Elliot loves being a lawyer. He particularly enjoys working with clients to understand difficult problems, identify what really matters, and develop practical solutions that may not be immediately obvious. He often becomes involved before litigation begins, when a lawyer can do the most to shape the outcome. Whether a matter calls for negotiation, a business solution, or aggressive litigation, Elliot’s objective is the same: to find the strategy that best advances the client’s interests rather than simply following the most conventional path.
Elliot has an extensive surety practice. He represents sureties in connection with performance and payment bond claims, bad-faith claims, indemnity disputes, bankruptcy proceedings, and troubled-account workouts. His work frequently requires him to bring together legal, financial, and operational considerations to resolve complex defaults. He also advises sureties on underwriting and transactional matters, including the development and revision of indemnity agreements, collateral and subordination agreements, producer agreements, powers of attorney, and bond forms.
When litigation is necessary, Elliot handles significant disputes in state and federal courts, bankruptcy courts, and arbitration proceedings. He handles matters across the country, and his experience ranges from focused disputes requiring an efficient and proportionate approach to high-exposure matters requiring the development and management of a substantial trial team. In either setting, he remains attentive to the relationship between the amount at stake, the cost of litigation, and the client’s broader business objectives.
Elliot also has substantial experience with subcontractor default insurance. He advises insurers on complex coverage questions, helps them develop strategies for investigating and resolving claims, and represents them in coverage and bad-faith disputes. His experience with SDI claims has also led insurers to retain him to draft and revise policy forms. That work gives him a perspective extending beyond any individual claim: he understands how policy language, claims practices, underwriting objectives, and real-world construction problems interact.
In addition, Elliot has a specialized area of practice representing sureties in connection with offshore oil and gas obligations, including plug-and-abandonment bond claims and workouts involving distressed operators. These matters often involve Gulf of Mexico assets and substantial financial and technical issues. Elliot works closely with petroleum engineers, financial advisers, and other professionals to develop solutions that account for both the governing legal obligations and the practical realities of the assets involved.
Across each area of his practice, Elliot brings the same approach: learn the client’s business, define the problems clearly, and find the most effective path to a favorable result.
Ranked by Chambers USA, Band 3, in Louisiana Construction Law
Super Lawyers Rising Stars in Surety Law
J.D., magna cum laude, Tulane University Law School (2013); Order of the Coif; Articles Editor, Tulane Law Review
B.A., Baylor University (2007)
Louisiana, 2013
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana
Diamond Services Corp. v. RLB Contracting, Inc., 113 F.4th 430 (5th Cir. 2024). The appellate court affirmed summary judgment in favor of our client, a Miller Act surety, on the grounds that the claimant did not comply with the notice requirements under the Miller Act and because the equitable adjustment claim brought by the Miller Act claimant was barred as a matter of law. The District Court’s opinion can be found at Diamond Services Corp. v. RLB Contracting, Inc., 2023 WL 2145976 (S.D. Tex. 2023).
United States Fire Ins. Co. v. Brown, 2023 WL 5093985 (E.D. La. 2023). In a suit in which the firm’s client sought a preliminary injunction for $18.5 million in collateral security and indemnity, the firm successfully defeated the indemnitors’ motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and forum non conveniens. The dispute was governed by the forum selection clause in the general indemnity agreement and not by the bonded contracts.
Southern Environmental Management and Specialties, Inc. v. City of New Orleans, 339 So. 3d 1234 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2022). The firm represented a surety that issued a statutory payment bond under the Louisiana Public Works Act. The payment bond claimant alleged that the surety adjusted the payment bond claim in bad faith under the Louisiana Insurance Code. The appellate court upheld the trial court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of the surety, holding that Louisiana Public Works Act payment bond sureties are immune from Louisiana Insurance Code penalties as a matter of law.
Warren Paving, Inc. v. Coastal Bridge Co., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 248626 (M.D. La. 2021). The firm won partial summary judgment in favor of its surety client. A payment bond claimant filed suit against the surety under the Louisiana DOTD Public Works Act but did not comply with the notice requirements under La. R.S. § 48:256.5(B). The Court distinguished case law from the Louisiana Supreme Court involving the Louisiana Public Works Act and held in the surety’s favor, dismissing all untimely claims.
RLI Ins. Co. v. Roberts,819 Fed. Appx. 227 (5th Cir. 2020). The firm represented a surety that issued decommissioning bonds on several oil and gas properties in the Gulf of Mexico. The firm brought a lawsuit against an individual indemnitor for payment of outstanding premium, indemnity for the surety’s losses and expenses, and specific performance of the indemnitor’s collateral security obligations. The appellate court affirmed district court’s judgment on all counts, resulting in an award of over $250,000 in indemnity losses and unpaid premium and ordering the indemnitor to deposit an additional $1.25 million in collateral security. The district court’s order may be found at RLI Ins. Co. v. Roberts, 2019 WL 1979931 (S.D. Tex. 2019)
A.B.S. Servs., Inc. v. James Constr. Group, LLC, 269 So. 3d 723 (La. App. 1 Cir. 2018) (en banc). Following a two-week jury trial in state court in Baton Rouge in 2015, the jury completely exonerated the firm’s client, a major surety company, from all contractual and extracontractual claims and ordered its reimbursement in the amount of $477,569 for sums previously paid under a reservation of rights. The judgment was affirmed by an en bancCourt of Appeal.
