Pride J. Doran, ESQ.

Pride J. Doran is one of the rising stars among Louisiana’s trial lawyers. Raised in the southwest Louisiana community of Eunice, Pride has a lifelong familiarity with this area that shows when he tries cases.  In his ten years of practice, he has distinguished himself as an outstanding trial attorney and negotiator, and has built a strong reputation in the courtroom. 

He attended the University of New Orleans and graduated from its Honors College with a degree in American History in 1994. Pride went on to enroll at Tulane University with the benefit of both an academic-based tuition waiver and the prestigious Earl Warren Legal Scholarship, one of only nine given that year. He was also named the McGlinchey Stafford scholar for 1995-96.

After law school, Pride clerked for the Hon. Sylvia R. Cooks, of the Louisiana Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He then worked for a Lafayette litigation boutique and subsequently served as litigation counsel for one of the world’s largest insurance companies.

Pride has extensive experience in automobile and trucking claims, maritime and offshore, product liability, insurance coverage and premises liability litigation. He has handled several hundred cases, many to trial or alternative dispute resolution, and has been asked to lecture at several continuing legal education seminars on topics relevant to personal injury litigation in Louisiana.

Pride also has extensive experience with criminal matters. From 2004-05, he served as assistant district attorney for the 27th Judicial District Court of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. A significant part of his practice now includes representing accused individuals at the trial and appellate levels, as well as those seeking post-conviction or habeas corpus relief.  Additionally, he has served as special assistant attorney general, representing the interests of the State of Louisiana, and Special Asst. City-Parish Attorney for the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government in business and personal injury matters.  Pride is now City Attorney for the City of Opelousas.  In that capacity, he advises the Mayor and Board of Aldermen on most of the city’s legal issues, while overseeing the bulk of its litigation caseload.

Very active in several professional associations, Pride is a member of the LSBA Section on Insurance, Negligence, Admiralty and Workers’ Compensation; and the LSBA Diversity Committee.  He also is a Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation, and a member of the National Bar Association Commercial Law Section.

Pride presently serves on the Board of Governors for the Louisiana Association for Justice, and has previously held memberships in the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel; the Defense Research Institute and the Acadiana Inns of Court.  Pride is licensed to practice before all state courts in Louisiana and Texas, all federal courts in Louisiana, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

Most important, Pride and his lovely wife, Patience, have three children: Brandon, Basia and Cailan.  The family resides in Opelousas, Louisiana.

Bar Admissions:

• Louisiana State Courts (1997)
• United States District Court, Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana (1998)
• United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (1998)
• Texas State Courts (2006)
• United States Supreme Court (2007)

Education:

• University of New Orleans (B.A. 1994)
• Tulane Law School (J.D. 1997)

Seminars and Lectures Presented:

• “Trying the Soft Tissue Injury Case in Louisiana,” National Business Institute, September 20, 2001;
• “A Practical Refresher on Litigating the Louisiana Auto Injury Case,” National Business Institute, January 16, 2003;
• “Introduction to Civil Litigation in Louisiana,” Louisiana State University-Eunice, August-December 2003.
•  “Plaintiff’s Personal Injury: Practice Tips and Application”, National Business Institute, December 12, 2006;
• “Effective Use of Motions in Limine in Personal Injury Matters”, Louisiana State Bar Association, February 2007.

Reported Cases Include:

• Accardo v. Clarendon Nat’l Ins. Co., No. 99-CA-398, (La.App. 5 Cir., 01/04/00); 751 So.2d 975;
• Cormier v. Lafayette City-Parish Consol. Gov’t, 03-975 (La.App. 3 Cir. 02/11/04); 866 So.2d 395;
• Guidry v. Dwight Manual Inc., 03-1236 (La.App. 3 Cir. 07/07/04); 877 So.2d 346;
• Green v. Spriggs, 05-1105 (La.App. 3 Cir. 04/26/06); 930 So.2d 1052;
• Frank v. Frank, 06-1223 (La.App. 3 Cir. 02/07/07); 948 So.2d 1224;
• Cleary v. Owens, 07-942 (La.App. 3 Cir. 09/19/07); 966 So.2d 688;
• City of Opelousas v. Opelousas Mun. Civi. Serv. Comm’n, 07-684 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/21/07); 2007 La.App. LEXIS 2111;
• Carron v. City of Opelousas, 07-506 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/21/07); 2007 La.App. LEXIS 2113.

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