Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams is all-too-well known in the Crescent City and surrounding areas. The New Orleans-based Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams firm is synonymous with legal expertise, recovery for victims and Hurricane Katrina assistance. Following the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams found their name in a different headline.
John W. Houghtaling, of Gauthier, Houghtaling & Williams, is now the outspoken CEO of Ocean Therapy Solutions. Ocean Therapy Solutions, co-founded by Hollywood actor Kevin Costner, presented a technological breakthrough that assisted BP in turning the corner during the environmental disaster, said Gauthier, Houghtaling & Williams’ managing partner Houghtaling. The Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams attorney recently gave some details behind the story. “While the national attention and the world’s attention was on Louisiana,” said the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams attorney, “we were working behind the scenes to secure the ability to move forward with our technology.”
The Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams litigator said that the Ocean Therapy Solutions centrifuge technology is not just “surface skimmers.” According to the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams attorney the centrifuge was at first used this way, but the machine itself is actually an oil and water separator. “We had to get the polluted water to the machine,” said Houghtaling, whose work for Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams in natural disaster litigation is well known. “Enter stage left the CEO of Edison Chouest, Gary Chouest, who basically said ‘whatever you need, I will help with,'” said the leader of Gauthier, Houghtaling & Williams. The Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams lawyer went on to note that Edison Chouest, the Gulf of Mexico’s largest offshore supplies company, “was the reason we were able to deploy the machines – through using their vessels.”
The Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams attorney and CEO of Ocean Therapy Solutions, explained that “OTS was a company that had about 25 of these machines in operation.” According to Houghtaling, also managing partner of Gauthier, Houghtaling & Williams, the Ocean Therapy Solutions factory had been dormant. “Our business is born out of environmental need or tragedy,” said the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams lawyer. However, 10 of the machines in operation were the largest model of separator, said the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams litigator and OTS CEO. “The other 15 were medium sized machines,” added Houghtaling. Once BP saw the results of the proposed technology, they pushed for every machine that Ocean Therapy Solutions had “in stock” with additional orders placed to be manufactured, said the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams legal partner.
“It was very different to see the ‘Houghtaling’ name in print and it not be surrounding a legal case,” said the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams managing partner. John Houghtaling became managing partner of the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams law firm in 2005. “I was just glad to be part of this cause to clean up the gulf shore we all love,” concluded the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams lawyer.
For more information about the law firm of Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams, visit them online at http://www.ghwlegal.com.
About Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams
Led by its founder, the late nationally respected trial attorney Wendell Gauthier, The Gauthier firm built a foundation of expertise that is carried on today by Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams. Since 2003 the law firm of Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams, a continuation of the Gauthier firm, has recovered over $138 million for businesses and individual clients. Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams currently represents over one quarter of a billion dollars in negotiated contracts.
In 1980, the Gauthier firm gained national recognition and prominence as founder. Wendell Gauthier navigated a major legal decision for wrongful death victims of the horrific 1980 fire at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. For Wendell Gauthier and the Gauthier firm as well as the future firm of Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams, the MGM Grand decision would represent just one of many successes in prominent courtroom verdicts and litigated settlements. Gauthier and his firm litigated numerous landmark decisions for clients involving product liability, wrongful death, personal injury, medical malpractice, insurance disputes, class actions and labor and employment disputes. Included in the list of successes of this firm which dates back to 1973 is a $9.25 million breach of contract settlement in El Salvador and intervention on behalf of Bhopal, India residents who were victimized by poisonous contamination in 1984.
Perhaps best known for his landmark $246 billion negotiated deal with tobacco companies, Wendell Gauthier received many accolades. Before his untimely death in 2001, Wendell Gauthier had been ranked as a “Nation’s Top 10 Litigation Lawyer”, a three-time named “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” by National Law Journal and was the focus of major publications. Today the partners of Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams have received numerous accolades including “Nation’s Best Advocates: 40 Lawyers Under 40”, “Super Lawyer” recognition, and Hall of Fame Inductees by City Business and Leadership in Law.
John W. Houghtaling became the managing partner of Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams in 2005. Dubbed an American success story, only ten years prior Houghtaling had begun working as a law clerk for the Gauthier firm, now known as Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams. Since then the Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams managing partner has negotiated significant and substantial settlements.
Today Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams continues the tradition of litigation expertise. Following the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams negotiated over $85 million in insurance claims. In addition to legal expertise, Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams has established community involvement and service as a core value. From involvement in the Louis A. Martinet Society to Make-A-Wish to charity work following major hurricanes, Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams believes that service to others, is fundamental.
For more information about the law firm of Gauthier, Houghtaling, and Williams, visit them online at http://www.ghwlegal.com or call (504) 456-8600.
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