Kathleen Charvet

With more than 25 years’ experience counseling, representing, and advocating for employer and contractor clients, Kathleen Charvet’s knowledge of the intricacies of the laws and regulations governing her clients enables her to quickly determine the best strategies for defending their interests. Kathleen engages in a collaborative practice with clients; medical, engineering, safety, and vocational expert witnesses; mediators; the bench; and other attorneys to attain optimum results.

Kathleen focuses her practice on the Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and Defense Base Act. Her other practices include admiralty and maritime law, railroad and transportation defense, federal workers’ compensation, and labor and employment law. Throughout her legal career, Kathleen has represented vessel owners and operators, railroads and transportation companies, stevedoring companies and terminal operators, energy companies, multi-national chemical technology companies, military employers, government contractors, and insurance underwriters. Whether the case occurred aboard a vessel or train, commercial transportation, dockside, offshore, or on a military base, Kathleen has the skills and experience to advise her clients in the boardroom and defend them in the courtroom. Kathleen has served as trial and appellate defense counsel in litigation involving personal injury claims brought by Jones Act seamen, Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act claimants, and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act offshore workers. She defends Defense Base Act claims, Federal Employers Liability Act lawsuits, contractual disputes, limitation of liability, vessel arrests and attachments, as well as issues involving regulatory matters before the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Following law school, Kathleen served as a law clerk for the Office of Administrative Law Judges, U.S. Department of Labor. In addition to private practice, Kathleen has had the privilege of representing members of the vulnerable and underserved populations in the New Orleans community before and after Hurricane Katrina through Immaculate Conception Jesuit Parish, the HELP Program and Lantern Light at St. Joseph’s Church, Animal Rescue New Orleans, and St. Francis Animal Sanctuary.

When not busy representing her clients, Kathleen appreciates time spent with her family and her membership in several botanical gardens.

Representative Matters

• On behalf of an offshore energy company, successfully defended a contract claim by the vessel operator arising out of a multi-plaintiff lawsuit: obtained summary judgment from the federal district court, affirmed by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• On behalf of a railroad and its transportation contractor, obtained a judgment by peremptory exception from the state district court judge, dismissing the lawsuit on federal preemption grounds; the case was not appealed.
• On behalf of an international commercial diving company, obtained partial summary judgment in a multi-party wage act claim from the federal district court, the remaining claims resolved by amicable agreement.
• On behalf of an Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act employer, obtained summary judgment for Special Fund relief, Section 908(f) from the federal Administrative Law Judge pursuant to a Section 922 Modification proceeding; the case was not appealed by the claimant or the Office of the Solicitor of Labor.
• On behalf of a product manufacturer, obtained dismissal of an Americans with Disabilities Act claim by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the claimant did not exercise their right to sue.
• On behalf of a specialty vessel manufacturer, obtained partial summary judgment of state law claims based on federal admiralty and maritime law preemption; the remaining claims arising out a multi-party wrongful death incident settled at mediation.

