James M. Matherne

James Matherne is a senior litigation attorney with more than 25 years of experience defending manufacturers, insurers, contractors, premises owners, and commercial defendants in complex litigation throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. His practice focuses on toxic tort and asbestos litigation, products liability, insurance defense, premises liability, and complex casualty matters in both state and federal courts.

James has developed particular depth in asbestos defense, where he has represented manufacturers, distributors, contractors, and industrial defendants in hundreds of cases involving occupational and para-occupational exposure claims. Over the course of his career, he has handled asbestos litigation across multiple jurisdictions, including maritime and multi-district litigation settings, and has extensive familiarity with the medical, industrial hygiene, product identification, and corporate-history issues that often determine case outcomes in toxic tort litigation. His work has included long-term representation of national product manufacturers and industrial defendants, with repeated success obtaining dismissals, favorable settlements, and low-exposure resolutions through disciplined deposition strategy and detailed product-history analysis.

For more than two decades, James has also represented major national clients in Louisiana in product liability and casualty defense matters, including high-volume defense of manufacturers and insured defendants in premises liability, automobile liability, and commercial claims. He is particularly known for his ability to identify factual weaknesses early through targeted site inspections, focused plaintiff examinations, and strategic use of documentary and video evidence.

In addition to toxic tort work, James has substantial experience handling insurance coverage disputes, catastrophic injury claims, and appellate matters.

James has spent much of his career serving as trusted Louisiana counsel for national defendants and insurers, where continuity of defense strategy, knowledge of recurring plaintiff firms, and familiarity with local litigation patterns have consistently produced efficient and favorable results for clients.

After graduation, James served as a law clerk to the judges of the 17th Judicial District Court, following his service throughout law school as a student intern with the Louisiana Supreme Court. He is admitted to practice in all Louisiana and Mississippi state courts, the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana, the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.