James M. Garner
Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C.
Years In Practice
Mr. Garner, a Member of the firm is a trial lawyer specializing in commercial and complex litigation. He has been lead counsel in cases in New Mexico, California, West Virginia, Kansas, Arizona, Indiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, involving complex and class action litigation ranging from asbestos exposure, benzene exposure, mass closings of big box retailers, noise pollution, commercial, banking, bankruptcy and financial litigation. He is admitted to practice before the federal courts in Arkansas and all courts in Texas and Louisiana. He serves as regional counsel for several companies.
Mr. Garner is very active in the oil and gas field, being a chemical engineer and former drilling engineer. He represents a number of companies as claimants in the BP Macondo Litigation. Mr. Garner is also lead counsel for Texas Brine Company in defending and prosecuting its claims in the Bayou Corne sinkhole litigation.
Mr. Garner has extensive appellate argument experience by regularly arguing before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, the Louisiana Courts of Appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was unanimously appointed by the Tulane Faculty to Adjunct Lecturer in Law for the Fall 2014 Semester, teaching Advanced Appellate Advocacy at Tulane University School of Law.
While attending Tulane Law School, Mr. Garner served as a member of the Board of Editors for 1987-1988 and managing editor of the Tulane Law Review for 1988-1989. He is also a member of the Order of the Coif. As an undergraduate at Tulane, he was a member of the Tau Beta Pi, Phi Eta Sigma, Omega Chi Epsilon, and Omicron Delta Kappa honorary societies.
Professional and civic activities include: American (member); Louisiana (member) and Federal (Director, Membership Chair, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, President Elect and Vice-President, President and National Council Delegate, member) Bar Associations; Defense Research Institute (member); Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (member); Louisiana Bankers Association (member); Holy Cross High School (Board Member); Our Lady of Holy Cross College (Development Board); Tulane University (Admissions Council and Externship Committee); Tulane Law Review Board of Advisory Editors; St. Catherine of Siena Cub Scout Pack 230 Den Leader.
- New Orleans City Business Power Generation, 2003
- New Orleans City Business has awarded Mr. Garner the first annual Leadership in Law Award, as one of the top 50 Lawyers in New Orleans, 2005
- Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition -- Business Litigation, 2008
- Gerson Lehrman Group, GLG Leader, 2010 - Present
- Benchmark: The Definitive Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys, Local Litigation Star, 2008 - 2014
- Top 50 Lawyers, Louisiana Super Lawyers: Appellate Law and Commercial, Mass Tort, Products Liability and Personal Injury Litigation, 2007 - 2012
- The Lawdragon 500 New Stars, New Worlds, 2006
- Lawdragon's 100 Managing Partners You Need to Know, 2008
- The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, 2007 - 2012
- 2013 Top Rated Lawyer for Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources, Martindale-Hubbell
- 2014-2015 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
- Global Law Experts Oil & Gas Tort Litigation Attorney of the Year in the USA, 2015
- Louisiana Super Lawyers 2007-2016, recognized in the New Orleans Top 50 (2013, 2015, 2016), and Louisiana Top 50 (2007-2013, 2015, 2016)
- Best Lawyers in America since 2006 with special designations, during 2016 or a prior year, in Appellate Practice, Arbitration, Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law, Litigation – Construction, Litigation – Environmen
- Chambers and Partners 2007 - 2016 USA Rankings in Litigation – Key Individuals: “The highly regarded James Garner is well versed in class action work, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in areas such as noise pollution, banking and the energy sec
- New Orleans CityBusiness - 2016 Leadership in Law Honoree
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112