Herman, Katz, Gisleson & Cain

Focus and practice areas

The firm works in personal injury law from a base in New Orleans, Louisiana. David and Harry Herman started it in downtown New Orleans in 1942, and the firm still goes by the shorthand HKGC. Its caseload covers product liability, offshore and industrial accidents, truck and car wrecks, wrongful death, and brain and burn injuries.

The firm also handles sexual abuse claims, whistleblower and Medicare fraud matters, hurricane and natural disaster claims, and commercial litigation. Its mass tort work ties to Camp Lejeune water contamination, Roundup, and Paraquat. That range tells you the firm takes both single-client injury files and large group claims that run for years.

In my opinion, the mix reads as a plaintiff-side practice built around bodily harm and corporate accountability. Personal injury sits at the center of the work, and the product and mass tort files grow out of it.

Injury and accident work

Car and truck wreck cases start with the basic questions of fault and injury. A firm gathers the police report, medical records, and the bills that follow, then measures those losses against the insurance coverage available. Truck cases add another layer, because a commercial carrier and its insurer often send their own investigators to the scene early.

Offshore and industrial accident cases in Louisiana frequently involve maritime law, which sets different rules for injured workers than an ordinary land-based claim. A worker hurt on a rig or a vessel may have rights under the Jones Act or general maritime doctrines, and those rules shape who pays and how much. That distinction is one reason offshore files call for lawyers who know the maritime side.

Product liability cases turn on whether a manufacturer sold something defective and whether that defect caused the harm. These files often need engineers, medical records, and product testing before a claim reaches trial, since the maker will argue the product was safe when used as intended. A defect can lie in the design, the manufacturing, or the warnings that came with the product, and each theory calls for its own proof.

Serious injuries and their proof

Brain and burn injuries often need life-care planning, where medical and vocational experts project the cost of future treatment and lost earning power. Those projections become a core part of the damages a firm presents.The proof in these cases leans heavily on treating physicians and independent experts who can explain the long-term picture to a jury.

Mass torts and consumer claims

Mass tort matters such as Camp Lejeune, Roundup, and Paraquat group many plaintiffs who share a common exposure. A firm handling them builds medical proof for each client while arguing shared questions about the product or the site. Camp Lejeune claims run through a federal law that lets people exposed to contaminated water at the base seek compensation, and those cases move on the federal government's timeline.

Roundup and Paraquat claims each involve a widely used farm or garden chemical and allegations that exposure led to disease. Cases like these gather scientific evidence about the product alongside medical histories for each plaintiff. They often consolidate in federal court so that common issues get decided once for many claimants.

Whistleblower and Medicare fraud cases sit in a different corner of the practice. These often proceed under false claims rules, where a private party files on behalf of the government and the government then decides whether to step in. Commercial litigation rounds out the firm's civil work, covering disputes between businesses.

How the team is built

The firm reports seven partners, two associates, and six of counsel lawyers on its roster. The partners outnumber the associates by more than three to one, so most of the daily responsibility sits with senior lawyers.

Its attorney directory names Brian Katz, Jed Cain, John Creevy, Maury Herman, Russ Herman, Soren Gisleson, and Mikalia Kott. Four of those surnames match the firm's own name, which points to family continuity across the partnership. The Herman name traces back to the 1942 founders, and the Katz, Gisleson, and Cain names complete the masthead.

As a reviewer, I read the of counsel group as a way to keep experienced lawyers attached to the firm's cases in an advisory or part-time role. That setup is common in litigation practices that carry long mass tort dockets, where extra senior hands help when a wave of cases arrives. A firm with six of counsel lawyers has bench depth beyond its partner count.

Where the firm works across Louisiana

The firm runs its main office in New Orleans and a second office in Natchitoches, in the north-central part of the state. That places its two offices on opposite ends of Louisiana, one on the Gulf side and one well inland.

It also names Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Shreveport among the areas it serves. Those sit among the larger cities in the state. The Natchitoches office gives the firm a point of contact in the northern half of the state, closer to Shreveport and Monroe.

New Orleans has long been a hub for maritime and energy work, given the port and the offshore oil and gas activity in the Gulf. A personal injury firm based there sits close to the industries that generate offshore and industrial injury claims. That proximity gives the firm ready access to the courts and clients tied to that work.

How these matters usually proceed

A plaintiff firm usually starts a matter with an intake review, where a lawyer weighs the facts, the injuries, and the deadlines before taking the case. That first screen matters because injury claims carry strict filing windows under Louisiana law. Missing a deadline can end a claim before it reaches the merits.

Personal injury claims in Louisiana begin with an investigation of fault and damages before anyone files suit. A firm collects medical records, bills, and evidence about the incident, then files within the state's deadline for injury claims. Many cases settle after discovery, and the rest go before a judge or jury.

Wrongful death claims run through the surviving family members who bring them, and Louisiana law sets an order of who may file. Offshore claims may fall under maritime statutes that govern who can recover and how much, which is why a firm often pairs a maritime lawyer with the medical side of the case. Sexual abuse claims carry their own filing rules and privacy concerns, and courts handle them with those sensitivities in mind.

Federal and insurance tracks

Whistleblower and Medicare fraud matters can stay sealed for a period while the government reviews them. During that window, the public docket shows little, and the firm and its client wait for the government's decision before the case becomes open. That sealed stage is a normal step in how these cases move.

Hurricane and natural disaster claims usually pit a policyholder against an insurer over the scope of storm damage and the amount owed under a policy. These cases turn on adjuster reports, repair estimates, and the wording of the coverage. In a state that sees regular storm seasons, that line of work stays busy after major weather events.

Recognition and professional memberships

Several of the firm's attorneys are named to the 2026 edition of a Lawdragon 500 guide covering plaintiff consumer lawyers, per the firm's news page. Lawdragon compiles that guide through peer input and editorial review, and it centers on lawyers who represent individuals against companies. Placement there reflects how a lawyer's peers and the guide's editors view the work.

The firm's attorneys belong to the American Association for Justice and the Louisiana Association for Justice, both of which organize plaintiff-side trial lawyers. These groups run continuing education, publish developments in case law, and connect lawyers who handle similar claims. Some attorneys also hold membership in the Federal Bar Association.

That federal membership fits the firm's work on mass torts and whistleblower claims, which run through federal courts. For a firm that litigates product and injury cases, the trial lawyer associations keep its lawyers current on how courts treat these matters. Membership signals where the firm places itself in the profession, on the side of injured plaintiffs.