Sarah A. Lowman

Born in Charleston, West Virginia, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Newcomb College of Tulane University in 1984 and her Juris Doctorate from Tulane Law School in 1987, where she received the American Jurisprudence Award in Advanced Louisiana Oil & Gas. While Sarah A. Lowman has broad experience representing defendants and plaintiffs in general civil litigation, her concentration in complex, multi-party litigation, construction and commercial litigation sets her apart. Ms. Lowman has extensive experience in takings/inverse condemnation law, public bid and procurement law, ERISA, insurance defense and coverage issues, construction and engineering cases, and appellate practice. Her experience also includes personal injury, health insurance defense, admiralty and maritime, toxic torts, hotel/innkeeper liability, medical device litigation, and employment law. Prior to joining the complex-litigation team that makes up Smith & Fawer, LLC, Ms. Lowman was primarily responsible for handling cases of numerous businesses and homeowners against the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans for damages arising from the SELA drainage canal projects [add to existing link to NOLA article these cites: Watson v. Korban/SWB, (La. 6/28/24), 387 So.3d 499; Korban/SWB v. Watson, 24-512, writ denied, (U.S. 2/24/25)] in Uptown New Orleans, involving inverse condemnation. She continues in this role with our firm, where she first chaired the bellwether bench trial of residential claims, resulting in a million dollar judgment, plus attorney and expert fees, affirmed on appeal [add link to Lowenburg v. SWB, (La. App. 4 Cir. 7/29/20), 387 So.3d 548] and, subsequently, obtained muti-million dollar settlements for those businesses and other homeowners. She also handles other significant property damage cases for commercial and residential owners. Ms. Lowman had significant prior experience working on cases for a major engineering, procurement and construction firm. She was an integral member of the defense team that tried the first bellwether case in the FEMA Trailer/Formaldehyde multi-district litigation arising from the use of travel trailers after Hurricane Katrina, obtaining a defense verdict on behalf of the same engineering firm that served as a FEMA contractor. In re: FEMA Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 07-1873 (E.D. La. 2009). She has obtained many significant victories for clients based on motion practice. Awards and Honors Honors Who's Who in American Law

• Of Counsel

• Presentation for the New Orleans Association of Health Underwriters, Overview of ERISA, COBRA and HIPPA and Current Employee Benefits Litigation of Interest to Health Insurers, 1999 - Present
• The Lorman Education Services Seminar: Health Insurance Basics for Employers, 2004 - Present

• Murphy Oil USA, Inc. v. Fluor Daniel, Inc
• Simeon v. Doe, 618 So.2d 848, reh’g denied
• Year: 1993
• Mayo v. Hyatt Corp., 898 F.2d 47(5th Cir.)
• Year: 1990
• Strauch v. Gates Rubber Co., 879 F.2d 1282(5th Cir.)
• Year: 1989
• Orduna S.A. v. Zen-Noh Grain Corp., 913 F.2d 1149, 1991 A.M.C. 346 (5th Cir.)
• Smith v. Mine Safety Appliances, 631 So.2d 1251 (La. App. 5th Cir.)
• Year: 1994
• Wausau Ins. Companies v. Gifford, 954 F.2d 1098 (5th Cir)
• Year: 1992
• James v. Hyatt Corp. of Delaware, 981 F.2d 810 (5th Cir)
• Goodman v. Dixie Machine Welding & Metal Works, Inc., 552 So.2d 440 (La. App. 4th Cir)
• Alexander v. Express Energy Operating Services, L.P., 784 F.3d 1032 (5th Cir.)
• Year: 2015
• FEMA Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation
• Citation: MDL No. 07-1873 (E.D. La. 2009)
• Lowenburg v. SWB
• Citation: 2020 WL 4364345 (La. App. 4th Cir. 2020)
• Watson Mem'l. Spiritual Temple of Christ v. Korban
• Citation: 382 So.3d 1035
• Court: La. App. 4th Cir.
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 387 So.3d 499
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
• Year: 2024

• Louisiana, 1987
• U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1987
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana, 1987
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Louisiana
• U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana
• District of Columbia
• West Virginia

• Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel (Former Member)
• New Orleans Bar Association (Former Member)
• American Bar Association, Health & Disability Insurance Law Committee, 1999 - 2005 (Vice-Chair)
• American Bar Association, 2000 - 2005 (Newsletter Co-Editor)
• Louisiana Bar Association
• New Orleans Association of Defense Counsel (Former Member)