Mark C. Dodart
Partner
Mark Dodart practices primarily in the areas of general litigation, insurance coverage and tort litigation. He counsels clients, manages disputes and tries cases involving personal injury, products liability, class actions, toxic tort exposure, premises liability and property damage. Mr. Dodart also serves as local, regional and national coverage counsel for domestic insurance companies in matters arising from bad faith, construction defects claims, third-party liability claims, first-party property claims, environmental claims, marine liability claims, food contamination claims, Louisiana direct action claims and numerous others.
In addition to handling cases in Louisiana and Texas courts in which he is admitted, Mr. Dodart also has acted as lead counsel in cases pending in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Mr. Dodart’s practice, both litigation and counseling, involves attorneys from all of Phelps Dunbar's offices on the Third Coast and, where necessary, local counsel in states throughout the United States.
Experience
- Representation of domestic commercial property insurance companies in first-party property claims involving alleged hail and wind damage, including claims for statutory penalties and bad faith damages.
- Defense of pipeline company in the first two toxic tort class action cases that went to judgment in Louisiana.
- Representation of recreational watercraft manufacturer in Louisiana in defense of products liability/personal injury claims arising out of the operation of one of their personal watercrafts. These claims typically involve allegations of manufacturing defects, failure to warn, and breach of warranty.
- Representation of domestic commercial lines insurance companies in defense of insurance coverage claims arising out of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike. These matters involve the defense of claims for property damage, business income loss, statutory penalties, and bad faith damages.
- Representation of chemical manufacturing company in a class action in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where several thousand claimants filed suit as a result of an ethylene dichloride release, resulting in alleged groundwater contamination. Claimants alleged damages for personal injury, property damage, and diminution in value of property.
- Representation of chemical company in defense of a class action in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where over 12,000 individuals filed suit as a result of an explosion of a urea reactor at their facility. Claimants alleged damages for personal injury, property damage, fear and fright, business interruption, and inconvenience.