Louisiana Civil Code Art. 3493.1 sets a two-year time limit for delictual actions. The clock starts on the day the injury or damage happened. This deadline changed from one year to two years for incidents occurring on or after July 1, 2024, so the applicable deadline depends on when the injury took place.
Lafayette Insurance Defense Lawyers
When a claim becomes a lawsuit, carriers, insureds, and businesses across Acadiana turn to Caffery, Oubre, Campbell & Garrison, L.L.P.
75+
Years of
Legal Excellence
As Lafayette insurance defense lawyers, our attorneys defend both third-party liability claims and first-party coverage disputes, from first notice through trial. Every file gets an attorney’s direct attention, not a rotation of associates.
We are a boutique firm built on relationships, not marketing, and we know the courts and judges across this region because we have practiced in front of them for decades. Contact our litigation team to discuss your next matter.
A Boutique Insurance Defense Firm, Rooted in Acadiana
Protecting Business Through Proven Legal Experience.
For decades, Caffery, Oubre, Campbell & Garrison, L.L.P. has served Acadiana with the deep institutional knowledge that only a multi-generational firm provides.
We are a locally rooted boutique firm, not a franchise. Our insurance defense attorneys communicate directly and consistently, draw on long-standing relationships with our regional courts, and build litigation strategies around local procedure, not corporate formulas.
Awards And Recognition
Types Of Cases We Handle
Our Practice Areas
Insurance Defense
Since its inception, Caffery, Oubre, Campbell & Garrison, L.L.P., has devoted the majority of its practice to insurance defense. We have experience in virtually every aspect of insurance coverage litigation, including defense of first- and third-party automobile, homeowner and premises liability lawsuits on behalf of insurance companies…
Commercial Litigation
Our clients include insurance companies, businesses and municipal entities of all structures. Our firm has successfully advocated for our clients’ interest for more than 75 years…
Maritime Personal Injury Litigation Defense
Our firm represents business and industry in Louisiana, including those doing business on our waterways and at our ports…
Oil & Gas Litigation
Louisiana is one of the nation’s leading states for oil, gas and energy production. Hundreds of companies in the southern part of the state do business across the full spectrum of the energy industry. As a consequence of the state’s strategic location to the gulf, thousands of individuals work for oil and gas companies, and thousands more are directly affected by the practices energy companies must employ in order to remain successful…
Employment Practices Liability
We represent the interests of employers throughout Louisiana, whether government entities, small businesses or large corporations…
Our Offices
Lafayette is our home office, within the 15th Judicial District Court, which covers Lafayette, Acadia, and Vermilion parishes. Our New Iberia office serves the 16th Judicial District Court, covering Iberia, St. Martin, and St. Mary parishes. Our regional practice also serves Calcasieu Parish, Avoyelles Parish, Rapides Parish, Evangeline Parish, St. Landry Parish, Allen Parish, Jefferson Davis Parish, East Feliciana Parish, Orleans Parish, East and West Baton Rouge Parish, and Vernon Parish.
Our Practice Covers Both
Sides of Insurance Litigation:
Third-Party
Liability Claims:
We defend drivers, businesses, and their insurers against injury and property claims arising from motor vehicle accidents, premises incidents, and general liability exposures.
Experience Across Complex Defense Litigation
First-Party
Coverage Disputes:
We defend insurers in coverage disputes, including property and casualty claims where coverage, valuation, or timing is contested.
Meet
Our Team
Michael W. Campbell
Partner
Over 45 years in practice, former Assistant District Attorney, 200+ trials tried to verdict, and Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® rated.
Lauren Camel Begneaud
Managing Partner
Managing Partner with foundational judicial clerkship experience in the 16th Judicial District Court.
Staci Knox Villemarette
Partner
150+ trials tried to verdict, former Senior Trial Attorney for Allstate Insurance Company, and U.S. Supreme Court admitted.
