Draft:Morris Bart

Bart was born on December 6, 1948, in Knoxville, Tennessee. He and his sister were raised by Morris Bart, Jr., an American pilot, and Hertha Rosenblum, who had worked as a tour guide in New Orleans and taught yoga. The family relocated to New Orleans in 1962.^[3] He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of New Orleans in 1975, then earned his law degree from Loyola Law School in 1978. While in law school, he led Phi Alpha Delta, belonged to the Blue Key National Honor Society, and received the American Jurisprudence Award for academic achievement.^[4] Bart is married to Cathy, and together they have three daughters.^[2]

After completing law school, Bart began his career as a staff attorney with the Orleans Public Defenders, then called the Orleans Indigent Defender Program.^[1]

He later launched his own practice, Morris Bart Attorneys at Law, which operates on a contingency fee model—clients owe fees only if their cases result in compensation.^[1] In 1980, he became Louisiana’s first personal injury lawyer to advertise on television, a move widely criticized within the legal community at the time. Today, he’s regarded as a defining figure in the world of legal marketing.^[4][5]

His firm spends roughly $1 million each month into TV advertising, and his line, “One call, that’s all!” has become a familiar slogan throughout the Southeastern United States.^[6]

In 2015, a mother organized a Morris Bart–themed birthday party for her two-year-old son, who enjoyed Bart’s commercials.^[7]

The practice has since expanded with offices across the Gulf Coast, staffed by more than 100 attorneys and over 200 employees, and supported by an annual advertising budget of about $25 million.^[4] Over his career, Bart’s team has secured an estimated $1 billion in settlements for clients.^[1]

In 2019, he and fellow New Orleans personal injury lawyer Ed Womac filed a federal complaint accusing other firms of exploiting their names and slogans for profit. They allege competitors have been purchasing Google keywords tied to their identities and taglines to siphon prospective clients.^[8][9] Bart is also representing seven victims of the 2025 New Orleans truck attack in a lawsuit against the city and its contractors, arguing that longstanding warnings about potential vehicle-based threats in the French Quarter were ignored, leading to preventable harm.^[10]

Bart is a donor to the Democratic Party in Louisiana. People or political action committees affiliated with his firm gave nearly $300,000 to Democratic groups and candidates during the 2024 United States elections.^[12]

Bart has been a regular partner of the New Orleans Pelicans, launching “Bart’s Flight School,” a program that supplies students in need with essential school materials. He has also contributed to local law enforcement and supported educational programs across multiple schools. In 2020, he helped fund and build a new gym for the New Orleans Police Department’s 2nd Precinct.^[1] He also remains actively involved with his alma maters the University of New Orleans and Loyola Law School, and has held board positions at Isidore Newman School, McGehee School, and Metairie Park Country Day School.^[4]

He has provided one of the most substantial gifts ever received by Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, prompting the organization to name its volunteer facility the Cathy & Morris Bart Center.^[4]

After contracting and recovering from a COVID-19 infection early in the pandemic, Bart donated his blood antibodies for virus research.^[13]