PRACTICE EXPERIENCE

In the transportation and logistics arena, Billy has witnessed first-hand how the trucking industry has come under siege by a growing army of well-heeled billboard attorneys who invest heavily in attacking companies and drivers. As a consequence, both verdict and settlement values have increased dramatically—as have insurance rates.

Mindful of this trend, Billy recognized the importance of blending the safety culture of a trucking company with litigation risk awareness. Each year, he trains hundreds of commercial drivers, supervisors, and c-suite executives at trucking companies on strategies to reduce litigation risk. Billy consults with trucking companies to help expand their driver safety programs to include rapid incident response programs that avoid costly mistakes in the crucial moments after an on-the-road accident occurs.

When litigation is necessary, Billy’s primary concern is being a good steward of a company’s resources in order to obtain an economically sensible outcome. “It’s important to me that every dollar spent by a client produces value. Some cases go to trial, some settle. All cases require a tailored pre-trial litigation strategy in order to maximize the economic value of a settlement or trial outcome. There’s no room in litigation for a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.”

Billy’s experience with high-risk industrial operations began over 25 years ago when he worked as a roughneck and roustabout on offshore drilling rigs to pay for his education. Early in his career as a litigator in New Orleans, Billy defended offshore drilling contractors against injury claims, which served as the beginning of a now 19-year career defending businesses against catastrophic injury claims. As a result of his extensive experience with front-line workers in demanding jobs, Billy enjoys talking to truck drivers as much as company executives.

Outside of the office, Billy stays closely involved with the transportation industry. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Lawyers Association—North America’s oldest transportation-centered bar association. He also participates in numerous other industry events and enjoys both presenting and learning from other lawyers, claims professionals and business owners.

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Louisiana (2006)
• Georgia (2009)

EDUCATION

• Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, JD
• Auburn University, BS, International Business with concentration in French

AFFILIATIONS

• Transportation Lawyers Association
• Georgia Defense Lawyers Association

COURT ADMISSIONS

• All Georgia Courts
• All Louisiana Courts
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
• United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

• Implementing and Ethically Navigating AI in Legal Practice, co-authored with Patrick Foppe, The Transportation Lawer, April, 2025
• Panelist, Transportation Industry Risks & Challenges, co-presented with Thomas Martin at Motor Carrier Insurance Education Foundation, April 2025
• Panelist, Abusive Litigation, State Bar of Georgia CLE Series March 2025
• Understanding the Ethics of Generative AI, paper presented at the Transportation Lawyers Association Regional Conference, January 2025 (co-written with Megan Baker and Sophia Rago)
• Panelist, AI – New Technology and Impacts on Cargo Today and Tomorrow, delivered at the Transportation Lawyers Association Regional Conference, January X, 2024 (co-written with Jeff Cox, Joe
  Goldberg, Fred Marcinak and Beata Shapiro)
• Discovery and Evidence: From the Vehicle to the Smartphone, delivered at a seminar entitled Georgia Auto Injury Litigation 2023, November 16, 2023
• Panelist, Abusive Litigation, State Bar of Georgia, October 2023
• Facilitator, Cross-Border Legal Issues and Safety Standards, Complex Tort and Product Liability Track at USLAW Fall Conference, 2023
• Top Blunders in Truck Crash Cases, delivered at a seminar entitled Motor Vehicle Accident Cases Gone Wrong, National Business Institute, February 15, 2023
• Panelist, The Trucking Litigation Landscape: How Small Verdicts and Settlements are Affecting Carriers and What We Can Do About It, delivered at the Transportation Lawyers Association Regional
  Conference, January 20, 2023 (co-written with Edwin Anglin, Associate General Counsel, Daske, Inc.; Chris Loggie, Executive Vice President, AmWINS Group Brokerage; Dan Murray, Senior Vice President,
  American Transportation Research Institute).
• Smartphone and Text Evidence in Personal Injury Litigation, delivered at a seminar entitled Georgia Personal Injury Litigation: Secrets Only the Top Attorneys Know, December 5, 2022
• Presenter: The Art of Depositions and Discovery, delivered at a seminar entitled Georgia Civil Practice, Procedure, and Forms, National Business Institute, June 15, 2022
• Moderator, The Judges’ View: Georgia Civil Litigation Do’s and Don’ts, National Business Institute, June 10, 2022
• Bad Faith, delivered at a seminar entitled Georgia Auto Injury Cases: From Accident to Trial, National Business Institute, February 23, 2022
• Auto Insurance Policies: Interpretation, Issues and Hidden Treasures, delivered at a seminar entitled Georgia Auto Injury Cases: From Accident to Trial, National Business Institute, February 23, 2022
• Moderator, The Judges’ View: Georgia Civil Litigation Do’s and Don’ts, National Business Institute, November 5, 2021
• Mastering the Basics of Discovery, presentation for National Business Institute, March 4, 2021

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• Henry v. Griffin Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, 2022 WL 290610 (Ga. App. 2022).
• Lucky Capital Mgmt., LLC v. Miller & Martin & Martin, PLLC, 828 Fed. Appx. 533 (11th Cir. 2020).
• Am. Safety Indem. Co. v. Fairfield Shopping Ctr., LLC, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93108 (N.D. Al. 2016).
• Lyde v. Georgia, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65975 (S.D. Ga. 2015).
• McCullough v. Michaels Stores, Inc., 2014 WL 4925664 (N.D. Ga. 2014).
• Hurst v. Powell, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27503 (M.D. Ga. 2014).
• Johnson v. Bank of Am., N.A., 594 Fed. Appx. 953 (11th Cir. 2014).
• Phillips v. Worthmoore Realty, 2013 WL 3873198 (Ga. Super. 2013).
• Jenkins v. McCalla Raymer, LLC, 492 Fed. Appx. 968 (11 th  Cir. 2012).
• Atlanta Independent School System v. S.F. ex rel. M.F., 740 F.Supp.2d 1355 (N.D. Ga. 2010).
• Ingraham v. Planet Beach Franchising Corp., 2009 WL 1076713 (E.D. La. 2009).
• New Orleans Opera Ass’n, Inc. v. Southern Regional Opera Endowment Fund, 993 So.2d 791 (La. App. 4 th  Cir. 2008).

AWARDS & HONORS

• Georgia Super Lawyers, 2020-2025
• Distinguished Service Award, Transportation Lawyers Association, 2024
  
• Georgia Super Lawyers, “Rising Star,” 2014-2016
  
• Medal for Excellence in Advocacy, American College of Trial Lawyers, 2006