Member
Practice Areas
Education
Order of the Coif
Biography
Jennifer Thornton focuses on complex commercial and personal injury cases and civil appellate work.
Jennifer has the unique experience of litigating as often on the plaintiff’s side as she does on the defense. She has represented clients of all types, from large corporations and utility companies to injured maritime workers and victims of toxic exposures. She has litigated, tried cases, and handled appeals in state and federal court in a wide range of matters, including business, landowner, intellectual property, and securities disputes, as well as toxic tort, products liability, and maritime personal injury actions.
Jennifer was born and raised in Mississippi but knew she belonged in New Orleans when she began her undergraduate work at Tulane, where she graduated cum laude. She obtained a master’s degree in literature from Georgia State University and then returned to Tulane for law school. Jennifer graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, served on the Tulane Law Review, and earned awards for her scholastic performance and writing skills, including the Law Review Rufus C. Harris Law Review Award in Civil Law.
Jennifer came to the firm as an associate attorney in 2002 after completing a federal district court clerkship for Judge Carl J. Barbier, and before that, a Louisiana Supreme Court clerkship for Justice Catherine “Kitty” D. Kimball. Jennifer became a member of the firm in 2008.
Jennifer is a frequent speaker and presenter at seminars on trial and appellate work, and she has been recognized multiple times by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and New Orleans Magazine’s Top Attorneys.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS AND SUCCESSES
Succession of Kirschman, 302 So. 3d 552 (La. App. 4 Cir. 7/2/20): Represented co-executor of large estate in obtaining a judgment from the trial court enforcing a settlement agreement with the other executor and successfully defended that judgment on appeal
Lakewood Property Owners’ Association v. Smith, 231 So. 3d 822 (La. App. 4 Cir. 11/22/17): Represented neighborhood association and homeowner in dispute over enforcement of building restrictions and property rights and won a judgment in her clients’ favor following a bench trial and successfully defended the trial court’s judgment on appeal
Payton v. Entergy Corporation, Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans No. 2012-8368 (2017): Defended utility companies in a putative class action following Hurricane Isaac and obtained a denial of class certification following multi-day evidentiary hearing in the trial court
Crosby Marine Transp., LLC v. Triton Diving Services, LLC, WDLA No. 13-2399 (2015): Represented a Jones Act seaman in a limitation of liability case tried to the Court and won a $1,912,063 judgment (matter settled for a confidential amount thereafter)
Thibodeaux v. Orsak, et al., WDLA No. 13-3258 (2015): Represented the injured plaintiff against trucking company and driver and won a $4,340,271 jury verdict following a four-day jury trial (matter settled for a confidential amount thereafter)
Doe v. Louisiana Bd. of Ethics, 2014 WL 3583719 (La. App. 1 Cir. 7/21/14): Successfully argued to the trial court that document subpoenas issued by the Board of Ethics to her clients should be quashed and the Board’s investigative matter found to be untimely and obtained an affirmance of the trial court on appeal
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Let the Ghoul Times Roll! The Essential Guide to Voir Dire, LSBA CLE (October 2022)
Ethics Guidance for Admiralty Practitioners, LSBA’s 27th Annual Admiralty Symposium (2021)
Is it a Writ or an Appeal: I’m So Confused, LSBA Trial Practice Seminar (2019)
Can Professionalism and Aggressive Lawyering Co-Exist, NOBA CLE (2019)
Professionalism: Lessons from a Survey of Lawyers about Lawyers, Tulane Law School CLE (2019)
Writ Practice: Avoiding Procedural Traps, LSBA Advanced Appellate Practice Seminar (2018)
Writ Practice: Herlitz, Writ-Grant Considerations, and Law of the Case, LSBA CLE (2017)
Accurate and Precise Brief Writing, LSBA Appellate Seminar (2016)
Common Ethical Issues Associated with Litigation, NOBA Maters of the Courtroom CLE (2016)
A Louisiana Primer on Judgments, Tulane Law School CLE (2015)
PROFESSIONAL AND CIVIL ACTIVITIES
Tulane Civil Litigation Pretrial Bootcamp, Faculty
Louisiana State Bar Association, Member
Federal Bar Association, Member
New Orleans Bar Association, Member
Experience
Law Clerk to the Honorable Carl J. Barbier of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (2001 – 2002)
Law Clerk to the Honorable Catherine D. Kimball of the Louisiana Supreme Court (2000 – 2001)
BAR ADMISSIONS
Louisiana state courts
Louisiana federal courts (all districts)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
RECOGNITION
Tulane Law Review, Articles Editor
Tulane Law School’s Rufus C. Harris Law Review Award in Civil Law
Selected for inclusion Best Lawyers in America® (Appellate Practice & Commercial Litigation) (2013 – 2024)
Selected for inclusion Best Lawyers in America® Lawyer of the Year for Medical Malpractice Law- Plaintiffs – New Orleans 2023
Super Lawyers (Business Litigation) (2016 – 2024)
New Orleans Magazine’s Top Attorneys (2013, 2022)
In the News
Stanley Reuter Attorneys Named as 2024 Best Lawyers
Raley Alford, Tom Owen, Alison Palermo, Bryan Reuter, Rick Stanley and Jennifer Thornton have been named as Best Lawyers for 2024. Rick Stanley received "Lawyer… READ MORENew Orleans Magazine’s 2022 Top Lawyers
Congratulations to Kathryn Munson, Tom Owen, Bryan Reuter, Rick Stanley, and Jennifer Thornton for being recognized as New Orleans Magazine's 2022 Top Lawyers! READ MORE11 Attorneys Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2022 Edition; 4 Attorneys Named “Lawyer of the Year”
W. RALEY ALFORD, III Best Lawyers 2022 Administrative/Regulatory Law "Lawyer of the Year" in New Orleans Administrative/Regulatory Law Commercial Litigation Consumer Law Energy Law Energy Regulatory… READ MOREAll Partners and Of Counsel Named as 2019 Best Lawyers
RICHARD C. STANLEY Best Lawyers 2019 Bet-the-Company Litigation "Lawyer of the Year" in New Orleans Commercial Litigation Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants Litigation - Antitrust… READ MOREJennifer Thornton, Eva Dossier, and Christian Chaney obtain settlement in prosecution of legal and accounting malpractice claims on behalf of litigation trust in federal court.
On April 16, 2018, the firm obtained a favorable settlement of case involving legal malpractice and accounting malpractice claims. Jennifer L. Thornton, Eva J. Dossier,… READ MORE