Biography
Claude is an AV rated attorney whose practice emphasizes construction law, insurance coverage, and toxic tort litigation. He has represented
local, national, and multi-national companies in small and large cases alike, having successfully defended hundreds of cases, including
multi-million dollar casualty and property damage cases.
Claude has a wide variety of trial, arbitration, and mediation experience and has successfully argued in front of the United States Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals, the Louisiana Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals in Louisiana, Washington, and Oregon, and numerous state and
federal courts. He has also tried multiple cases to verdict.
Claude has served as national and local counsel for several clients in toxic tort litigation, overseeing discovery, motions practice, expert
witness development, settlement strategies, and trial preparation. He has also represented numerous insurance companies in coverage
litigation, and has defended and managed construction defect cases for both general contractors and subcontractors.
Claude graduated with honors from Tulane University School of Law, where he served as Articles Editor of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal.
He is married to Lucy, and has two children, Olivia and William, who keep him very busy when he is not practicing law.
Education
- J.D.,Tulane University Law School, (cum laude), New Orleans, LA -- 1991
- B.A.,Nicholls State University, History (cum laude),Thibodaux, LA -- 1987
Employment
- Rizzo Bosworth Eraut, P.C., Shareholder, 2006 - present
-
Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Associate, 1991-1997; Partner, 1998-2006
Professional Memberships
- Admitted in federal and state courts of Oregon, Washington and Louisiana
- Admitted in United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Oregon Association of Defense Counsel
- Oregon State Bar Construction Law Section
- Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
- Defense Research Institute
Recognition and Awards
- Listed in Oregon Super Lawyers for Construction Litigation, 2019-2023
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Construction Litigation and Insurance Litigation
- A.V. Rated by Martindale Hubbell.
- Managing Editor and Member Tulane Maritime Law Journal, 1989-1991.
- Speaker, ACI National Forum on Construction Claims & Litigation, “Nuances of the Economic Loss Rule in
-
Different Jurisdictions, How Owners Can Recover Damages From Subcontractors With/Without a Contract, and Insurance Coverage Issues for
Contractual Liability Exclusions,” 2015
-
Reported Appellate Cases include:
- Yankee v. APV N. Am., Inc., 164 Wn. App. 1 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011);
- Carriere v. Bank of Louisiana in New Orleans, 662 So.2d 491 (La.App. 5 Cir. 1995);
- Carriere v. Bank of Louisiana in New Orleans, 602 So.2d 155 (La.App. 5 Cir. 1992);
- Matter of Alliance Operating Corp., 60 F.3d 1174 (5th Cir. 1995);
- Hibernia Nat. Bank v. Carner, 997 F.2d 94 (5th Cir. 1995);
- Taylor v. Rowell, 736 So.2d 812 (La. 1999);
- Johnson v. Davis, 697 So.2d 311 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1997);
- Hunter v. Seabulk Offshore, Ltd., 993 F. Supp. 973 (E.D.La. 1998).
