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AARON NAMED TO BIZ NEW ORLEANS 500
November 15, 2023
Aaron & Gianna, PLC is pleased to announce that its Managing Shareholder, William D. Aaron, Jr., has been named to the 2024 Edition of Biz New Orleans 500 as One of the Most Influential, Involved and Inspiring Business Leaders in the New Orleans area. Biz New Orleans 500 is an annual publication of Biz New Orleans Magazine. It profiles the 500 business leaders who are driving the economy of the greater New Orleans area and making decisions that shape the region's future.&n…
Dominic J. Gianna
Position
Shareholder, Vice President, Director
Contact information
Tel: 504.569.1805
Fax: 504.569.1801
Career Overview
Dominic is a Shareholder and Member of the Board of Directors of Aaron & Gianna, PLC A Professional Law Corporation. He chairs the firm's Civil Litigation Practice. He has been recognized by his colleagues as one of America’s great trial lawyers and for 36 years has tried cases from both the plaintiff and the defense side throughout the United States. Dominic is also recognized as one of America’s most dynamic and inspired teachers of advocacy, persuasion and trial techniques. He was honored as a recipient of the Robert Keeton award as the best teacher of advocacy in America by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), the American Bar Association’s teaching arm.
For 25 years, Dominic has served as a member of NITA’s National Faculty, NITA Program Director and has led interactive NITA training programs throughout the English-speaking world, including every one of the 50 states, Canada, and Mexico, England, Scotland and Wales. As Principal Faculty for The Professional Education Group, Inc. (PEG, Inc.), he has delivered and led over 400 lectures and seminars throughout the world. His "Reel Justice," "Winning Before Trial," "A Day on Trial" (with Professor Thomas A. Mauet), and currently, "Advocacy for the Ages and Sexes: Persuading Genders and Generations" (with his seminar partner, Lisa A. Marcy), have been presented throughout the world to extraordinary acclaim.
Dominic is the author of numerous publications on advocacy and persuasion, including Thomson West’s Opening Statements 2d, Winning in the Beginning by Winning the Beginning (along with Lisa A. Marcy), Advocacy for the Ages (The Professional Education Group, Inc., along with Lisa A. Marcy), and numerous publications in legal journals. As a motivational speaker and seminar leader, he has trained thousands of lawyers of all ages and has experience in the arts of advocacy, persuasion and trial techniques. His techniques have changed the careers of thousands of trial lawyers of all ages and experiences throughout his 25 years of teaching advocacy.
Dominic is a frequent commentator on Court TV, has made numerous television appearances on related matters and has been selected by professional groups from both sides of the courtroom to lead programs for them. He was recently selected, along with his partners Professor Thomas A. Mauet and Lisa A. Marcy, to be the Blockbuster Speaker at the Defense Research Institute’s (DRI), annual meeting, along with President Bill Clinton and Justice Scalia. Dominic chaired the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation Annual Meeting in 2001 and acted as Program Chair in 1992 and 1994. He serves as Director of Trial Advocacy at LSU School of Law, is Principal Faculty of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy, and has taught at numerous law schools throughout America.
As a trial lawyer, Dominic has tried over 150 cases in both state and federal courts throughout the United States in areas such as complex commercial litigation, product liability, toxic tort, employment law, medical malpractice, major construction disputes, anti-trust matters, medical malpractice and complex toxic tort cases. Dominic has served as District Judge pro tem by appointment of the Supreme Court of Louisiana and has been selected by both state and federal courts to serve as Special Master in complex matters. His client list includes Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized national businesses and small local organizations.
Dominic has been a trial lawyer for 36 years. Prior to that, he worked as an organic chemist, professional athlete and professional actor. He received his B.S. degree from Manhattan College, New York, his M.A. degree in Chemistry from the State University of New York, and his law degree from Loyola University School of Law, where he was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Loyola Law Review. Dominic is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed in Super Lawyers in the area of Civil Litigation from 2008 to the present.
Education
Loyola University School of Law, J.D., 1974
Elected Editor-in-Chief, Loyola Law Review
State University of New York at Buffalo, 1971, M.A. Degree, Organic Chemistry
Manhattan College, New York, New York, B.S. Degree, Chemistry
Admissions to Practice
Louisiana State Bar
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Supreme Court of the United States
Areas of Practice
Industrial Catastrophe Litigation
Insurance defense
Employment Litigation
Toxic Tort Litigation
Construction Litigation
Class Actions
Product Liability Defense
Medical Malpractice Defense
Health Care
ERISA
Previous Positions Held
Founding Partner, Middleberg Riddle & Gianna
Judicial Appointments
District Judge pro tem by appointment of the Supreme Court of Louisiana – 1986-87; 1990-1991
Special Master by appointment of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana – Patrick J. Turner v. Murphy Oil, Inc. (Judge Eldon Fallon)
Special Master by appointment of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans – Norplant Class Action Litigation – 1996-present
Special Master by appointment of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans – Scott v. American Tobacco Company – 1996-present
Special Master by appointment of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans – Nicholas Hingle v. ExxonMobil Corporation – 2002
Referee by appointment of the Honorable Lloyd J. Medley, Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, Save our Park v. Audubon Institute – 2005
Member, Supreme Court of Louisiana Civil Bench Book Committee – 1992
Arbitrator, National Arbitration Forum – 2001-present
Professional Memberships/Activities
New Orleans Bar Association
Louisiana State Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
International Society of Barristers
Honors and Achievements
National Faculty and Program Director, National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA)
Founder and Program Director, Louisiana State University Trial Advocacy Training Program
Principal Faculty, Professional Education Group, Inc
Listed in Louisiana Super Lawyers (2008 to Present)
Publications
Author (with Lisa A. Marcy)
Opening Statements: Winning in the Beginning by Winning the Beginning
(Thomson/Reuters, 2011).
Author
Opening Statements 2d (West Publishing Company, 2004)
Author (with Lisa A. Marcy)
Winning in the Beginning, "The Brief", American Bar Association Tort, Trial and Insurance
practice Section (Vol. 39, No. 3, Spring 2010)
Author (with Lisa A. Marcy)
Advocacy for the Ages (Professional Education Group, Inc., 2009)
Author
Winning Before Trial (Professional Education Group, Inc., 2005)
Author
Reel Justice! (Professional Education Group, Inc., 1995)
Author (with Prof. Thomas A. Mauet)
"A Day on Trial" (Professional Education Group, Inc.)
Blockbuster Presentation, Defense Research Institute (DRI) National Meeting 2012 (with Prof. Thomas A. Mauet, Lisa A. Marcy), "Advocacy for the Generations – Days of Future. . .Past" (with President Bill Clinton and Justice Scalia)