Publications and Speaking Engagements

• “Jones Act Cabotage Provisions,” Tulane Admiralty Law Institute (2022).
• “Shakespeare on Ethics,” Tulane Admiralty Law Institute (2022).
• “A Legislative and Regulatory Update Offshore and Shoreline Wind Energy,” U.S. Green Building Council Forward Conference (2021).
• Judge (Appellate Arguments), Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition, University of Texas School of Law (2021).
• “Recent Developments under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act and Extensions” (2020).
• “Maritime Safety Act of 2018,” ACI Forum (2019).
• “Recent Developments in Admiralty Law,” Tulane University Law School (2018).
• “Dispute Resolution Clauses in Maritime Contracts,” Admiralty Law Institute, Tulane University Law School (2018).
• “Recent Developments in Admiralty Law,” Tulane University Law School (2017).
• “Gilding the Lily: The Genesis of the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers Compensation Act,” 91 Tulane Law Review 881 (2017); Admiralty Law Institute, Tulane University Law School (2017).
• “Recent Developments in Admiralty Law,” Tulane University Law School (2016).
• “Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation,” Admiralty Law Institute, Tulane University Law School (2015)
• “Maintenance and Cure: Maximum Medical Improvement. Defenses, and Collateral Sources,” ACI Forum (2014).
• “U.S. Coast Guard Initiatives in 2013 and Federal-State Preemption Issues,” Admiralty Law Institute, Tulane University Law School (2013).
• “Psychological Claims Arising Under the Act, Annual Longshore Conference,” Loyola University College of Law, and the U.S. Department of Labor (2012).
• “Ethical Issues in Catastrophic Incidents: Staying Neutral, Admiralty Law Institute,” Tulane University Law School (2011).
• “Ethical Concerns in Claims Under the Act,” Heather Angelico and Kathleen K. Charvet, Annual Longshore Conference, Loyola University College of Law and the U.S. Department of Labor (2010).
• “Recent Developments Affecting the Administration of the Act,” Annual Longshore Conference, Loyola University College of Law and the U.S. Department of Labor(2008).
• Judge (Appellate Arguments), Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition, University of Texas School of Law; Tulane Law School Moot Court (2008).
• “Techniques in Deposing Expert Witnesses,” Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors (2007).
• Judge (Appellate Briefs), Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition, University of Texas School of Law; Tulane Law School Moot Court (2006).
• “Recent Developments in Maritime Law,” Kathleen K. Charvet and Heather A. Waterman, 28 Tulane Maritime Law Journal 375 (2004).
• “Section 905(b) and Third-Party Claims: Do Remedies Really Still Exist? What is the Impact on LHWCA Claims?” Kathleen K. Charvet, 3 Loyola Maritime Law Journal 1 – 10 (2004).
• “Recent Developments in Maritime Law,” Tulane University School of Law, Maritime Law Seminar, Honorable Sarah S. Vance, Kathleen K. Charvet and Jeffrey Raizner, Esq.(2003).
• “Maritime Practice in Louisiana: An Update,” Prime Time CLE (2003).
• “Recent Developments in Admiralty and Maritime Law,” Tort and Insurance Law Journal, American Bar Association Vol. 36 No. 2 (Winter 2001).
• “Fontenot v. Dual Drilling. Comparative Fault Doctrine Sinks Blockade Against Quantifying Employer Fault on the OCS,” American Bar Association Torts and Insurance Practice, Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee (1999).
• “Bienvenu v. Texaco, Inc., The “Sea-Change” – Something Rich and Strange, American Bar Association Torts and Insurance Practice,” Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee (1999).
• “Admiralty Law,” Prime Time CLE, Kathleen K. Charvet and Michael deBlanc, Jr. (1998).
• “The Tempest: Recent Developments in the Fifth Circuit Concerning the LHWCA,” The Longshore Claims Association and Prime Time CLE (1998).
• “Handling the Longshore Claim Effectively: Appeals before the Benefits Review Board and the Appellate Courts,” Prime Time CLE, Darnell Bludworth and Kathleen K. Charvet (1997).
• “Handling the Longshore Claim Effectively: Practice before the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs,” Prime Time CLE, Marcus J. Poulliard and Kathleen K. Charvet (1997).
• “An Update on Extension Act Cases,” A Conference on the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, Loyola University School of Law and the U.S. Department of Labor (1997).
• “Intoxication as a Defense: From the Employer’s Point of View,” the Annual Longshore Conference, Loyola School of Law and the United States Department of Labor (1996).
• “Contractor Safety/Liability in Shipyard Employment,” National Safety Council, Dallas, Texas (1995).
• “Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act in Louisiana, Jurisdiction, Practice Pointers and Litigation of Claims,” National Business Institute, Inc. (1995).
• “Strategies for Counseling Employers & Carriers Under the New Law.” Workers’ Compensation Law in Louisiana, National Education Network (1994).
• “Injuries in the Workplace in Louisiana: Ethical Considerations; The Americans with Disabilities Act; and Workers’ Compensation Claims,” National Business Institute, Inc. (1993).
• “An Overview of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act: Recent Developments. A Conference on Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Law,” Professional Education Systems, Inc. (1993).
• “Trial Tactics-Defendant’s Issues, Trial and (Fewer) Errors,” Loyola University School of Law (1992).
• “Section 20 Presumptions-Point/Counterpoint, A Conference on the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act,” Loyola University Law School and the United States Department of Labor (1992).
• “Negotiation and Settlement, A Conference on the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act,” Loyola University Law School and the United States Department of Labor (1992).