The New Orleans Bar Association has named Donald R. Abaunza, a partner with Liskow & Lewis, the 2008 New Orleans Bar Association Distinguished Maritime Lawyer Award recipient.  

Since 1980, the New Orleans Bar Association has awarded a long-standing member of the Maritime and International Law Committee who is highly respected among peers and contributes significantly to the local admiralty bar the Distinguished Maritime Lawyer Award.

Abaunza has been the senior leader of the maritime practice group at Liskow & Lewis for over 30 years. He served as president and managing partner of Liskow for eight years from 1996 to 2003. Prior to joining Liskow in 1978, Don worked at Lemle, Kelleher under the tutelage of George Matthews.

Don obtained his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt in 1966 and his J.D. from Tulane Law School in 1969. From 1981-1989, he was an adjunct professor at Tulane Law School teaching trial advocacy. He has served on the Tulane Admiralty Law Institute Planning Committee, the Tulane Latin American Law Institute, and the Board of Advisors for the Tulane Maritime Law Center. He is a Master in the Tulane Inn of Court.

Over the course of his career he has been involved in numerous high profile offshore and maritime casualties, including the 1980 TESTBANK collision, the 1980 sinking of the Rig OCEAN RANGER off the coast of Canada, the 1988 PIPER ALPHA disaster in the North Sea, ongoing litigation involving the sinking of the DONA PAZ, a Philippines ferry on which over 4,000 passengers perished, and various blowouts and major casualties in the Gulf of Mexico. He is recognized and respected as an authority on offshore litigation, including downhole damage, pipelines, and deferred production, and he is a frequent lecturer on issues related to indemnity, insurance, and contractual risk allocation. In recent years, his practice has expanded to include class action litigation and legacy land contamination, and he has been active as an arbitrator through the American Arbitration Association.

In the legal community at large, Don has served in leadership roles in organizations both regionally and nationally. For many years he has been active in the Louisiana State Bar Association’s House of Delegates. He is currently an elected member of the LSBA’s Nominating Committee, and he is the past chair of the LSBA’s Professional Assessment Committee, Legislative Process Review Committee, and its Committee on Federal Uniform Rules. He was a recipient of the LSBA’s President’s Award. As a fellow in the Louisiana Bar Foundation, Don served on the Foundation’s Grants Committee, and in 2005, he received the New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law Award. He is a longtime member and active participant in the Maritime Law Association, the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, and the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel.

Don is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and served as its Louisiana State Chair. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for more than 10 years. He was voted one of the Top Ten Lawyers in Louisiana by the Louisiana Super Lawyers poll. Chambers USA has repeatedly listed Don as a leading litigator.

At Liskow, Don has been instrumental in the firm’s continued success and the development of younger lawyers. He is known in the community as a leader who promotes professionalism in every way. During his 39-year practice, he has earned the reputation of a talented and ethical attorney who inspires professionalism and excellence in others.

For his full bio, please click here.