Why Businesses and Insurers Choose Our Lafayette Insurance Defense Attorneys
The biggest difference our clients notice is direct attorney access. When you call, an attorney answers, reviews the file, and stays on it. We do not disappear for months between updates, bill a file without contact, or hand a matter to a junior associate working alone in a cubicle. For carriers managing a claims portfolio and for insureds facing litigation for the first time, that consistency can matter as much as the legal work itself.
Our size is part of that advantage. As a boutique firm, every matter gets personal attention from intake through resolution, without the layers of a large defense firm. You work with the same attorney throughout the file, and that attorney has the authority to make decisions without routing every question up a chain.
We built this firm around true insurance-defense practice, not general civil litigation with insurance work added on. That means we speak the language of claims professionals and in-house counsel: reservation of rights, coverage positions, litigation budgets, and reporting formats that match how carriers manage a file.
Whether the matter involves a liability claim against an insured driver or a first-party property dispute after storm damage, we bring the same disciplined, cost-conscious approach.
What to Expect When You Retain Our Firm
Our process is built for carriers and businesses that need to plan around litigation costs and timelines, not surprises.
Tender and
Conflicts Review
A Lafayette insurance defense lawyer confirms coverage positions and clears conflicts before we appear.
Initial Case
Assessment
Early in the file, we assess the case and set a litigation budget.
Defense
Strategy
We tailor our approach to the venue and facts.
Reporting
We provide clear, periodic updates tied to the case’s actual status in the format carriers expect.
Most matters resolve through motion practice, alternative dispute resolution, or negotiated settlement before trial. Our insurance defense lawyers in Lafayette pursue early, cost-effective resolution wherever the facts support it.
When a case needs to go to trial, our attorneys try it themselves. Trial is one of the tools we use to protect our clients’ interests, not a last resort to be avoided at any cost.
Representative Experience
Our insurance defense lawyers have defended reported matters across Louisiana’s appellate courts, the Louisiana Supreme Court, and federal court, including third-party liability and first-party coverage disputes.
Representative published matters include defending insurers in complex coverage disputes such as Luquette v. Allstate Ins. (Indem.), 174 So. 3d 736 (La. App. 2 Cir. 2015). and litigating products liability matters including Guillory v. Domtar Industries, 95 F.3d 1320 (5th Cir. 1996).
Luquette v. Allstate Ins. (Indem.), 174 So. 3d
736 (La. App. 2 Cir. 2015).
Guillory v. Domtar Industries, 95 F.3d 1320
(5th Cir. 1996).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit in Louisiana?
Can an insurer be sued directly in Louisiana?
Louisiana’s Direct Action Statute La. R.S. 22:1269 allows a plaintiff to name a liability insurer directly only in specific circumstances, such as the insured’s bankruptcy or insolvency, unsuccessful service of process, or when the insurer is defending under a reservation of rights. The statute was substantially revised in 2024 to narrow when an insurer may be named directly.
How does comparative fault work in Louisiana?
Under Louisiana Civil Code Art. 2323, fault is allocated among all parties who contributed to an injury. Effective January 1, 2026, Louisiana adopted a modified comparative fault system for injuries that happen on or after that date. A party found 51% or more at fault cannot recover damages. A party found 50% or less at fault can still recover, but the award is reduced by that party’s share of fault. Injuries from before January 1, 2026, are still governed by the old rule, which let a party recover money based on the percentage of fault.
What areas does Caffery, Oubre, Campbell & Garrison, L.L.P. serve?
We are based in Lafayette, with an office in New Iberia. We handle insurance defense and commercial litigation matters throughout Acadiana, including the 15th Judicial District Court (Lafayette, Acadia, and Vermilion parishes), the 16th Judicial District Court (Iberia, St. Martin, and St. Mary parishes), and Calcasieu Parish, Avoyelles Parish, Rapides Parish, Evangeline Parish, St. Landry Parish, Allen Parish, Jefferson Davis Parish, East Feliciana Parish, Orleans Parish, East and West Baton Rouge Parish, and Vernon Parish.
