Overview
Lori Barker is the managing partner of WSHB’s New Orleans office and a partner in the firm's two Texas locations. Lori has extensive experience representing insurers in Louisiana and Texas in a variety of first and third party disputes. She regularly evaluates coverage and advises carriers facing first-party and bad faith claims. Lori worked with an international insurer to coordinate its response to claims made following the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. She is currently defending SARS-CoV-2 claims that have been filed in the wake of the Cajun Conti appellate court decision. Following the historically active 2020 and 2021 hurricane seasons, Lori advised international and domestic insurers. She was able to deploy creative solutions to fairly and promptly resolve disputes prior to litigation. Lori and her team are currently defending carriers in hundreds of suits pending in state courts, federal courts and in arbitration proceedings.
Lori’s third party practice experience includes construction, premises liability, transportation and products liability. Lori has handled complex cases involving multiple parties and catastrophic injuries. She began her career at a Louisiana-based civil defense firm. While there, she gained valuable courtroom experience that prepared her to work as in-house counsel for a major insurer before returning to private practice. She also gained experience with multidistrict litigation while representing a trailer manufacturer in the In Re: FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation.
She is active in the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel. Lori has been elected to the Board of Directors for a three-year term which began in August 2021 and serves as the Chair of the Insurance Practice Group of this organization. Lori has been appointed to the Law Institute’s newly reconstituted Summary Judgment Subcommittee to provide recommendations to the Louisiana Legislature regarding the reformation of the Summary Judgment Procedure. She is also an adjunct professor at the Tulane School of Professional Advancement in their General Legal Studies program. Lori is a New Orleans native and lives in Orleans Parish with her husband and three children.
Lori enjoys working with clients to develop training programs to address their specific challenges. These have included topics such as best practices for claims handling, procedures for defendants in a direct action case, accident investigation protocols, and relevant law updates.
Experience
- Successfully argued a Motion for Summary judgment that resulted in dismissal of an aviation client from a lawsuit arising from a plane crash where damages were sought for the wrongful death of one passenger and severe mental and physical injuries of another. Obtained a favorable jury verdict in commercial transportation personal injury case venued in Orleans Parish. Plaintiff sought damages in the amount of $525,443 and the jury awarded $27,146, which was then reduced by 60% resulting in a net award of $10,862.40. Plaintiff's Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict was denied and, ultimately, the case was not appealed.
Credentials
Education
- University of Georgia School of Law (J.D., 2008)
- Loyola University New Orleans (B.A., 2005, cum laude)
Licensed to Practice in
- Louisiana
- Texas
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Louisiana
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana
Newsroom
News
Publications
Community
Community Activities
- We the People State Competition Judge
- Tulane School of Professional Advancement Adjunct Professor, 2018- present
Memberships
- Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel
- Board of Directors
- Chair of the Insurance Practice Group
- Law Institute
- Summary Judgment Subcommittee
- Louisiana Bar Association