Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys is a Louisiana-based personal injury law firm led by attorney Gordon J. McKernan. The firm represents individuals and families injured by the negligence of others in cases involving car accidents, trucking collisions, wrongful death, maritime incidents, toxic exposures, and related claims. Founded in the early 1980s by Jerry McKernan and later expanded under Gordon McKernan’s ownership, it operates multiple offices across the state and reports substantial client recoveries. Search interest in the name typically stems from people seeking Louisiana injury representation, reviewing firm credentials, or learning about its track record and leadership.
Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys: Quick Profile
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Gordon J. McKernan (firm: Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys) |
| Profession | Attorney / Law Firm |
| Legal Role | Owner and attorney focusing on plaintiff personal injury |
| Law Firm | Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys (formerly McKernan Law Firm) |
| Practice Areas | Personal injury (plaintiff), trucking accidents, wrongful death, maritime/offshore, class actions/mass torts, toxic torts, workers’ compensation claims, limited immigration work |
| Location | Multiple Louisiana offices including Baton Rouge (Hilton Ave.), Metairie/New Orleans area, and others statewide (Alexandria, Denham Springs, Gonzales, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, Shreveport, Zachary, and more) |
| Education | B.A., Louisiana State University (1989); J.D., Loyola University New Orleans College of Law (1992, Moot Court) |
| Bar Admission | Louisiana (1992); Texas (1993); Colorado (2024); various U.S. District Courts in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi |
| Known For | Plaintiff personal injury representation; firm-reported recoveries exceeding $3 billion; Super Lawyers recognition (2012–present) |
Who Is Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys?
Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys refers both to the Louisiana personal injury firm and to its owner, Gordon J. McKernan. McKernan is a licensed attorney who has practiced primarily plaintiff-side injury law since joining the family firm after law school. The firm itself traces its roots to the early 1980s, when Jerry McKernan established McKernan Law Firm as a small practice focused on accident victims and grounded in Christian principles. Gordon McKernan joined in 1992 and later assumed leadership, rebranding and expanding the practice into a multi-office statewide firm.
People search the name for practical reasons: they or a family member have been injured in a Louisiana accident and need representation; they want to verify credentials, reviews, or case results; or they encounter the firm’s advertising (including the “Get Gordon. Get It Done” branding and G Guarantee® of no fees unless a recovery is obtained). The firm emphasizes contingency-fee representation, free consultations, and bilingual (English/Spanish) support in many locations. It positions itself as advocating for “everyday people” against larger defendants such as insurance companies, trucking firms, and industrial entities.
Public profiles consistently describe McKernan as the owner who has handled a high volume of personal injury matters, including serious injury and death cases. The firm reports helping more than 75,000 clients and recovering over $3 billion in settlements and verdicts, with hundreds of matters exceeding $1 million. These figures appear on the firm’s website and in attorney directories; independent court verification of every claim is not publicly aggregated in a single source.
Gordon McKernan’s Legal Career
Gordon J. McKernan earned his undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University in 1989 and his Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 1992, where he participated in Moot Court. He was admitted to the Louisiana bar that same year and joined the family firm shortly afterward. He later gained admission in Texas (1993) and Colorado (2024), along with federal district courts across Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi.
Early in his career he focused on plaintiff personal injury work. Public biographical materials indicate he took over leadership of the firm around 2009, after which it grew significantly in attorney headcount, staff, and geographic reach. What began as a small practice expanded to more than 50 attorneys and over 200 employees with offices spanning major Louisiana cities. McKernan has remained the principal owner while continuing to handle or oversee cases involving vehicle collisions (including 18-wheelers), maritime and offshore injuries, wrongful death, toxic exposures, and catastrophic injuries such as traumatic brain injuries, amputations, burns, and spinal damage.
Professional activity includes membership in the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association (including past service on its Executive Council, Board of Governors, and Council of Directors), Texas Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, Baton Rouge Bar Association, Safety Council Baton Rouge Chapter, and Million Dollar Advocates Forum / Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. He has also been selected to Super Lawyers lists for Louisiana personal injury work from 2012 onward.
He has authored or presented materials on topics such as wrongful death law and jury selection strategies through organizations including the National Business Institute and Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association. Community involvement noted in profiles includes advisory board service with the Salvation Army of Greater Baton Rouge and Baton Rouge Crime Stoppers, as well as local giveaways of bicycles and car seats.
Education and Qualifications
McKernan’s academic path is straightforward and consistently reported across directories. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1989. He then attended Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, earning his J.D. in 1992 with Moot Court honors. Gamma Beta Phi membership is also noted in some biographical sketches.