84 Lumber Co. v. F.H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen & Assocs., LLC, 2017 WL 467679 (E.D. La. 2017). The firm defended a surety that issued subcontractor performance bonds with dual obligee riders on two construction projects in the New Orleans area. The trial court granted the surety’s motion for summary judgment and motion to dismiss, discharging the dual obligee’s multi-million dollar claims against the performance bonds.
Law Enforcement Dist. of Jefferson Parish v. MAPP Constr., LLC., 196 So. 3d 896 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2016). On an interlocutory appeal, the Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s denial of a motion for summary judgment. The surety was fully discharged due to a time-limitation defense.
Plaquemines Parish Gov’t v. Byrd Bros. Emergency Servs., LLC, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 864 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2016). The surety and a bank with a UCC security interest in the principal’s accounts receivable both sought the remaining contract funds on a Louisiana public works project. The Court of Appeal affirmed a summary judgment in favor of the firm’s client, the surety, holding that the surety’s rights in the remaining contract funds were superior to the rights of the bank.
Two Ways to Win the Same Game: What Tal and Petrosian Can Teach Us About Creativity in Surety and SDI Work, in Tort Trial and Insurance Practice, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Newsletter (Summer 2026)
Eight Modes of AI Use: A Framework for Surety Claim Managers and High-Functioning Teams, in Surety Claims Institute Newsletter (May 2026)
Steam Drills and Supercomputers: How AI Will Reshape Surety Law Firms, in Surety Claims Institute Newsletter (October 2025)
The Lingo of Litigation & Evidence Created During Claim Investigations, prepared for Surety Claims Institute (June 2025)
Elliot Scharfenberg and James Richards, How Sureties Can Defend Against Bad Faith Claims from Obligees, Surety Bond Quarterly (December 2024)
The Surety’s Right of Subrogation and Insurance: Possible Sources of Salvage or Loss Mitigation, prepared for Surety Claims Institute (June 2024)
Thinking Like an Insurance Lawyer: Defending Sureties Against Bad Faith Claims From Obligees, in Surety Claims Institute Newsletter (January 2024)
Introduction to the Surety’s Rights as the Foundation for the Indemnity Agreement, in The Surety’s Indemnity Agreement: Law and Practice (Mike F. Pipkin, George J. Bachrach, and Tracey L. Haley, eds., 2023)
Litigating Employee Dishonesty Claims: Guilty Pleas and Assertion of Fifth Amendment Rights as Evidence of Manifest Intent, Northeast Surety and Fidelity Conference (2023)
The Surety’s Financing Decision: Cash Flow Tools from an Accounting Perspective, Pearlman Association (2022)
Practical Advice to a Surety to Protect Collateral in Bankruptcy, Surety Bond Quarterly (Summer 2022)
Elliot Scharfenberg and Chris Simmelink, Warehouse and Customs Bonds, in The Law of Commercial Surety and Miscellaneous Bonds (Samuel J. Arena, Jr., Kathryn M. Truman, Julie S. Alleyne, and Justin D. Wear, eds., 2022)
Practical Advice to a Commercial Surety Taking Collateral, Fidelity & Surety Law Committee Newsletter (Summer 2021)
Panel Leader, Subcontractor Default Insurance: Two Sports Played on the Same Field, Midwest Surety and Construction Claims Conference (2026)
Presenter, Litigating the Complex Surety Case: Words Matter, Surety Claims Institute (2025)
Panelist, Oil and Gas Bonding: Bankruptcy Considerations, Spring Meeting of the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, American Bar Association (2025)
Presenter, Insurance: Possible Sources of Salvage or Loss Mitigation, Surety Claims Institute (2024)
Presenter, Determining Manifest Intent: Guilty Pleas and Fifth Amendment Assertions, Northeast Surety and Fidelity Conference (2023)
Panel Leader, Surety Financing Decision: Cash Flow Tools From an Accounting Perspective, Pearlman Association (2022)
Presenter, Russia, Ukraine, and the War Exclusion in Insurance Policies, Midwest Surety and Construction Claims Conference (2022)
Presenter, Warehouse Bonds and Contracts of Deposit, Spring Meeting of the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, American Bar Association (2022)
Presenter, Effectively Handling Energy Surety Bond Claims in Bankruptcy, Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference (2021)
Presenter, Takeovers, Tenders & Completion Agreements: Key Provisions To Mitigate the Surety’s Risk, Midwest Surety and Construction Claims Conference (2019)
Presenter, Handling Plug & Abandonment Bond Claims, Zurich CE Seminar (2019)
Presenter, Evolution of the Surety’s Rights Under the General Indemnity Agreement, Atlanta Surety Claims Association (2019)
Panel Leader, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, Legal Netlink Alliance Global Meeting (2019)
Presenter, Case Law Update: An Historical Perspective, Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference (2019)
Presenter, Handling Performance Bond Claims: Dealing With Difficult Obligees, Zurich CE Seminar (2018)
Presenter, Pollution Insurance, Mid-Winter Meeting of the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, American Bar Association (2018)
American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section and Fidelity and Surety Law Committee
Louisiana State Bar Association
New Orleans Bar Association