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was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 1, 1950. He was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in 1975 and Texas Bar in 1991. He is admitted to practice before all federal and state courts in Louisiana and Texas, the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits. He received his education from Loyola University (B.A., cum laude, 1972) and Loyola University School of Law (J.D., 1975) where he was Case Note Editor of the Loyola Law Review. He is a graduate of both National and Advanced Sessions of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in Boulder, Colorado. He is a member of the Louisiana and Texas Bar Associations, the Maritime Law Association of the United States and the New Orleans Bar Association. He is also a guest lecturer at Loyola University School of Law in their Skills Curriculum program.
Practice Areas: Maritime & Admiralty; Insurance Defense; Toxic Torts.
E-mail: wsommers@duncour.com
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
Twenty-eight years of intense, successful litigation practice in State and Federal Courts in Louisiana and Texas. Experience includes investigation, pre-trial written and oral discovery, motion practice, jury and non-jury trials and non-binding mediations.
Two years of practice devoted entirely to the complex Valdez grounding litigation
Specialization in Jones Act, Platform and Maritime Personal Injury, Premise Liability, Louisiana and Texas State Tort Liability, insurance defense, supervision of outside counsel and in-house trial team
Voluntary Faculty Loyola Skills Curriculum (Theory of The Case and Deposition Skills)
Martindale-Hubbell A/V rating
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Coordinated investigation and defense of steering stand failure aboard Exxon Valdez
Coordinated investigation and defense of corporate veil piercing issue for Exxon Shipping Company and Exxon Corporation
Conducted investigation of corporate drug and alcohol policy
Coordinated nationwide docket of Exxon Shipping Company cases and advised management of status
Defended Company in toxic tort litigation from Valdez grounding and silicosis claims from offshore sandblasting operations
Defended Company and coordinated litigation in Texas and U.K. arising out of fatalities in North Sea
Monthly presentations to Exxon Shipping Company Board of Directors on status of Valdez litigation
Managing docket of complex tort/asbestos litigation.
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