Contact
Areas of Practice
Admiralty & MaritimeClass Action
Insurance Coverage
Litigation
Products Liability
Ernest P. Gieger, Jr.
Senior Counsel
Ernie is one of the founding partners of the firm. He has over 40 years of experience trying cases before Federal and State court juries and judges in Louisiana, Texas and throughout the United States. His areas of practice include products liability, class actions, complex litigation, insurance, and toxic tort.
Ernie’s experience includes representing diverse national and international companies involving product defect, catastrophic fire casualties, oilfield disasters, toxic exposure, toxic waste as well as environmental litigation. Ernie has served as national lead trial team counsel as well as regional counsel in litigation involving mass tort, multidistrict and class action litigation, including FEMA temporary housing, pain pumps, latex gloves, catheters, pedicle screws, surgical mesh products, pharmaceuticals and generic herbal supplements. He has a reputation as a tenacious legal advocate on behalf of his clients and has a passion for trial work. He is often called on as substitute trial counsel when his clients approach trial in catastrophic cases.
Ernie is admitted to practice in both Louisiana and Texas. Ernie has also litigated cases on behalf of his clients in numerous other jurisdictions throughout the country, including state and federal courts in Pennsylvania, Washington, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Hawaii, Alabama, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia, and Ohio.
In 2002, the National Law Journal recognized Ernie as part of the Thomas & Betts defense team featured as winning the 2001 Defense Verdict of the Year. In 2010, he was selected as a one of the top ten attorneys in the United States by a client from a national list of thousands of their trial counsel. Such recognition is rare.
Ernie has been a SuperLawyer from 2008 to the present. He has also been recognized by selection into Who’s Who Legal in the specialty area of Product Liability.
Ernie is rated “AV” Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell.
The following cases are representative of the types of cases regularly handled by Ernie:
- In re Gramercy Plant Explosion at Kaiser, St. James Parish, Louisiana. Arose out of an explosion as Kaiser Aluminum Plant in Gramercy, Louisiana, resulting in more than 71 lawsuits for personal injury and property damage that were consolidated. Ernie was part of a litigation team representing a product manufacturer defendant. After the vast majority of the claims were settled or dismissed, the remaining claims went to trial. After a three week trial, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of Ernie’s client. The Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the favorable jury verdict.
- FEMA Litigation. Ernie represented a mobile home manufacturer and its affiliate in 276 individual cases that were managed as part of a Multidistrict Litigation out of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The cases involved claims for personal injury resulting from exposure to formaldehyde in FEMA trailers. The plaintiffs originally attempted to certify a class action in mid-2008, but, in December of that year, Ernie was successful in getting the Motion for Class Certification denied. Three bellwether cases were tried by different parties, including Ernie. Between March 15 and March 25, 2010, Ernie tried the bellwether case for his client and the jury returned a verdict for his client and determined that Ernie’s client had not created an unreasonably dangerous product under the Louisiana Product Liability Act. As a result of that trial, Ernie was named as one of his national client’s Top Ten counsel for 2010. The remaining cases against the manufacturers were resolved on favorable terms as part of a global settlement.
- Gonzalez, et al. v. Southcross Energy Partners GP, LLC et al., Duval County, Texas.
J.D., 1976, Louisiana State University
B.S., 1973, Louisiana State University
Ernest P. Gieger, Jr.
Senior Counsel
Contact
Ernie is one of the founding partners of the firm. He has over 40 years of experience trying cases before Federal and State court juries and judges in Louisiana, Texas and throughout the United States. His areas of practice include products liability, class actions, complex litigation, insurance, and toxic tort.
Ernie’s experience includes representing diverse national and international companies involving product defect, catastrophic fire casualties, oilfield disasters, toxic exposure, toxic waste as well as environmental litigation. Ernie has served as national lead trial team counsel as well as regional counsel in litigation involving mass tort, multidistrict and class action litigation, including FEMA temporary housing, pain pumps, latex gloves, catheters, pedicle screws, surgical mesh products, pharmaceuticals and generic herbal supplements. He has a reputation as a tenacious legal advocate on behalf of his clients and has a passion for trial work. He is often called on as substitute trial counsel when his clients approach trial in catastrophic cases.
Ernie is admitted to practice in both Louisiana and Texas. Ernie has also litigated cases on behalf of his clients in numerous other jurisdictions throughout the country, including state and federal courts in Pennsylvania, Washington, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Hawaii, Alabama, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia, and Ohio.
In 2002, the National Law Journal recognized Ernie as part of the Thomas & Betts defense team featured as winning the 2001 Defense Verdict of the Year. In 2010, he was selected as a one of the top ten attorneys in the United States by a client from a national list of thousands of their trial counsel. Such recognition is rare.
Ernie has been a SuperLawyer from 2008 to the present. He has also been recognized by selection into Who’s Who Legal in the specialty area of Product Liability.
Ernie is rated “AV” Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell.
Areas of Practice
Admiralty & MaritimeClass Action
Insurance Coverage
Litigation
Products Liability
Curriculum Vitae
The following cases are representative of the types of cases regularly handled by Ernie:
- In re Gramercy Plant Explosion at Kaiser, St. James Parish, Louisiana. Arose out of an explosion as Kaiser Aluminum Plant in Gramercy, Louisiana, resulting in more than 71 lawsuits for personal injury and property damage that were consolidated. Ernie was part of a litigation team representing a product manufacturer defendant. After the vast majority of the claims were settled or dismissed, the remaining claims went to trial. After a three week trial, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of Ernie’s client. The Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the favorable jury verdict.
- FEMA Litigation. Ernie represented a mobile home manufacturer and its affiliate in 276 individual cases that were managed as part of a Multidistrict Litigation out of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The cases involved claims for personal injury resulting from exposure to formaldehyde in FEMA trailers. The plaintiffs originally attempted to certify a class action in mid-2008, but, in December of that year, Ernie was successful in getting the Motion for Class Certification denied. Three bellwether cases were tried by different parties, including Ernie. Between March 15 and March 25, 2010, Ernie tried the bellwether case for his client and the jury returned a verdict for his client and determined that Ernie’s client had not created an unreasonably dangerous product under the Louisiana Product Liability Act. As a result of that trial, Ernie was named as one of his national client’s Top Ten counsel for 2010. The remaining cases against the manufacturers were resolved on favorable terms as part of a global settlement.
- Gonzalez, et al. v. Southcross Energy Partners GP, LLC et al., Duval County, Texas.
J.D., 1976, Louisiana State University
B.S., 1973, Louisiana State University