Overview
Joseph (Joe) Guichet focuses on several insurance coverage areas, including general liability coverage, commercial and residential property, bad faith, oil and gas liability coverage, construction defect liability coverage, and environmental and toxic tort liability coverage.
Because of Joe’s long experience successfully representing insurance companies in coverage disputes and property claims, he is frequently enlisted to handle his clients’ largest and most complex insurance coverage matters. Such claims include, among others, general liability, first-party property, bad faith, oil and gas coverage, public sector and toxic tort claims, as well as subrogation actions and other insurance-related cases. Although many of the matters Joe handles have involved multi-million-dollar commercial claims, and included individual claims of more than $300 million, he also regularly handles smaller liability and property claims with the same focus and determination with which he approaches the largest claims.
Joe has successfully handled several hundred coverage actions in state and federal courts in Louisiana and other states in the South. He has argued before state and federal courts in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and before Louisiana state appellate courts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Prior to joining Lugenbuhl, Joe served as an associate independent counsel in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C., where he assisted with several prosecutions and appeals, including arguing a case of first impression before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Outside the Office
When not in the office, Joe very much enjoys watching and, when possible, coaching his daughter and son with school and travel sports.
- Shephard v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 2022 WL 35624 (5th Cir. 2022): Secured and upheld the dismissal of bad faith claims against an insurer arising out of an alleged failure to disclose in the underlying litigation (argued).
- Sloane v. Forestwoods Apartments/Baton Rouge, Ltd, 2018 WL 2454524 (La. App. 1 Cir. 2018): Secured and upheld the dismissal of additional insured claims against an insurer (decided on briefs).
- Preau v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 645 F.3d 293 (5th Cir. 2011): Obtained the reversal of a lower court ruling holding that damages awarded against an insured fell within the insuring agreement of a general liability policy (argued).
- Trade-Winds Environmental Restoration, Inc. v. Stewart Development, LLC, 409 Fed. Appx. 805 (5th Cir. 2011): Upheld a district court ruling granting summary judgment and dismissing the majority of claims by a contractor in a dispute arising out of a first-party property claim (decided on briefs).
- La. Stadium & Exposition District v. BFS Diversified Products, LLC, 49 So.3d 49 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2010): Secured and upheld the dismissal of duty to defend claims under the professional services exclusion (argued).
- In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consol. Litigation, Civil Action No. 05-4182 (U.S. Distr. Ct. for the Eastern District of La): Large Limited Fund Settlement of Katrina-related claims versus multiple Levee Districts.
- Carrier v. La. Pigment Co., LP, 846 So.2d 803 (La. App. 3 Cir. 2003): A dispute regarding the priority of coverages between a property owner’s general liability insurer and a contractor’s contractual indemnity insurer (briefed).
Professional
- New Orleans Bar Association (Former Chair, Insurance Committee)
- Louisiana State Bar Association
- Texas Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Defense Research Institute
- Super Lawyers (2014-2024)
- Inside New Orleans Reader’s Favorite “Elite Lawyers” (2022-2023)
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating
- “Unique Rules for Defending Surplus Carriers,” The Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, August 2003
- “Surplus Lines Insurance: Understanding and Representing a Growing Industry,” The Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, July 2003
