Practice Area: Plaintiff Personal Injury Litigation; Select Criminal Defense; Federal Practice; Civil Litigation; Complex and Multi-District Litigation; Federal Tort Claims Act; Qui Tam Litigation; Appellate Practice; Catastrophic Injury; Wrongful Death; Admiralty Law; Aviation Law; Class Actions; Civil Rights Section 1983; Constitutional Law; Consumer Law; Death Penalty; Election, Campaign and Political Law; Eminent Domain; Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA); Government; Jones Act; Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act; Medical Malpractice; Medicare and Medicaid; Military Law; Municipal Law; Nonprofit and Charitable Organizations; Premises Liability; Products Liability; Railroad Law; Securities Law; Social Security Disability; Tribal Law; Workers' Compensation Law; Zoning, Planning and Land Use.
About: The firm today known as SmithBush was founded in 1911 by Fern M. Wood in what was a rural lumber-harvesting settlement called Leesville, Louisiana. Organized at that time to represent laborers against the burgeoning timber industry in the area, its primary focus today remains protecting the interests of workers, their families, and ordinary people from all walks of life. The firm’s growth and longevity, however, have allowed it to expand its representation to interests of those beyond the confines of its rural origins.
The firm has a highly diversified federal and state trial practice, ranging from complex personal injury litigation to federal securities act claims to death-penalty defense. A substantial portion of the firm's litigation and appellate work originates as referrals from other attorneys. The firm is active in local civic and political interests, and from its members have come numerous judges, city attorneys, police jurors, a state senator, Delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention, and a United States Congressman.
The firm has an academic orientation and devotes itself to significant community-development activities and pro bono projects. All of its members perform indigent defense services and accept non-paying civil clients through the Cenla Pro Bono Project and in-house legal assistance initiatives, far exceeding the American Bar and Louisiana Bar Associations’ aspirational pro bono publico guidelines. This affinity for public service makes the members of the firm particularly sensitive to the needs of its client-base and allows the firm a well-rounded perspective of the legal requirements of the community-at-large.
Former Firm Names: We are proud to continue serving clients under our established name.
Clients: By far, the largest portion of SmithBush's clients are regular people in trouble however, when not inconsistent with our primary mission, we will occasionally take institutional clients for a specific matter, usually one that presents a novel legal issue, a Constitutional question, or one that has the potential for setting precedent across a wide spectrum of disputes. Along that vein, SmithBush has represented: AECOM American Federal Contractors, Inc. American Moving and Storage, Inc. Anacoco-Prairie State Game and Fish Commission Bayou Gaming, Inc. Delta Leasing Company Doctors' Hospital at Deer Creek Lake Oil Company Pat Williams Construction, Inc. PENE Broadcasting Company Leesville Community Corporation Leesville Housing Authority Leesville Oil Company Merchants and Farmers Bank and Trust Company Pynes Chrysler, Inc. Ross Investments, Inc. Sabine River Authority of Louisiana Scogin Auto Parts, Inc. Shawson Gas Company SMI Global Mission Support Services, Inc. State of Louisiana Vernon Hospitality, Inc. Vernon Parish Tourism Commission Vernon Parish Police Jury The Vernon Bank.
Other Office Locations: Leesville, Louisiana
References: References are shared directly with clients to ensure confidentiality.