Bill Billeaud has been an active practicing trial attorney for over 35 years. For the past twenty years Bill has concentrated in the FELA field of practice which involves railroad related litigation representing railroaders injured on the job. He first practiced railroad law with a defense firm in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1986 to 1992. Since 1992, however, he has represented only railroad employees injured in the course of their employment. He has brought cases in both state and federal courts for railroad employees in all crafts including Locomotive Engineers, Conductors, Switchmen, Carmen, Electrical Workers and Maintenance of Way Employees.

Bill is licensed to practice law in Louisiana (1972), Illinois (1973), Missouri (1990) and West Virginia (2001). In addition to those states where he is a member of the bar licensed to practice in that jurisdiction, he has represented numerous other injured railroad employees in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Minnesota, Oklahoma and District of Columbia. Bill has been a frequent speaker at rail labor union meetings throughout the south and Midwest.

By way of background, Bill graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology. He then entered the United States Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant and three years later he was accepted as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He left the FBI in 1969 to resume his legal education at Loyola School of Law in New Orleans. Bill retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve where he was assigned to the Judge Advocates General Office.

Bill was elected president of the Madison County, Illinois Bar Association in 1986 while he was living and practicing in the St. Louis metropolitan area. He has also been a mediator in the St. Louis area since 1997. He has received advanced mediator training and has successfully mediated numerous personal injury cases.

Bill and his wife returned home to Louisiana in 2001 and reside in Mandeville, Louisiana. Since returning, Bill has practiced out of the Davis • Saunders Law Firm in New Orleans (Mandeville), Louisiana, directly with Ben Saunders of the firm, who is Chair of the Executive Committee of the Designated Legal Counsel for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The firm is experienced in handling not only railroad cases, but also certain Maritime cases involving career loss for seamen, as well as Aviation Death litigation.

Areas of Practice

• Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA)
• Maritime
• Mediation

Bar Admissions

• Louisiana, 1972
• Illinois, 1973
• Missouri, 1990
• West Virginia, 2001

Education

• Loyola University New Orleans School of Law, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1972
  
  
• Louisiana State University
  Bachelor of Science
  Major: Geology
  
  

Classes/Seminars Taught

• Frequent Speaker, Rail Labor Union Meetings

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Madison County, Illinois, 1985 - 1986
  President
  
  
• National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel (NARTC), 1986 - 1992
  
  
• Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys (ARLA), 2005 - Present
  
  

Past Employment Positions

• United States Air Force, 1st Lieutenant
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent
• Air Force Reserve, Lieutenant Colonel, Judge Advocate General