Hon. Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. (Ret.)

The Honorable Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. was a United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, New Orleans, for more than 22 years until his retirement in 2017. He presided over a range of cases including maritime litigation, contract disputes, large scale insurance coverage disputes, commercial litigation, employment law issues including Title VII, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), civil rights, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), product liability, and the interpretation of collective bargaining agreements.

In 2005, Judge Duval created and undertook the management of all the litigation arising out the failure of the levee system in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina. At the height of litigation, under its umbrella, he oversaw more than 1,200 cases which comprised of hundreds of thousands of claims against the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Louisiana, all of the Levee Boards, the responders, insurers, engineers and contractors, dredgers, and the barge, that allegedly caused the breaching of the Industrial Canal flood wall. As a result, Judge Duval and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana rapidly, economically and systematically adjudicated the legal issues necessary for determining liability and responsibility for the breaches of the levees and floodwalls surrounding New Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemine Parishes as well as inter alia, insurance coverage and maritime issues.

Prior to his service on the bench, Judge Duval’s law practice was varied and litigation intensive. As senior partner of a prominent Louisiana law firm, he participated as lead counsel in hundreds of trials that involved a cross-section of clients with diverse legal issues, that included banks, electric cooperatives, governmental bodies, small business corporations and individuals. His law firm’s practice also was involved with mineral litigation, primarily representing plaintiff landowners; personal injury litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants, including maritime cases; commercial litigation; contract disputes; property disputes; insurance questions; successions; drafting of wills and trusts; corporate law; utilities law; local governmental law, and domestic law. Judge Duval appeared in both state and federal court in approximately sixty appellate cases including appearances before the Louisiana Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Some of these cases involved significant issues of law and are cited as precedent. In addition, from 1988 to 1993, he served as Parish Attorney for the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government which required representing the parish at trial, drafting legal opinions and drafting ordinances.

Judge Duval served as a member of the Board of Directors for the First National Bank of Houma (now owned by Whitney Bank) from approximately 1982 to 1990. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the bank.

Hon. Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. is available to arbitrate and mediate cases throughout the United States.