James A. Brown

James Brown is an experienced trial lawyer handling complex litigation throughout the courts of Louisiana and the U.S., with a focus on banking, contract and professional liability disputes.

A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, he has a national reputation in key areas of complex litigation:  legal malpractice defense, director and officer liability, antitrust, trusts and estates litigation, First Amendment and Education Law.

James is the chair of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Section and Professional Liability Group, and he serves as the firm’s General Counsel and Loss Prevention Partner. For over three decades, James has represented federal banking agencies and banks in complex commercial and professional liability cases.

He also has defended national legal malpractice carriers and law and accounting firms, and has handled trust and estates litigation and other types of commercial claims and disputes.  James has tried difficult, high-stakes cases in these areas in both state and federal courts.

In addition to the FDIC, James represents other major institutional clients, such as Attorneys’ Liability Assurance Society, Inc. and other national legal malpractice carriers.  “The unifying theme of these cases is their size, complexity and large exposure,” James notes.

Education:

• Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University, J.D., 1984;
• Louisiana State University, B.A., Valedictorian, summa cum laude, 1981;

Bar Admissions : Louisiana, 1984

Clerkship : Law clerk to the Honorable Alvin B. Rubin, Circuit Judge, United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1984-85

Professional:

• Immediate Past Chair, American Bar Association Presidential Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability – by appointment of the ABA President
• Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center – Adjunct Professor in Torts and Trial Advocacy, 1992 – present
• Past Chair, Continuing Legal Education Program Committee, Louisiana State Bar Association
• American Judicature Society – Member
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy – Member