Francis Barry, Jr.: Representative Works

Hurricane Katrina Levee Breach - Appeal

On April 30, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of all claims against a defendant contractor Boh Bros Construction Co., and several engineering defendants including Modjeski and Masters, Inc. and Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc., in the Hurricane Katrina levee breach consolidated litigation in federal court in New Orleans. Over 300,000 claims, asserting $400 billion in damages, were filed against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Orleans Levee District, and several contractors and engineering firms which were engaged in various projects in the outfall drainage canals in New Orleans before the August 2005 hurricane. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's decision that the Louisiana peremption statutes pertaining to engineers and contractors applied as a bar to the claims and that admiralty jurisdiction and federal maritime law did not apply. Charles F. Seemann, Jr., Francis J. Barry, Jr. and Terrence L. Brennan of Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles represented Burk-Kleinpeter, Modjeski, and Boh Bros., respectively. In Re: Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation, U.S. 5th Circ. Appeal Nos. 07-30706, 07-30771, and 07-31141.

Hurricane Katrina Levee Breach

A joint motion for summary judgment filed by Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles' Charles F. Seemann on behalf of Burk Kleinpeter, Inc., Frank J. Barry and Victor E. Stilwell (1939-2006) on behalf of Modjeski and Masters, Inc., and by other counsel representing two other engineering firms involved in work supervised by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the mammoth consolidated Hurricane Katrina levee breach litigation pending before Judge Stanwood Duval in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana was GRANTED and certified under Rule 54(b). The judgment upholds and enforces the five year peremptive period of LaRS 9: 5607, dismissing the claims filed in fourteen class action suits against the clients of DK&S. The Court's opinion and judgment are Doc. Nos. 2148 and 2149 in the consolidated cases (CA# 05-4182).

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