Stephen Miles

About

Stephen has spent years on the front lines of high-stakes litigation in both federal and state courts in Louisiana and throughout the Gulf South. Stephen focuses on achieving his clients’ goals in the courtroom or outside of it using a combination of experience, intelligence, and perseverance.

Stephen’s work is regularly recognized in various industry publications. He has been named a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation and has been recognized for his achievements by Chambers & Partners, as well as by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers for his work in Insurance Coverage and Litigation.

Stephen’s experience is broad and deep. He regularly handles insurance coverage and bad faith litigation. He also handles class actions, employment cases and shareholder disputes, and environmental, toxic tort and wrongful death cases.
 

Stephen graduated first in his class from Tulane Law School. After his federal appellate clerkship, Stephen joined a litigation boutique firm where he became a partner. He left with several of his partners to co-found Pipes Miles Beckman with a shared goal of creating a top-tier Louisiana law firm that is client-focused and trial savvy.
 

Away from work, Stephen is a proud husband and father of three boys. Stephen believes in giving back to the community. He volunteers his time as a member of the Board of Trustees at the Stuart Hall School for Boys and is former chairman. He also volunteers as a baseball coach and as a member of the Board of a youth recreational sports organization, Carrollton Boosters. Stephen believes providing opportunities to young athletes to experience and overcome adversity is critical to their development into adulthood.


Practice Areas

• Appellate

• Commercial Litigation

• Construction Litigation

• Employment Law

• Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith

• Securities Litigation

• Products Liability, Casualty, and Toxic Tort

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Notable representations

• Stephen led a team of lawyers who recently prevailed on summary judgment in two different cases alleging racial discrimination. See Johnson v. Board of Suprs. of LSU., No. 19-12823 (La. App. 5 Cir. 1/8/24); John R. Stelly, II v. State of Louisiana, et al, No. 23-772, 2024 WL 3607591 (E.D. La. July 31, 2024)

• Advises underwriters on a variety of coverage issues and in suits with allegations of extra-contractual liability, including commercial property, homeowners, and business interruption claims. Recently obtained a complete defense verdict with co-counsel on a bad faith insurance claim following a week-long jury trial, which was affirmed on appeal.

• Handles these cases from before the suit is filed through trial and appeal. See Meredith v. Garrison Prop. and Cas. Ins. Co., No. 23-1079 (La. App. 1 Cir. 7/25/24)

• Prevailed on behalf of an insurer in a declaratory judgment action that sought a ruling of no coverage. Stephen was the lead trial lawyer during the federal court bench trial, which resulted in a complete victory. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed. See Bridgefield Casualty Insurance Co. v. River Oaks Mgmt., Inc., 680 Fed. App’x 348 (5th Cir. 2017).

• Successfully represented a national insurer in a class action in Arkansas involving allegations of improper calculation of depreciation in the adjustment of homeowner’ claims.

• Quickly and successfully prosecuted on behalf of an insurer a multi-million dollar contractual indemnification claim against a claims processor arising out of alleged errors in claims adjusting.

• Represented an excess insurer in a first-party coverage action brought by a volunteer organization for coverage on sexual abuse claims.

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Education

• Tulane University School of Law, summa cum laude, J.D., 2006

• University of Alabama, magna cum laude, B.A., Economics, 2000

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Experience

• Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C.

• Law Clerk to The Honorable Edith Brown Clement, United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

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Honors and Achievements

• Chambers & Partners USA: Leading Lawyers for Business

• Benchmark Litigation, Litigation Star

• Best Lawyers in America

• New Orleans Magazine Top Lawyers, Insurance Law

• Inside New Orleans Elite Lawyers

• Louisiana Super Lawyers, Leading Lawyer, Insurance Coverage

• Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow

• Tulane Law School, Faculty Medal

• Order of the Coif

• Tulane Law Review, Senior Articles Editor

• Author, Exploring Unexplored Frontiers:  The Private Right of Action Under the Louisiana Securities Law, Louisiana Law Review, Vol. 75:3 (Spring 2015)

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Speaking Engagements

• • Presenter, Louisiana State Bar Association Annual Meeting & LJC / LSBA Joint Summer School, 2023
  • Presenter, Hurricane Ida Litigation Update Louisiana State Bar Association Annual Meeting & LJC / LSBA Joint Summer School, 2023 (along with Magistrate Judge Michael North, Special Master Cade Cole, Kurt Offner, AKD Law)