Bar admissions are verified through multiple attorney profiles: Louisiana in 1992, Texas in 1993, and Colorado in 2024. Federal court admissions include the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana; Eastern, Western, and Southern Districts of Texas; and Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi. No public disciplinary findings appear in the major directories reviewed (Avvo notes “no misconduct found” for the listed jurisdictions). Languages listed include English and Spanish.
Professional memberships and recognitions include Super Lawyers selection, Million Dollar Advocates Forum membership, and past leadership roles within Louisiana plaintiff trial lawyer organizations. These credentials are drawn from Super Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell, Avvo, and the firm’s own team page.
What Type of Law Does Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys Practice?
The firm concentrates on plaintiff personal injury law. Core work involves representing individuals injured by another party’s negligence. Typical matters include motor vehicle accidents (cars, trucks, commercial vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians, bicyclists), 18-wheeler and trucking collisions, wrongful death claims, premises liability (slip-and-fall and related), construction and workplace accidents, maritime and offshore injuries, toxic torts and chemical exposures, product liability, animal bites, and brain or spinal injuries. Some profiles also list workers’ compensation claimant work and limited consumer immigration matters.
In Louisiana, personal injury claims generally require proof of duty, breach, causation, and damages. Plaintiffs often pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, future care needs, pain and suffering, and, in death cases, loss of consortium or support. The firm operates on a contingency-fee basis under its G Guarantee®—clients typically pay no attorney fees or costs unless a recovery is obtained. This structure is common in plaintiff injury practice and shifts the financial risk to the firm.
McKernan’s individual practice has emphasized high-stakes vehicle, maritime, and mass-tort matters. Firm-wide resources allow handling of both individual catastrophic cases and larger group claims arising from chemical incidents or other mass exposures. Readers evaluating any firm should understand that past results do not predict future outcomes and that every case turns on its specific facts, evidence, and applicable law.
Gordon McKernan and Their Law Firm
Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys grew from the McKernan Law Firm established by Jerry McKernan in the early 1980s. The original practice was modest and centered on injury victims. After Gordon McKernan joined in 1992 and later assumed ownership, the firm expanded its attorney roster, support staff, and physical footprint. Public descriptions place current scale at more than 50 attorneys, over 200 employees, and roughly a dozen to fourteen offices across Louisiana.
Headquarters and key locations include Baton Rouge (5656 Hilton Avenue) and a Metairie office serving the New Orleans area (3900 Veterans Memorial Blvd.). Additional offices are listed in Alexandria, Denham Springs, Gonzales, Hammond, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, Shreveport, Zachary, and others. The firm markets statewide representation and maintains bilingual capabilities. Its stated mission emphasizes compassion, integrity, Christian values, and aggressive pursuit of compensation for injured clients.
Gordon McKernan serves as owner and a practicing attorney within the firm. He is not the sole litigator; the practice relies on a team of attorneys handling day-to-day casework while he provides leadership and participates in significant matters. Marketing materials highlight the “Get Gordon” branding and free consultations. As with any high-volume personal injury firm, client experience can vary by individual attorney and case complexity. Independent review aggregators show high average ratings (commonly 4.9 out of 5 across thousands of reviews on platforms that collect Google, Avvo, and similar feedback), though individual experiences differ.
Notable Cases and Legal Work
Publicly listed results associated with McKernan or the firm include a range of settlements and verdicts reported on Super Lawyers, the firm website, and directory profiles. Examples drawn from those sources (presented as firm- or directory-reported figures, not independently audited court totals):
- A mass-tort chemical exposure matter involving a pipeline explosion that affected more than 1,000 clients, reported at $108 million in settlements.
- A commercial truck collision causing brain injury to a young boy, reported at $22.5 million.
- A wrongful death case involving a faulty industrial pump that sprayed a chemical (TiCl4), resulting in severe burns and death, reported at $4 million.
- An 18-wheeler rear-end collision leading to multiple spine surgeries and failed back syndrome, reported at $5 million settlement.
- Various other reported results in the multi-million-dollar range involving trucking, maritime, asbestos exposure, and catastrophic vehicle injuries.
The firm website lists additional high-value outcomes, including class-action or mass-tort chemical and pesticide exposures and individual catastrophic injury recoveries. These are presented by the firm as examples of work performed; specific case names, full docket details, and exact allocation of credit among attorneys are not always publicly itemized in the same sources. Readers should treat reported figures as firm claims and recognize that settlement amounts can reflect insurance policy limits, comparative fault rules under Louisiana law, and negotiation dynamics rather than pure jury determinations of full damages.
