Richard Arsenault has been recognized as one of America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers by Trial Lawyer Magazine. He has participated in over 25 multidistrict litigation proceedings. Currently, he serves as Co-Lead Counsel in the Actos MDL, where a jury rendered a historic $9 billion punitive damage verdict, which has been reported as one of the nation’s largest personal injury verdicts. He subsequently served on the Actos MDL team that negotiated a $2.4 billion dollar settlement which is the largest single mass tort settlement for a drug that is still on the market. In the Pinnacle MDL pending in Dallas federal court where Richard serves on the Executive Committee, he was part of the Trial Team that secured a $502 million dollar jury verdict against Johnson & Johnson and DePuy, after an 11 week trial. Richard was nominated for the 2015 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by the Public Justice Foundation and also selected as a 2015 member of the Nation’s Top One Percent by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. The National Trial Lawyers recognized Richard as the 2014 Trial Lawyer of the Year Civil Plaintiff Finalist.

The New York Times has referred to Arsenault as a “big player” in the legal community. The Wall Street Journal has described him as having “national notoriety” and as a “big gun” among attorneys in competition for national leadership roles. Business Week has referred to him as “a Dean of the Louisiana tort bar”, USA Today featured him as a member of the “Legal Elite” and the New Orleans Times Picayune has referred to him as “an authority on class actions.”

Richard has over 300 articles and presentations to his credit and has authored many Law Review articles including one published in Federal Courts Law Review. Among other writings, he co-authored the chapter on Multidistrict Litigation in an ABA treatise. Richard was also asked by Judge Heyburn, JPML Chair, to participate in the Panel’s “Multidistrict Litigation Study Project”. He has personally participated in negotiating over $3.5 billion in complex litigation settlements in the last five years.

For over 25 years, Richard has had Martindale Hubbell’s highest rating.  Through a multi-phase selection process, the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys has chosen Richard to receive the organization’s Top 10 Attorney Award for the State of Louisiana. He is likewise recognized by many other peer-reviewed publications, including the “Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers,” “Best of United States,” “SuperLawyers,” and “America’s Top 100 Attorneys.”

Legal Excellence & Professionalism

Richard’s commitment to legal excellence is reflected in years of serving as a faculty member for LSU’s Trial Advocacy Program, lecturing at Judicial Colleges, publishing law review articles, and assuming leadership roles in both local and national Bar Associations. Through an appointment by the President of the Louisiana Bar Association, Arsenault joined the Professional Assessment Committee composed of a distinguished panel including Federal and State Court Judges along with members of the Bar. He also coordinates an annual tort law presentation by several United States District Judges and the former Dean of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Thomas C. Galligan, Jr. Recently, Richard was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to serve on the Rules of Professional Conduct Class Action Committee. He is also the Founding Board Director of the National Board of Complex Litigation Lawyers, a division of the National Board of Trial Advocacy.

Richard has chaired national complex litigation programs with speakers that have included former President Bill Clinton, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Eliot Spitzer, Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz, Morris Dees, Arianna Huffington, Al Franken, Bob Woodward, Al Sharpton and Paul Begala. He has chaired dozens of symposiums with guests ranging from Ken Starr to Jan Schlichtman (lawyer portrayed by John Travolta in “A Civil Action”). Richard has organized numerous counsel meetings and conferences, comprising hundreds of law firms in venues across the country. These have been designed to facilitate consensus for leadership roles, consider organizational structures and promote coordinated litigation efforts. Richard recently co-chaired the national HarrisMartin Toyota Recall Litigation Conference, which attracted over 100 plaintiff and defense attorneys seeking to learn more about the unique circumstances of the Toyota litigation. The conference agenda featured some of the nation’s preeminent attorneys, many with decades of experience handling large, complex national cases. The event, which was held in San Diego was profiled by the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, National Public Radio, CBS Radio, CBC Montreal and other national and international news organizations. Consequently, he understands and functions well in the national complex litigation landscape.

  • One of America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyers
  • Nominated for the 2015 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award
  • Member of the Nation’s Top One Percent
  • AV Preeminent Martindale Hubbell’s Highest Rating
  • Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers
  • Best of United States
  • 2014 Trial Lawyer of the Year Civil Plaintiff Finalist
  • Best Lawyers in America

  • President of the Alexandria Bar Association;
  • President of the American Inns of Court’s Crossroads Chapter. (U.S. District Judge F.A. Little and Arsenault worked together to create the Alexandria Chapter)
  • Chair of American Trial Lawyers Association Admiralty Section;
  • Chair of both the Louisiana Bar Association’s Annual Admiralty Symposium and Annual Class Action Symposium since their inception;
  • Speaker and guest lecturer at a variety of symposiums, including those sponsored by Tulane Law School, LSU Law School, the Louisiana Judicial College and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference;
  • Editor of the Louisiana Bar Journal’s Recent Developments for the Section on Insurance, Negligence, Workers’ Compensation and Admiralty;
  • Tulane Law School’s Continuing Legal Education Committee;
  • Chair of the Louisiana Bar Association’s Section on Insurance, Negligence, Workers’ Compensation and Admiralty.