André C. Gaudin

Lead trial counsel for a heavy construction contractor in a wrongful death and survival action brought by the wife and children of a much-loved husband and father involved in a single-vehicle automobile accident on a highway under-construction in rural South Mississippi. The Jackson County, Mississippi jury, pressed to find defects and fault in the client’s safety protocols and procedures, and to further fault the contractor for conditions extant in the midst of the construction project, demurred, finding for the defendant on liability.

Lead trial counsel for the driver of a vehicle that rear-ended plaintiff on I-10 in South Louisiana. By the time the action proceeded to trial, liability on the part of the client was established, leaving only the issue of damages – how much – for consideration and determination by the Louisiana State District Court jury. The jury rejected the parade of plaintiff’s doctors and damages experts, awarding no monetary damages to plaintiff. The take-nothing verdict handily survived review by the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal (https://law.justia.com/cases/louisiana/fifth-circuit-court-of-appeal/2020/19-c-473.html) and the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Lead trial counsel for a famous New Orleans watering hole following a trip/fall accident. Plaintiff, a kindly, grandmotherly lady allegedly tripped while exiting the piano bar, ultimately striking the opposite wall of the carriageway of the 200-plus year-old edifice sustaining significant and permanent injuries. After dissecting the limited safety/surveillance video which captured the event, the Orleans Parish jury found no defect on the premises rising to the level of unreasonable hazard and a no-liability judgement was entered for our client.

Lead trial counsel in a personal injury action alleging defects in the work of a home repair contractor in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The matter was tried twice, due to deference accorded by the trial judge to plaintiff counsel, both jury trials producing defense verdicts.

Lead trial counsel in a claim by a railroad company following the derailment of its freight train in south Louisiana. The railroad complained of the defendant’s alleged lack of crossing devices and safety notices to truckers departing the client’s facility. The Federal Court jury declined plaintiff’s invitation to visit liability on our client entering, instead, a liability verdict for the defense.

Counsel for a construction contractor sued by a municipal power company after a subcontractor’s worker was electrocuted upon contact with power lines adjacent to the construction site. The power company asserted entitlement to indemnity and defense by the Client pursuant to an alleged violation of Louisiana’s Overhead Powerline Safety Act, in particular, complaining that the contractor failed to comply with the notice and accommodation requirements outlined in the Act before authorizing the subcontractor’s work. Marshalling the necessary evidence, André filed a Motion for Summary Judgment arguing that a fair reading of the Act demonstrated notice and compliance with the Act’s requirements, defeating the power company’s indemnity demands. Dismissal of the Client pursuant to summary judgment was sustained by both the appellate court and the Louisiana Supreme Court.