Morris & Dewett 2025 Case Results Submitted to TopVerdict

What Does the TopVerdict Ranking System Track and Why Does It Matter?

TopVerdict ranks attorneys and law firms by verified settlement and verdict amounts. The platform sorts results within defined case categories and jurisdictions. TopVerdict states on its submission page that rankings are sorted by dollar amount, documentation-gated, and sourced from peer firms that submit their own results for review. The platform describes rankings as receipts rather than awards in the trade-association sense.

For a claimant comparing firms, the value of a TopVerdict listing is narrow and specific. It tells you the firm closed Louisiana cases at verified settlement and verdict amounts within categories TopVerdict tracks. It does not tell you the firm is the right firm for your matter. Fit depends on facts no ranking can capture: practice match, communication, trial willingness, and courtroom experience in Caddo, Bossier, and Webster Parish.

Used as one signal among several, a TopVerdict ranking cuts through marketing language. A firm that submits documented results to a third-party reviewer is a firm willing to put its case work on the record.

How Does TopVerdict Verify Submitted Case Results?

TopVerdict explains that the platform requires documentary proof for every submitted result. Settlements require the executed settlement agreement or release. Verdicts require the court judgment or the trial transcript page that records the award. TopVerdict cross-checks the case category, settlement or verdict amount, year, and jurisdiction against those documents.

Submissions that fail the documentation requirements are rejected. Submissions that pass are filed in their case category and ranked against other submitted results from that year and that Louisiana jurisdiction. Rankings sort mechanically by verified dollar amount within case category and jurisdiction.

That mechanical character is the point. A ranking grounded in verified court records and signed settlement agreements is a ranking a sophisticated reader can audit. The TopVerdict process rewards firms that carry complex, high-value cases through to documented resolution.

The Numbers Behind the 2025 Submission

Morris & Dewett submitted 54 cases to TopVerdict for the 2025 award year. The combined value of those 54 cases is $75.4 million. Every case in the submission was resolved short of jury verdict, with one exception that went to trial. Twenty-one of the 54 settled at or above $1 million. The lowest case in the submission set settled at $500,000. There are no cases below that floor in the 2025 batch.

That floor matters more than the headline number. A firm with one large verdict and a long tail of small cases produces a different submission than a firm whose smallest 2025 result still cleared half a million dollars. The 2025 set is the second pattern.

The split tells you what kind of leverage the firm operates with. Mediation and direct negotiation account for the bulk of the resolutions because the defense brought offers worth taking before formal proceedings ran their course. One case went the full trial distance. Insurance carriers and defense counsel weighed the firm's record and made decisions accordingly.

The ten largest results in the 2025 submission

All ten matters below are anonymized. Amounts are rounded down to the nearest hundred thousand dollars; captions, dates, parishes, defendants, and court records are withheld across the board. Where a settlement agreement bars the firm from naming counsel, the lead attorney column is left blank.

The top of the list is dominated by commercial-vehicle matters and wrongful death claims. Two settlements at the top of the set are subject to confidentiality clauses that bar the firm from identifying the attorney of record; those rows show a dash. Across the ten matters, commercial-vehicle collisions, intersection wrecks, and serious wrongful death claims account for the bulk of the value. The next section walks through the case-type mix across the full 54-case submission.

What Case Types Does the Firm's 2025 TopVerdict Submission Cover?

Morris and Dewett's 2025 TopVerdict submission covers 54 Louisiana matters resolved during calendar year 2025. The submission spans five case categories, each carrying the documentation TopVerdict requires:

• Commercial vehicle and 18-wheeler collisions governed by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations at 49 C.F.R. Parts 390-399.
• Oilfield and industrial injuries on rigs, in plants, and at worksites across North Louisiana and the Gulf region.
• Wrongful death matters brought under state law.
• Catastrophic injury cases typically arising from traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and severe burns.
• Premises liability claims arising from falls, structural defects, and inadequate security.

The 2025 submission reflects the case work the firm has built its North Louisiana practice around. These are matters that involve multiple defendants, federal regulatory questions, expert testimony, and the prospect of trial in Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Lincoln, and DeSoto Parish district courts.

Commercial transport matters account for the largest share of the 2025 submission. These involve tractor-trailers, delivery vehicles, and other vehicles operated under FMCSA regulations at 49 C.F.R. Parts 390-399. Liability theories include hours-of-service violations under 49 C.F.R. Part 395, maintenance failures, negligent hiring and supervision claims, and negligent entrustment.

Oilfield and industrial matters cover injuries at worksites across Caddo, Bossier, Webster, and DeSoto Parishes and the broader Gulf region. These claims often turn on workers compensation issues, third-party tort theories, and contractor-versus-employer questions governed by state statute.

Wrongful death claims cover the firm's representation of surviving spouses, children, and parents in fatal-injury matters under La. C.C. art. 2315.2.

