Tessa P. Vorhaben

Tessa Vorhaben focuses her practice on commercial litigation, insurance coverage, and tort litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, she represents insurance carriers, corporations, and a wide range of other clients in complex disputes, including first-party and third-party insurance claims, agent and broker liability, business interruption, products and premises liability, and insurance bad faith litigation. Tessa has significant experience defending insurers in high-stakes matters arising from catastrophic events and regularly provides coverage opinions on commercial general liability and property policies.

Tessa’s litigation background includes serving as both first and second chair in jury trials, with a track record of obtaining defense verdicts, dismissals, and summary judgments in multi-million dollar insurance coverage disputes. She also represents Write-Your-Own (WYO) insurance carriers in the National Flood Insurance Program and counsels clients through OSHA investigations and regulatory matters.

A recognized leader in the legal community, Tessa serves on the Board of Directors for the New Orleans Bar Association and the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, and chairs the New Orleans Bar Association’s Women in the Profession Committee. Tessa has been repeatedly selected to the Louisiana Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, and is a frequent author and speaker on insurance bad faith, professionalism, and women’s leadership in law.

• New Orleans Bar Association
  • Member
  • Board of Directors
  • Inn of Courts
  • Women in the Profession Committee, Chair
• Louisiana State Bar Association
  • Member
• American Bar Foundation
  • Fellow

• American Bar Association
• • Member
• DRI
  • Member
• Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel
  • Board of Directors, 2023

• Named a Top Lawyer in New Orleans by New Orleans Magazine, 2023
• Louisiana Super Lawyers
  • Super Lawyer, Insurance Coverage, 2025
  • Louisiana Rising Star, 2013 – 2023

• Obtained dismissal for WYO insurance carrier against suit brought by insured seeking to invoke appraisal provision in the Standard Flood Insurance Policy.
• Counseling and representation of a film production company during an OSHA investigation into an accident that occurred during the filming of a movie.
• Representation of a chemical corporation in defense of claims arising from an accident that occurred at the chemical corporation's facility.
• Representation of domestic commercial lines insurance companies in defense of insurance coverage claims arising from Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, Ike, and Isaac. These matters involve the defense of claims for property damage, business income, statutory penalties, and bad faith damages.
• Representation of domestic commercial lines insurance companies against claims for breach of contract and extra-contractual damages resulting from hail and fire losses.
• Obtained dismissal for the domestic insurer against a suit brought by a lessee of the insured on the grounds that the lessee had no right of action.
• Obtained summary judgment for a chemical corporation against a suit brought by an employee of a subcontractor on the grounds that the subcontractor's employee was a statutory employee of the chemical corporation.
• Coverage opinions interpreting CGL and commercial property policies concerning claims for construction defects, product recall, personal and advertising injury, and employee dishonesty.
• As second chair, represented an insurance company in a breach of contract dispute concerning a multi-million dollar commercial property damage claim. The first jury trial resulted in a mistrial after four days. After a six-day trial, the jury returned a defense verdict after only 30 minutes of deliberation.
• Secured summary judgment on behalf of a flood insurance company sued for breach of contract by plaintiffs alleging entitlement to additional proceeds under their flood insurance policy for damages allegedly stemming from two flood losses. The court held that the plaintiffs failed to comply with the proof of loss requirements under their flood insurance claims and dismissed the plaintiffs' claims.
• Obtained a dismissal for a wholesale insurance broker against a claim brought by an insurance customer asserting claims for negligence, misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duty.

• "Breaking the Glass Ceiling…and Beyond," New Orleans Bar Association, June 2024
• "Professionalism Across Generations," Tulane Law School, CLE, December 2022
• Be the "Go-to" Bad Faith Attorney in Your Area, July 2021

• "Emergency Rule 47: What Insurers and Insureds Need to Know in the Wake of Hurricane Ida," CityBusiness, September 2021