Frank A. Piccolo

For more than three decades, Frank A. Piccolo has served as a trusted admiralty and maritime law counselor to companies of all sizes. His practice includes a special emphasis on marine insurance coverage, inland marine, general casualty, transportation law, marine, and first party residential, and commercial property claims.  He has represented numerous business and insurance-related interests in a broad spectrum of claims, litigations, and arbitration issues throughout Texas and the Gulf Coast.

With significant experience advising companies in a number of industries including maritime, energy, environmental, and rail, Frank concentrates his practice on matters involving maritime insurance defense and personal injury, first party property and bad faith liability, vessel collisions, environmental, inland marine, motor truck cargo, and pollution, offshore construction, and other complex litigation.  Frank also advises companies on contractual indemnity and insurance coverage.

Frank has handled matters involving insurance defense and products liability for fire, flood hail and hurricane claims.  He supports clients that are involved in matters of State Workers Compensation, Longshore and Harbor Worker’s Compensation (LHWCA), Jones Act, cargo/hull, vessel collisions, and offshore construction.

Frank is licensed to practice in Texas and Louisiana.  He earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola School of Law.  He completed his undergraduate studies from the University of New Orleans receiving a Bachelor in Science.  He is licensed to practice before the Texas Supreme Court, Louisiana Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western districts of Texas and U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana.

Frank is a member of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, Maritime Law Association and Loss Executives Association.

• Secured dismissal of a television production company on personal jurisdiction grounds in Jones Act and general maritime law based suit arising out of Plaintiff contracting necrotizing fasciitis during long-line fishing trip filmed by the client for unscripted reality television episodes.
• Prepared, filed, and argued limitation of liability pleadings for vessel owner following BP Macondo well explosion, resulting in concursus in Houston federal court prior to multi-district transfer to New Orleans federal district court.
• Successfully defended excess insurer in coverage litigation involving multiple layers of coverage for professional indemnity risks spanning multiple policy periods.  Plaintiffs sought coverage under various policies for their settlement of an underlying arbitration award against Plaintiffs in excess of $40 million.
• Defended insurer against a lawsuit filed by a co-insurer concerning the settlement of claims by workers injured in a refinery explosion.  The amount in dispute was over $9 million.  The matter was tried before a jury which found in favor of the client enabling recoupment of the settlement paid.
• Obtained favorable summary judgment for insurer in a suit brought by its insured for damage to its commercial property stemming from a hurricane.  The plaintiff refused to dismiss a breach of contract and other extra-contractual claims after payment of appraisal award.  The Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld the judgment of Summary Judgment.