USA
Practice Areas
Steve Herman is special counsel in the firm’s Litigation Section. With thirty years of experience, Steve’s primary practice has lately focused on representing both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial, class action, and professional liability cases, and he is often asked to provide expert testimony in such matters. He recently, for example, submitted a series of declarations in support of class counsel’s successful fee petition in the multi-billion dollar Aqueous Film-Forming Foam MDL settlements, was hired as a special master to review litigation expenses and allocate awards to hundreds of plaintiffs in a multi-million dollar landfill settlement, and was asked by the Jefferson Parish Ethics and Compliance Commission to conduct an independent ethics investigation of the parish’s Inspector General.
Career
Steve maintains a broad civil practice. He has handled everything from highway defect and products liability cases to fire and flood loss cases, to attorney fee disputes and employment cases, to special appellate work before the Louisiana Supreme Court and other courts of appeal. Notably, in 2010 he was appointed by the Court to serve as one of two Liaison and Lead Class Counsel for all businesses, individuals, and local governments involved in the Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill litigation.
Professional Memberships
Steve is a past president of the Louisiana Association for Justice (LAJ), and he currently serves as Chair of the organization’s Amicus Curiae Committee. He is also an active member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), currently serving both as Chair of its Amicus Curiae Committee and—since 2014—as a Louisiana representative on the Board of Governors. Steve is a fellow of both the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel of America, and he is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI). Steve served for six years as a Lawyer Chair for one of the Louisiana Disciplinary Board Hearing Committees.
Steve is a former Louisiana Appleseed board member, a former Southeast Louisiana Legal Services board member, and a past president of both the National Civil Justice Institute (formerly the Pound Civil Justice Institute) and the Civil Justice Foundation.
Experience
Steve teaches an advanced torts seminar on class actions at Loyola Law School and an advanced civil procedure course in complex litigation at Tulane. He has given numerous speeches on consumer fraud, tobacco, maritime, and managed care litigation; complex discovery, electronic discovery, and spoliation; preemption, privilege, trial preparation, deposition strategy, motion practice, legal ethics and professionalism, class actions, and complex litigation.
Publications
Steve is the author of America and the Law: Challenges for the 21st Century, and he maintains a What’s New in the Courts law blog (or “blawg”) at GravierHouse.com.
Work Highlights
In 2010, Steve was appointed by the Court to serve as one of two Liaison and Lead Class Counsel for all businesses, individuals, and local governments involved in the Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill Litigation. He was instrumental in coordinating the trial efforts with the States of Louisiana and Alabama, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, and in securing several multi-billion-dollar settlements, including the establishment and administration of the $13-plus billion claims Settlement Program with BP, as well as tax loss compensation settlements with approximately 600 local governments.
