Kurt S. Blankenship

(504) 830-4936

kblankenship@bluewilliams.com

Metairie, LA

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Practice Areas

Attorney Brief

Mr. Blankenship is of counsel for the firm and has been with Blue Williams since 1996. He has over 45 years of litigation experience in the areas of professional liability defense, construction, commercial disputes, complex civil litigation, general casualty and contractual disputes between healthcare providers. Mr. Blankenship also advises healthcare clients in corporate and regulatory matters.

Education

Mr. Blankenship graduated from Jesuit High School in New Orleans. He then earned his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University of New Orleans in 1974 and received his juris doctorate degree from Tulane University Law School in 1977.

Narrative

Mr. Blankenship served as lead defense counsel for a national hospital company in a complex and highly visible class action case against a local hospital for events at the hospital during and after Hurricane Katrina. He has extensive experience trying complex cases, including a two-month jury trial involving claims of defective construction of a major hotel, a six-week trial in federal court involving defects in the construction of airport runways and a variety of other construction trials or arbitrations. He has also tried numerous cases defending both physicians and hospitals in venues all over the state of Louisiana.  He also holds a private pilot’s license with both commercial and instrument ratings.

Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
  • Louisiana Life Magazine Top Attorneys in Louisiana 2016, 2017
  • Louisiana Super Lawyers 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
  • Louisiana Super Lawyers Business Edition, 2011 (medical malpractice, defense litigation)
  • New Orleans Magazine Top Lawyer 2012, 2020
  • Appointed by the governor of Louisiana to the Louisiana Medical Disclosure Panel
  • National Association of Distinguished Counsel “TOP ONE PERCENT” 2016
  • AV® Peer Review Rated certification mark from Martindale-Hubbell

Bar, Courts & Professional Affiliations

Mr. Blankenship has been a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association since 1977, and is now a fellow of that organization. He is admitted to practice before all of the federal courts of Louisiana, including the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has served as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy in Tulane Law School’s Trial Advocacy Program and is active in the New Orleans Pro Bono Project. He is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, Defense Research Institute, Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, the New Orleans Bar Association and the Louisiana Association of Hospital Attorneys. Mr. Blankenship holds an AV® Peer Review Rated certification from Martindale-Hubbell and is also a frequent lecturer at Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs.