Legal Leaders | Hunt Downer, Waitz & Downer

Session Is in Full Swing
March 19, 2020
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March 19, 2020
Session Is in Full Swing
March 19, 2020
Three Announce Intentions to Run for District Judge
March 19, 2020

A lot of people who have reached Hunt Downer’s station in life would have long ago retired. But that’s not in the plans for the Houma attorney, whose legal career spans nearly 50 years.

A partner emeritus at the law firm of Waitz & Downer, Downer and his fellow attorneys focus on helping injured persons and devastated families who are the victims of oil field accidents, maritime accidents, auto or boating accidents that result in serious personal injury or wrongful deaths. For over five decades, Waitz & Downer has represented Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region.

Downer is proud that the firm bearing his name holds close to traditions created at its inception when founded by the late Joseph L. Waitz Sr.


“I am still so thankful to have been with Mr. Waitz all those years, to have been trained and mentored by him,” shares Downer.

Downer points to all of his life experiences as helpful to his practice of law, calling each and every of them, working as a roughneck and roustabout to driving a school bus among them, as benefitting his ability to help clients. His resume also includes the titles Major General – as in U.S Army/Louisiana National Guard – and Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

“At the end of the day, more times than not, I was the only person in the courtroom with a maritime background,” Downer said. “I would learn the language, the technical terminology, and gained knowledge of how it could be applied to law. If you told me you were on a rig and what you were doing, I understood what could go wrong.”


The care with which clients are handled reflects the family-like atmosphere at the firm overall. Attorneys at the firm include the children of Mr. Waitz: son Joe Waitz Jr, who is the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney and of counsel; daughter Mary Waitz Riviere; and his grandson, Joseph Waitz III. Rounding out the firm are attorneys Ellen Daigle Doskey and David C. Pellegrin, Jr.

“Our philosophy is when you are our client you are part of our extended family,” Downer said. “Mr. Waitz instilled that into us and into me. You are not a number; you are not a dollar sign; you are a person who has experienced a devastating loss. We are going to treat you as we would any member of our family.”