Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-11-09)

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BloombergBusinessweek November 9, 2020

2005,Houghtalingwaswealthyenoughthathewasable

topurchaseGauthier& Murphyoutright.

Hedidn’tstarttofocusonproperty-damagelawsuitsuntil

HurricaneKatrina,sixmonthsafterheboughtthefirm.In

thewakeofthestorm,heworkedwithLouisiana’sattorney

generaltorepresentpolicyholderswhowerebeingunder-

cutbytheinsuranceindustry.Houghtalingplayeda similar

roleafterSuperstormSandyrippedintoNewYorkandNew

Jerseyin2012,uncoveringevidenceofforgedstorm-damage

reportsthatthecarrierswereusingtolowballhomeowners.

Thestormcasesturnedhimintooneofthecountry’smost

prominentproperty-damagelitigators.

Houghtalinghassinceparlayedhisnationalprofileinto

otherbusinesspursuits.Sixyearsagohestartedanoiland

gascompanycalledAmericanEthane,investinginanindus-

tryhe’dexploredasa possiblelitigationtargetduringthe

cleanupoftheBPPlcoilspillintheGulfofMexico.In2017,

AmericanEthanesecureda multibillion-dollarcontractto

exportliquidethanetoChina,finalizedina signingcere-

monyattendedbyPresidentTrumpandChinesePresident

XiJinping.Houghtalingsayshestartedthecompanypartly

becausehewantedtobecomea billionaire—agoalhehasyet

toreach.Whena groupofhisbusinesspartnersflewinto

NewOrleansonanextravagantGulfstreamG650,heworried

thathisownprivatejetwouldseemshabbyincomparison:

“Icalledmypilot,andI said,‘Youwanttohelpthemland,but

don’tpointoutmyjet,becauseit’llbeembarrassing,’” hesays.

In 2010 he bought the nine-

bedroom,22,000-square-footman-

siononSt.CharlesAvenue,which

isfurnishedwithpaintings,tapes-

tries,anda bedonceownedbyMarie

Antoinette.Hewassinglewhenhe

movedin,butin 2012 hemarriedthe

Russianmodelandpop starYulia

Timonina,withwhomhenowhas

twochildren.

Houghtalinghasalsoamasseda col-

lectionofluxurycars.Foryearshe’d

saveda dog-earedLamborghinicata-

logheenjoyedreadingasa child,and

inthemid-2000shedecidedtobuy

oneofthemodels.Thenheboughta

second.“Ikeptmakingmoremoney,”

herecalls.“AndI said,‘OK,I’llbuy

anotherone.’Anotherone.Another

one.AndthenI thought,‘OK,I’llbuy

everyLamborghiniinthatbook.’”

That was 17 Lamborghinis.

Nevertheless, Houghtaling is

sensitiveaboutbeingseenasthestereotypicalplaintiffs’lawyer,

whoexploitscatastrophetofinancea lavishlifestyle.Hisrolein

theCovidlitigationisn’tprimarilyaboutmoney,hesays.He’s

frontingmorethan$1milliona monthforthelegalbattleand

theassociatedlobbyingcampaign.Becausehe’spaidoncontin-

gency,he’llmakemoneyonlyif hewinsincourt.It’sworththe

risk,Houghtalingsays,becausethefightfeelspersonal.Some

ofhisclosestfriendsarechefswho’vehadtoshutdowntheir

restaurants.Andhe’salwaysappalledwheninsurersrefuseto

payclaimsfordisasters.AfterSandy,hesays,lawyersforthe

industry“personallyhada handindestroyingpeople’slives.”

S

ince2018,Houghtalinghasappearedata series

oftradeshowssponsoredbythecontracting

industry,debatingStevenBadger,a partner

atZellewho’srepresentedinsurancecom-

paniessincetheearly1990s.Overtheyears,

Badger’sferociousadvocacyhasearnedhim

thenicknameDarthVader,andheleansintothemoniker.At

thetradeshows,costumedStormtrooperssometimesescort

himaround,andhekeepsa Vaderhelmetona shelfinhislaw

office—agiftfromHoughtaling,whoownsa collectionofvin-

tageStarWarsmemorabilia.

Theirdebatestendtofollowa pattern.Asthecrowdcheers

himon,Houghtalinggrowsincreasinglytheatrical,prowling

thestageorbellowingintohismicrophone.Hecomparesele-

mentsofproperty-insurance law to the gravest injustices in

Some of the lawyers filing suits “are making

arguments that are completely stupid”

HOUGHTALING’S HOME

IN NEW ORLEANS