Kelly E. Brilleaux

Kelly is a transportation and products liability litigator whose practice focuses on individual claims and complex litigation. She represents corporate clients in high-exposure personal injury, premises liability, trucking, transportation, environmental, toxic tort, consumer, and product liability disputes and also has extensive experience in mass-tort matters.

Kelly has significant experience defending claims involving complex factual, medical, scientific, and technical issues. Her litigation background includes representing clients in transportation and trucking matters, personal injury suits, premises liability claims, and other disputes requiring coordinated discovery, expert development, motion practice, and strategic case management. She is actively involved in all stages of litigation, from early case assessment and written discovery through depositions, expert challenges, dispositive motions, and trial preparation.

A substantial part of Kelly’s practice involves expert discovery and related motion practice. She works closely with medical, scientific, accident-related, and other technical defense experts to develop case strategy, prepare expert reports, and defend expert opinions. She has experience taking and defending expert depositions and preparing Rule 702 motions to exclude plaintiffs’ medical, scientific, and technical expert witnesses.

Kelly also has experience in complex and coordinated litigation, including multi-district litigation and mass-tort proceedings. She has served in national counsel and liaison counsel roles in multiple MDLs and has represented clients in environmental, toxic tort, consumer mass-tort, pharmaceutical, and medical-device litigation. 

Through her work in both individual cases and coordinated proceedings, Kelly brings a practical, detail-oriented approach to defending clients in litigation involving complex causation issues, extensive discovery, expert testimony, and significant exposure.

In addition to her experience with expert discovery and work on multiple trial teams, Kelly has also secured summary judgment rulings in transportation, products liability and premises liability cases, resulting in dismissal of all claims, and participated in mediations and settlement conferences to obtain favorable outcomes. Across her practice, Kelly relies on her communication and problem-solving skills, along with her procedural knowledge, in providing creative, effective, and efficient solutions for her clients.

Honors & Recognitions

• Louisiana Super Lawyers, Rising Star (2015-2022)
• Best Lawyers in America: Product Liability Litigation - Defendants; Insurance Law (2020-2022)
• Louisiana Law Review (2008-2010)
• Louisiana Law Review, Senior Editor (Spring 2009-Spring 2010)

Civic Affiliations

• Irish Channel Neighborhood Association

Professional Affiliations

• Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Vice Chair, Drug Device and Bio Technology Substantive Law Committee; Admissions Committee
• Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, We Prefer to Refer Committee, Chair; Social Media Committee, Past Chair (2020-2021)
• Defense Research Institute, Online Community Chair - Drug and Medical Device Committee
• New Orleans Bar Foundation, Secretary
• New Orleans Bar Association, Young Lawyer's Section Past Chair (2019)
• Irwin Fritchie Marketing and Client Development Committee, Chair
• Federal Bar Association
• Louisiana State Bar Association
• LSU Law Chancellor's Council