Joseph Bruno

Proven Verdicts
Partner at Bruno & Bruno
New Orleans, LAAdmitted 1978

About Joseph Bruno

Joseph M. Bruno, Sr. is widely regarded as a creative, energetic, and outspoken advocate of victims' rights, particularly in difficult and complex cases of liability. He is a defender of class action procedures, seeing them as an important balancing tool in modern society. A graduate of Tulane University (B.A., 1977) and Tulane Law School (J.D., 1978), he went into partnership with his father, Frank S. Bruno, a well-known litigator in workers' compensation, in 1979.

Bruno has been admitted to practice in all courts in Louisiana and Texas, as well as the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Louisiana, the United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Tax Court. He is recognized as an authority in class action management, having represented numerous claimants in proceedings involving racial discrimination, occupational lung disease, product liability, and wage and hour violations. He has served on the Board of Governors of the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association for over 20 years.

Proven verdicts and settlements

Joseph Bruno and Bruno & Bruno served as lead plaintiffs' counsel in a landmark class action brought by more than 8,000 Gentilly residents exposed to a butadiene tank-car fire in 1987, securing a jury verdict that included $2.5 billion in punitive damages against CSX Transportation alone, later reduced to $850 million on appeal and affirmed by Louisiana's Fourth Circuit.

Civil District Court, Orleans Parish, Louisiana · 1997Premises LiabilityRead the full story →

A New Orleans jury ordered four major tobacco companies to fund a $591 million statewide smoking cessation program for more than 200,000 Louisiana smokers, the first verdict of its kind in U.S. history.

Civil District Court, Orleans Parish / Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal · 2004Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$172 millionSettlementTop 20 in Louisiana · #7

Joseph Bruno served on the eight-member Plaintiffs' Legal Committee in a federal class action covering more than 17,000 people harmed when a corrosion failure triggered a catastrophic pre-dawn explosion at Shell's Norco, Louisiana refinery in May 1988, ultimately settling for nearly $172 million.

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana · 1993Premises LiabilityRead the full story →

Joseph Bruno served as class counsel in a long-running class action on behalf of children who suffered lead poisoning from hazardous paint in Housing Authority of New Orleans units, securing a settlement fund of roughly $65.5 million.

Civil District Court, Orleans Parish, Louisiana · 2010Product LiabilityRead the full story →

Joseph Bruno led a class-action lawsuit against Tenet Healthcare after 45 patients died at Memorial Medical Center during Hurricane Katrina, securing a $25 million settlement in 2011.

Orleans Parish Civil District Court, New Orleans · 2011Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

Tulane Law School
J.D., 1978
Tulane University
Undergraduate, 1977

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Louisiana, admitted 1978
State Bar of Texas

Other attorneys at Bruno & Bruno

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other New Orleans firms

Herman, Katz, Gisleson & Cain
Herman, Katz, Gisleson & Cain
$4.85 Billion Vioxx MDL Settlement for Heart-Attack and Stroke Victims
Landry & Swarr, L.L.C.
Landry & Swarr, L.L.C.
$129 Million Verdict for 6-Year-Old Killed in School Parking Lot After Run Club Crossed the Carpool Lane
Kiefer & Kiefer Personal Injury Lawyers
Kiefer & Kiefer Personal Injury Lawyers
$3 million · Kiefer & Kiefer Wins $3 Million Settlement for Nearly 1,000 Tenants of Hazardous New Orleans East Complex
Lambert Zainey
Lambert Zainey
All 19 Seacor Power Claims Resolved After Liftboat Capsizes and Kills 13 Gulf Crew
Womac Law Firm
Womac Law Firm
$1.58 million · Jefferson Parish Jury Awards $1.58 Million After Distracted-Driving Rear-End Crash

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.