Stanwood Duval, Jr.
Of Counsel
A native of Terrebonne Parish, Duval was a partner in the law firm now known as Duval, Funderburk, Sundbery, Richard and Watkins from 1966 to 1994. In October 1994, he was appointed U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana by President Bill Clinton. While serving on the bench, he presided over cases involving commercial litigation, insurance coverage and contract disputes, maritime/admiralty law, product liability, collective bargaining agreements and complex criminal litigation. He also managed all litigation arising from the failure of the levee system in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina, which had over 1,200 cases comprised of hundreds of thousands of claims. Stanwood retired from the federal bench on January 31, 2017 and returned to the Duval firm in Houma on February 1 as Of Counsel, where he provides counsel for mediation and arbitration, and litigation strategy for complex federal cases.
Bar Admissions
- Louisiana District Courts
- Courts of Appeal
- Louisiana Supreme Court
- US District Courts for the Eastern, Western and Middle Districts
- US Court Appeals 5th Circuit
Education
- Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, J.D. 1966
- Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, B.A. 1964
Representative Cases
- In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation C.A. No. 05-4182
Judge Duval undertook the management of all of the litigation arising out of the failure of the levee system in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina, which had over 1,200 cases comprised of hundreds of thousands of claims - 2011: St. Joseph Abby v. Castille, C.A. No. 10-2717 Held that under the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, it was unconstitutional to require persons who solely manufacture and sell caskets to be subject to licensing requirements for funeral directors and funeral establishments finding that such requirements were based solely on economic protectionism.
- 2008: Crescent Towing & Salvage Co., Inc. v. M/V Chios Beauty, C.A. No. 05-4207 Denied of Limitation of Liability based on Captain’s negligence in bringing ship into port of New Orleans when port was in imminent danger of hurricane force winds.
Areas of Practice
- Mediation
- Arbitration
- Litigation Strategy for complex cases in federal court
