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Morris Bart, Attorneys at Law

On America's Side

As Katrina approached, Attorney Morris Bart didn’t evacuate.

As the floodwaters rose, Mr. Bart and his key lieutenants bunkered down in a special emergency phone bank in his office high above Poydras Street.

The phone bank was stocked with enough food, generators, and diesel fuel to last a month. So when all of Southeast Louisiana lost power, the phones at Mr. Bart’s firm kept ringing.

“All I’m saying is when you build your entire business on the phrase ‘One Call, That’s All,’ your better have an emergency backup generator for your answering machine,” Mr. Bart says.

Morris Bart, PLC became an oasis of free legal consultation in a city of increasing danger and lawlessness.

“I had a lady call me on a cellphone from the Claiborne overpass,” says Mr. Bart. “She said the Coast Guard had dropped her there and she needed food.”

“I asked her if she had experienced any whiplash or dizziness while she was being airlifted up to the Coast Guard helicopter, because then we might have a claim.”

“The phone went dead, but I’m sure we can find her if we put together a class action suit.”

At a time when optimism is in short supply, Mr. Bart is bullish on his firm’s future. Where some see disaster beyond comprehension, Mr. Bart sees opportunity.

“Think about what’s going on out there,” Bart says. “FEMA’s got big trash trucks rumbling down suburban streets. The National Guard has tired soldiers with itchy trigger fingers. The Corps of Engineers is talking about design flaws in the levees.

“We’re talking millions in potential lawsuit fees. And Uncle Sam has got deep pockets.”

No matter what the future may hold, Mr. Bart is proud of what his firm did in the face of the hurricane.

“When everybody else fled, we stayed to serve the people of New Orleans who needed free legal consultations about personal injury,” he explains.

“Because I’m Morris Bart and I’m on their side.”