McKernan’s profiles also note participation in underinsured/uninsured motorist bad-faith litigation and jury-selection strategy work. No comprehensive public database of every case handled by the firm exists in open sources, which is typical for high-volume plaintiff practices that resolve many matters confidentially.
Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys’ Professional Reputation
Directories consistently rate the firm and McKernan highly on client-feedback platforms. Avvo and similar services show ratings around 4.9 from hundreds of reviews for McKernan personally and thousands for the firm overall. Super Lawyers has selected him annually for personal injury work since 2012. Martindale-Hubbell peer reviews are mixed in the lower-to-mid range on some older ratings while client ratings remain high.
Professional recognitions include Million Dollar Advocates Forum membership and past Top 100 Trial Lawyers listings. Community and bar service (Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association leadership roles, Salvation Army advisory board, Crime Stoppers) appear in biographical materials. The firm’s public emphasis on Christian values and community giveaways forms part of its self-presentation.
As with any large advertising firm, reputation is multifaceted. Positive client reviews frequently cite communication, results, and staff support. Negative feedback, when present, tends to involve case delays or communication issues common to high-volume practices. No public record of disciplinary sanctions against McKernan appears in the major sources consulted. Potential clients are advised to review current Louisiana State Bar Association records, speak directly with the firm, and evaluate fit for their specific circumstances.
Why Are People Searching for Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys?
Search interest is driven primarily by practical need. Louisiana residents injured in vehicle crashes, workplace incidents, or other negligence-based events look for local personal injury representation. The firm’s extensive advertising—television, billboards, and digital—raises name recognition, particularly the “Get Gordon” campaign. Expansion efforts into the New Orleans market have generated additional local news coverage comparing it to other high-profile Louisiana injury firms.
Secondary reasons include verification of credentials before hiring, review of reported case results, checking office locations and contingency-fee terms, and assessing bilingual services. Some searches may stem from media mentions of large settlements or community involvement. The combination of statewide offices, high reported recovery totals, and consistent advertising explains sustained search volume for both the firm name and Gordon McKernan personally.
Conclusion
Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys is a multi-office Louisiana personal injury firm owned by attorney Gordon J. McKernan. McKernan, a 1992 Loyola law graduate admitted in Louisiana, Texas, and Colorado, has built the practice from its family-firm origins into a large statewide operation focused on representing injured individuals. The firm reports recovering more than $3 billion for clients across tens of thousands of cases, with particular emphasis on vehicle collisions, wrongful death, maritime injuries, and mass-tort exposures. Professional recognition includes Super Lawyers selections and membership in plaintiff trial lawyer organizations.
Public information portrays a high-volume contingency-fee practice that markets accessibility, bilingual services, and a no-fee-unless-recovery policy. As with any legal representation decision, individuals should verify current bar status, review recent client experiences, discuss case specifics directly with counsel, and understand that reported results do not guarantee outcomes in future matters. The combination of long practice history, geographic coverage, and public case examples explains why the name continues to attract search interest from people seeking Louisiana injury attorneys.
FAQs
Who is Gordon McKernan?
Gordon J. McKernan is a Louisiana attorney and the owner of Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys. He has practiced plaintiff personal injury law since 1992 after graduating from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.
Is Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys a legitimate law firm?
Yes. It is a long-established Louisiana personal injury practice with multiple physical offices, licensed attorneys, and a public track record of handling injury claims. Credentials can be verified through state bar records and attorney directories.
What types of cases does the firm handle?
Primarily plaintiff personal injury matters: car and truck accidents, wrongful death, maritime and offshore injuries, toxic exposures, premises liability, construction accidents, and related catastrophic injury claims.
Where are the firm’s offices located?
Offices are listed in Baton Rouge, the Metairie/New Orleans area, Alexandria, Denham Springs, Gonzales, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, Shreveport, Zachary, and additional Louisiana cities. Contact the firm for the nearest location and current availability.
Does the firm charge fees upfront?
According to the firm, it works on a contingency-fee basis under the G Guarantee®: clients generally owe no attorney fees or costs unless a recovery is obtained. Specific fee agreements should be confirmed in writing.
What is Gordon McKernan’s education and bar status?
He holds a B.A. from Louisiana State University (1989) and a J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans (1992). He is admitted in Louisiana (1992), Texas (1993), and Colorado (2024), plus multiple federal district courts. No public disciplinary findings appear in major directories reviewed.
How can someone contact the firm?
The firm publishes phone numbers including 888-501-7888 and 225-888-8888, along with online contact forms on its website (getgordon.com). Free consultations are offered.
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