Catastrophic injury matters typically include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, severe burns, and other claims in which the injured person's life changes permanently at the moment of the incident. These turn on lifetime medical projections, vocational expert testimony, and life-care planning.

What Does Submission Volume Signal About a Trial-Ready Louisiana Firm?

Submission volume to TopVerdict is a proxy, not a verdict. A practice that closes 54 documented results in a single year has active case work, trial-capable infrastructure, and the financial capacity to carry complex matters through litigation in Caddo, Bossier, and Webster Parish district courts.

Tort claims settle on the margin of trial readiness. Insurers value these matters differently when the firm on the other side has tried claims to verdict against them before. A practice that has built a record of verifiable resolutions has built leverage. That leverage moves settlement value.

Volume also signals operational depth: case managers, paralegals, in-house investigators, and working relationships with treating physicians and expert witnesses. These are the unglamorous pieces of a trial practice that decide whether a case is worked or warehoused.

How Do Louisiana Legal Rules Shape TopVerdict-Ranked Case Results?

The cases TopVerdict ranks are governed by Louisiana-specific rules that decide whether a result reaches the ranking threshold at all. State law differs from every other state's tort framework. Louisiana runs on civil code rather than common law. The deadlines are shorter than most.

Three rules drive most TopVerdict-eligible outcomes. Louisiana imposes a two-year prescriptive period on tort claims for injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2024, after the Legislature enacted Act 423 in the 2024 Regular Session. Injuries occurring before July 1, 2024, remain subject to the prior one-year prescriptive period. The Legislature enacted Act 15 in the 2025 Regular Session, installing a 51% comparative fault bar for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026; a claimant whose fault exceeds fifty percent recovers nothing. La. C.C. art. 2315 authorizes recovery of every damage caused by the offense or quasi-offense and imposes no cap on general damages in ordinary tort matters.

Insurance adjusters anchor their negotiating position to fault percentages. Ask any firm you are considering how it documents fault percentages and how it pushes back on adjuster fault arguments. The answer should be specific.

For a deeper treatment of prescriptive periods, recoverable damages, comparative fault, evidence standards, and case timelines, review the firm's case results by category.

What Should You Ask Beyond a TopVerdict Ranking Before Hiring a Louisiana Firm?

A claimant comparing counsel should ask questions that separate marketing language from operational substance. The questions below are the ones a competent practice can answer concretely and a less serious one cannot.

How Do You Identify a Trial-Capable Louisiana Firm?

Ask any firm you are considering how many cases it tried to verdict in the last three years. Ask which partner would try your case if it went to trial. Ask which courts in Caddo, Bossier, or the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana that partner has tried cases in.

The answers matter because settlement value tracks the credible threat of trial. An insurer that knows the firm on the other side settles every case prices its offers accordingly. An insurer that knows the firm tries cases prices its offers higher.

Most tort claims settle. The question is at what point in the litigation arc and at what multiple of the early offer. A practice with a record of trying cases captures higher settlement values on matters that never reach a jury.

What Does a Louisiana Contingency Fee Cost?

Louisiana Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 governs contingency fees in personal injury practice. The Louisiana Supreme Court adopted Rule 1.5 to require that the fee be reasonable and that the fee agreement be in writing. One-third of the gross settlement or verdict amount on cases that settle pre-suit and forty percent on cases that proceed through litigation are standard rates here.

Case costs run separately from the fee. Costs include court filing fees, deposition transcripts, expert witness charges, medical record fees, and trial exhibits. The firm advances costs on the case and is reimbursed from the settlement or verdict. Whether costs are deducted before or after the fee is calculated depends on the engagement letter.

Read the engagement letter. Ask whether costs are deducted before or after the fee is calculated, because the math changes the net amount paid to the client. A practice unwilling to walk through the fee structure in plain language is one that benefits from the math being murky.

When Do You Need a Lawyer for a Louisiana Injury Case?

A claimant with a minor soft-tissue injury, no lost wages, and a cooperative insurer can resolve a claim without counsel. The matters that justify counsel are the ones where the stakes outrun the claimant's ability to push back against the insurer.

Talk to counsel immediately if any of the following apply: the injury required emergency room treatment, ongoing physical therapy, surgery, or time off work; liability is disputed; the at-fault driver was uninsured or underinsured; or a commercial vehicle governed by FMCSA regulations was involved.

The cost of consulting counsel is zero. The cost of settling a serious case too early, on an early offer, before maximum medical improvement, can exceed one million dollars on a catastrophic injury matter.

When Will the 2025 TopVerdict Louisiana Rankings Publish?

TopVerdict publishes state rankings on a rolling schedule April through late December. The publication date depends on the state, the list size, and the case category. The 2025 Louisiana results will post on TopVerdict's state pages as that verification cycle finishes.

Readers can verify any firm's submissions on topverdict.com by state and by case type. The platform displays the verified settlement or verdict amount and case category for every ranked result.

Morris and Dewett's submission history is part of the firm's record. The firm publishes its case results and updates the page as new resolutions close.