Price McNamara founded the firm that carries his name in 1995 and has spent three decades fighting insurance companies refusing to pay the benefits people bought. His practice now runs nationwide, concentrated almost entirely in federal ERISA litigation.
Three earlier careers shaped that work. He clerked for a federal judge, defended national insurance carriers, and prosecuted felonies for a Louisiana district attorney. Few claimant’s attorneys arrive with any one of those backgrounds. He brought all three.
From Insurance Defense to Claimants’ Counsel
McNamara earned his law degree from Loyola Law School in New Orleans in 1990 and stepped straight into federal court, clerking for the Honorable John M. Shaw, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The clerkship covered both civil and criminal dockets.
From 1991 to 1995, he defended national insurance companies in claim disputes at Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale in Metairie, learning from the inside how carriers evaluate, resist, and litigate claims. At night, he earned an LL.M. from Tulane Law School.
In 1995, he changed sides twice. He joined the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office as a felony trial prosecutor, trying cases through 1997 that ranged from fraud and burglary to violent crimes, including homicide.
The same year, he founded the practice that became J. Price McNamara: Disability, Life, AD&D Insurance Attorneys, headquartered in Baton Rouge, with New Orleans and Houston offices by appointment.
The exclusive focus is personal to his story. Disabling illnesses took his brother, his sister, and his father within a span of months, and that experience pushed him to commit the practice entirely to benefit denials.
The commitment shows in results. McNamara personally argued the appeal that produced a $1.3 million ERISA accidental death judgment, persuading the U.S. Fifth Circuit to reverse a district court loss. (Results may vary from case to case.)
ERISA claims now make up about nine of every ten files he opens, handled from anywhere because federal ERISA dockets run electronically.
What That Background Does for a Denied Claim
Credentials matter only if they change outcomes. His do, in specific ways:
- The clerkship. ERISA denials are decided by federal judges reading a closed record. McNamara spent a year inside those chambers watching how judges weigh a file, and he builds every record for that reader.
- The defense years. He spent four years defending insurers. Now he dismantles their claim denials. A carrier’s litigation strategy reads to him like an old office memo.
- The prosecutor years. Two years of back-to-back felony trials built courtroom instincts most civil practitioners never develop, and every claim he prepares assumes a courtroom finish.
- The scholarship. An LL.M. in a regulation-heavy field, four published guides on winning benefit claims, and membership in the American Association for Justice’s ERISA Benefits Litigation Group keep the practice current in a body of law that never sits still.
Credentials
Education
- LL.M., Energy and Environment, Tulane Law School, New Orleans, 1995
- J.D., Loyola Law School, New Orleans, 1990
- B.A., Business Administration, Finance concentration, with Honors, Loyola University, New Orleans, 1987
- Graduate, Jesuit High School, New Orleans, 1982
Work History
- Founder, J. Price McNamara: Disability, Life, AD&D Insurance Attorneys, with locations in Baton Rouge (Headquarters) and New Orleans, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas (New Orleans and Houston offices by appointment only), 1995 to present. Now a nationwide practice limited to Disability Insurance, Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance, and Life Insurance claims, appeals, and litigation, with special emphasis on those claims falling under federal ERISA law.
- Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office: Felony Trial Division Prosecutor, Gretna, Louisiana 1995-1997. Responsible for prosecuting all division felony crimes, including drug offenses, child molestation, theft, burglary, robbery, fraud, rape, and murder.
- Law Office of Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale, Metairie, Louisiana 1991-1995. Representing national insurance companies in claim disputes and litigation.
- Honorable John M. Shaw, Chief Judge: United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana. 1990-1991. Law Clerk to a Federal Judge for civil and criminal dockets.
Court Admissions
- Supreme Court for the State of Louisiana, admitted to practice law in all Louisiana State Courts, 1990.
- Supreme Court for the State of Texas, admitted to practice law in all Texas State Courts, 2013.
- United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Louisiana, 1990.
- United States District Courts for the Middle District of Louisiana, 1990.
- United States District Courts for the Western District of Louisiana, 1990.
- United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Texas, 2013.
- United States District Courts for the Western District of Texas, 2013.
- United States District Courts for the Southern District of Texas, 2013.
- United States District Courts for the Northern District of Texas, 2013.
- United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 1990.
Bar Admissions
- Louisiana State Bar Association – 1990 (in good standing)
- Texas State Bar Association – 2013 (in good standing)
Published Guides
McNamara wrote four consumer guides on winning benefit claims and appeals:
- Win Your Short or Long-Term Disability Insurance Claim or Appeal
- Win Your Physician’s Disability Insurance Claim or Appeal
- Win Your Accidental Death and Dismemberment Claim or Appeal
- Win Your Life Insurance Claim or Appeal
All four are free to download.
Published Books
- Finally! Hire the Right Attorney (and Avoid the Wrong Ones) With Confidence!
- Seven Deadly Sins That Will Destroy Your Legitimate Personal Injury Claim
Ratings and Recognition
- AV Preeminent peer review rating, Martindale-Hubbell
- 10/10 rating, Avvo
- A+ rating, Better Business Bureau
- Named ‘Top Attorney for Burn, Brain, and Closed Head Injuries’ by New Orleans Magazine
- The National Trial Lawyers Top 100
Professional Memberships
- Louisiana Association for Justice, Board of Governors, 2021 to present
- American Association for Justice, ERISA Benefits Litigation Group, 2019 to present
- Louisiana State Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas
Beyond the Office
McNamara and his wife and best friend of 32 years keep a rural wooded farm, home to horses, donkeys, goats, dogs, honeybees, and fruit trees. The family includes three grown children and two grandsons.
He reads, fishes the Louisiana Gulf Coast, and has held a single-engine land and sea plane pilot license since 1983.
Put That Background to Work
A denial letter reviewed by someone who spent years on the insurer’s side is a different kind of review, and it costs nothing. Call (225) 201-8311 or request your free denial review.
