defense to offshore platforms, which has since been cited in over 150 other cases
  • Negotiating and drafting long term vessel charter agreements for existing and new build vessels
• Construction
  • Helping a general contractor on a major construction project to negotiate and complete a complex multi-party resolution of claims for damage and delay arising out of Hurricane Harvey
  • Negotiating and drafting construction contracts for commercial projects
  • Negotiating and drafting multi-party settlement agreements at the conclusion of numerous commercial construction projects

Education:

• Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, J.D., 1985
• Loyola University, B.B.A., 1983