C. Arlen Braud II likes handling big personal injury cases.

But it’s not just the big verdicts and settlements that he’s achieved for injured clients over the years that provide the enjoyment; it’s also the challenge of preparing a case that could require dozens of witnesses and a two-week court trial.

“Instead of doing a volume business, where you’re just running a lot of cases and settling them, we take fewer cases and maximize them,” he says. “We try to make sure we’re absolutely covered and are ready for trial.”

Since receiving his Law degree in 1992, Braud has focused his practice mostly on large maritime cases involving injuries to workers on vessels and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River, achieving several seven-figure verdicts for badly injured clients.

“Work is very dangerous in the maritime setting,” he says. “A lot of missing-finger cases, a lot of missing limbs.”

Unlike automobile injury cases, maritime matters place more stringent demands on injured plaintiffs and the attorneys who represent them.

“In an auto case the police report will say, ‘This guy rear ended that guy.’ You don’t have to prove anything except how badly they’re hurt. But in a maritime case you’ve got to prove liability. You’ve got to prove that the Plaintiff was not trained properly, that the procedures on the vessel weren’t being followed, that he was asked to do something unsafe or that he wasn’t trained to do it safely, and on and on.”

It’s a challenge, and one that Braud relishes.

“Proving liability in a maritime case is kind of exciting,” he says. “You really have to use your ingenuity. You’ve got to go out and find why this guy was injured because the other side is not going to tell you that they did something wrong.”

The key to success in handling big maritime cases, Braud says, is simply hard work.

“The most important thing is to be more prepared than your opponent. That might seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many people don’t do that. Braud has also found that good experts are worth the money. Even though the law firm pays more money for their services, it’s usually a good investment that results in a better outcome for the injured client.

An additional tool that Braud has found highly effective for trial preparation is the use of mock juries and focus groups.

“We even have a courtroom that we built, with witness stand and jury box. We hire people to come in and listen to our case and we’ll let the plaintiff sit on the stand and tell his story to two or three sets of mock juries so that he gets a real comfort level telling his story to strangers. If you walk into a trial for the first time, it can be a disaster.”

The focus groups ask questions of the plaintiff to better prepare him for what a real jury might want to hear, and they also offer assessments to help improve how the plaintiff will come across in court.

“It’s the extra step,” Braud says. “It’s not fun to stay an extra 3-4 hours at night after you’ve worked a whole day, but I’ve found that it’s crucial to success at trial. So that’s what we do.”

Areas of Practice:

• People seriously injured in automobile accidents
• Admiralty & Maritime Law
• Litigation Percentage: 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admission:

• Texas, 2002
• Louisiana, 1991
• United States District Court 1991
• First Circuit Court of Appeals, 1993
• United States Supreme Court, 2002

Education:

• Southern University Law Center, Baton Rouge, LA, J.D. – Cum Laude

Representative Cases:

• Jay Verdin v. Plaissance Dragline, 1996 W L 271617 (E.D. LA 1996)
• Gerrard Cheramie v. Blake Workover, 1996 W L 483294 (E.D. LA 1996)

Classes / Seminars Taught:

• Admiralty & Offshore Law, Southern University Law School, 1998-1999
• “The Use of Demonstrative Evidence to Prove Damages”
• 2001 CLE a la Carte, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Honors & Awards:

• Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum

Professional Associations & Memberships:

• American Trial Lawyers Association Sustaining Member
• Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association Member
• Federal Bar Association Member
• 5th Circuit Bar Association Member
• Eastern District Historian Society Member
• Louisiana Bar Association Member
• American Bar Association Member
• Traumatic Brain and Injury Litigation Group
• International Brain Injury Association

Birth:

• 1963, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA