Michael J. DeBarros

Mike deBarros is a partner at Kean Miller in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and leads the firm’s Insurance Coverage and Recovery practice group. His practice focuses on Insurance Law and Litigation – Insurance, representing policyholders in disputes involving the scope and application of insurance coverage. Mike works with Fortune 500 companies as well as closely held and local businesses in matters against insurance companies.

Mike has handled hundreds of insurance matters in Texas and Louisiana involving commercial general liability, directors and officers liability, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, pollution liability, crime, builder’s risk, commercial property, errors and omissions, and cyber and privacy insurance policies. His work includes both litigation and negotiation of high-stakes insurance coverage disputes and settlements that are critical to business operations.

Mike regularly assists clients in disputes involving denied or underpaid claims, allocation issues, and disagreements over policy limits and settlement obligations. Over the course of his practice, he has helped clients obtain substantial recoveries from insurance carriers by enforcing contractual policy rights through negotiation, arbitration, and litigation.

Mike is widely published in the area of insurance law. He is the author of the Louisiana and Florida chapters of the American Bar Association’s Reasonable Expectations: Interpreting Insurance Policies in Common Law Jurisdictions and a co-author of the ABA’s The Reference Handbook on the Commercial General Liability Policy. His experience with policy language and insurer practices allows him to assess coverage positions early and develop informed strategies throughout the life of a dispute.

In addition to insurance coverage litigation, Mike advises clients on risk management by reviewing, drafting, and negotiating insurance and indemnity provisions in service agreements, purchase orders, statements of work, leases, supply agreements, construction contracts (including AIA contracts), and other commercial agreements. This work is aimed at reducing potential exposure and avoiding future disputes.

Mike also represents trustees, succession representatives, and businesses in a range of commercial litigation matters, including trust and estate disputes, antitrust claims, RICO actions, and shareholder derivative lawsuits.

Before joining Kean Miller, Mike clerked for Chief Judge Ralph E. Tyson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana and for Justice Nkabinde in South Africa’s highest court. During law school, he served as a judicial extern for Justice John L. Weimer of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

These judicial experiences provided Mike with a detailed understanding of court procedures, motion practice, and judicial decision-making, particularly in Louisiana state and federal courts. He applies this perspective to help clients navigate complex litigation efficiently and with a clear understanding of the legal process.