Independence Lawyers

Douglas D. Brown, Attorney at Law, is a husband and father of three, and has practiced personal injury law, criminal defense and family law in Tangipahoa Parish for two decades. After working in Washington, D.C. for Congressman Richard Baker, Brown served as a judicial law clerk for State District Judges Ray Chutz in Amite and M. Douglas Hughes in Livingston. He later served as the City of Hammond's Assistant City Prosecutor and first In House Attorney. Before earning a JD degree at Louisiana State University's Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Brown attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and earned a...

Choose Attorney Stephen Rue. FREE CONSULTATION* CALL 24/7 (504)529-5000 (985)871-0008 Voted "BEST ATTORNEY" in Gambit Weekly "Best of New Orleans" 5-STAR YELP, GOOGLE, AVVO and Lawyers.com Reviews. Stephen Rue is selected as the 2021 "TOP ATTORNEY" by New Orleans Magazine. Stephen Rue is selected as a 2021 SUPER LAWYER. He is the founder of BEST ATTORNEYS OF AMERICA. HAPPY CLIENTS have given testimonials saying, "Mr. Rue is the Best!" "Extremely Competent" "Truly a Blessing." "A Beast in the Courtroom" "Extremely Happy!" "Highly Recommend" "Powerful Attorney" "Beyond Expectations" "Great Results" Attorney Stephen Rue and his associated attorneys have handled thousands of cases with over 35 years of personal injury, ...

Jason was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated Nicholls State University with a BS in Engineering Technology. He played varsity sports, was on the radio and involved in the performing arts. After a career in radio and television, he attended law school in New Orleans. He opened a private practice focusing on corporate, collection and consumer rights. He became a partner in the firm of Naccari, Deas and Pugh in 1992. His personal clients at the time included Benson Automotive World (owned by a well known local family), and most of the major hospitals and clinics in the...

If you’re looking for the best criminal defense attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, look no further than Carl Barkemeyer, Criminal Defense Attorney. Carl Barkemeyer is a highly-experienced criminal defense attorney representing clients with criminal and DWI charges. He handles cases for clients arrested or who received a summons in all areas of Louisiana. Dedicated to only criminal defense, we provide representation for DWI/DUI, drug charges including possession, possession with intent, distribution, theft, forgery, bank fraud, assault, battery, domestic abuse, murder, robbery, burglary, prostitution, soliciting, reckless driving, hit and run, trespass, criminal damage to property, disturbing the peace, shoplifting,...

Attorney Leonard Kilgore is an experienced advocate for local, national and international commercial, energy and industrial clients in litigation involving toxic tort claims, personal injury, property damage claims, and class actions.

Robert Hallack is the principal of Hallack Law Offices in Baton Rouge. In 1989, he earned his J.D. degree, cum laude, at Southern University Law Center. He was also Associate Editor of the Southern University Law Review by virtue of his article, "Louisiana's Comparative Fault Doctrine and the Mitigation of Damages," which was cited by the Louisiana Supreme Court. During his last year of studies, Mr. Hallack was awarded the West Publishing Award for Scholastic Achievement. Since 1989, he has devoted his practice to personal injury and wrongful death cases, including vehicle accidents, medical negligence, nursing home negligence, professional...

Lauren Rucinski is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2016 and practices in the environmental law and intellectual property group.

Lauren helps clients understand which environmental regulations apply to new facilities and processes. Her practice focuses on permitting, compliance, litigation and transactional issues, as well as rulemaking efforts at both the state and federal level. She advises a wide range of clients including petrochemical facilities, oil refineries, natural gas terminals, glass manufacturers, and commodity processing plants.

Lauren helps clients protect and maximize the value of their businesses' intellectual property by advising them on...

Jason is one of the nation's top trial lawyers for one reason: when he represents a client, he's all in. No matter how tough the fight. No matter how big the challenge. When it matters most, he's there for people who have been wronged. He takes every case personally, treating each client like family while he fights to rebuild their lives.

When people need to win, they call Jason. He's won several verdicts and settlements worth more than $100 million, dozens of results worth more than $10 million, and more than 200 results worth $1 million or more. In total,...

Ed Kramer graduated from both LSU and LSU Law School where he was on the Louisiana Law Review, a prestigious student organization only accepting a few students by grade. After that, Ed began to practice personal injury accident law – representing only injured parties, not insurance companies, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ed participated in trials, was involved in million-dollar cases, and even class action cases, mostly personal injury accident cases. Ed would like to help you too.

Jenny graduated from the Loyola University College of Law, and earned her undergraduate degree from Our Lady of Holy Cross College. Jenny began her bankruptcy practice in 2011 as the Law Office of Jenny Abshier. Jenny's office took great pride in providing options to reduce the upfront costs required for filing bankruptcy, as well as providing access to pro bono services when available. As Jenny's reputation grew, so did her practice. Jenny has partnered with two similar minded attorneys to form the Big Easy Law Group in order to further spread her beliefs in compassion and accessibility...

When Kurt Arnold represents someone, he’s all in. He’s won billions for his clients. In fact, he has recovered more than $1 billion in a single year multiple times and shattered records with his historic verdicts and settlements. He has helped clients recover losses after major maritime disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon and the El Faro. For Kurt, no fight is too difficult or complicated. He refuses to take “no” for an answer. When something bad happens, Kurt fights for his clients, no matter what. He never backs down, no matter how big the challenge. Kurt co-founded Arnold & Itkin...

Ellen put herself through both undergraduate and law school. She a married, mother of two. Both her husband and daughter are also attorneys as are a nephew, father-in-law, 3 brothers-in-law and one brother-in-law who was elected judge. She was drawn to the areas of family law, criminal defense and plaintiff personal injury and has never changed course. She has practiced in Ascension, East Baton Rouge Jefferson, Livingston, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington Parishes for her entire 28 years of legal experience including, Amite, Baton Rouge, Chalmette, Covington, Denham Springs, Franklinton, Gonzales, Gretna, Hammond,...

Devin Ricci is a partner in the New Orleans office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2012 and practices primarily in the intellectual property group, but also practices in the pipeline and expropriations, commercial litigation, and transaction groups.

Allen P. Jones is a shareholder in Wiener, Weiss & Madison, A Professional Corporation. He practices in the areas of estate planning, tax law, succession and probate law, business and corporate law, and real estate. Allen represents individuals and families in all aspects of estate planning, including the preparation of wills, trusts, partnerships and limited liability companies. His work in the area of business and corporate law includes business succession planning, corporate reorganizations, and business sale transactions. He is Board Certified by the Louisiana State Bar in Estate Planning, and is licensed as a title insurance agent in the state...

Trey McCowan is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 1989 and practices in the litigation group. Trey represents local, regional and multi-national energy and petrochemical clients in a wide variety of litigation matters. He has specific experience representing clients in litigation involving complex commercial agreements and legacy site litigation in the energy industry. Trey also represents clients with regard to environmental litigation and toxic tort defense. He also advises clients on electronic discovery, e-discovery compliance, electronically stored information (ESI), electronic information management, and retention and destructive policies and procedures.

Trey is listed...

Rich is a shareholder with Wiener, Weiss & Madison. He joined the firm in 2013 and advises businesses, families and individuals in the areas of Taxation, Corporate Law, Securities Law, Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate Law, Estate Planning, Successions/Probate, Title Insurance and Nonprofit Law.

With extensive experience in real estate and business management, Christie Tournet & Associates is the consummate business, estate planning, and successions/probate firm. Christie views legal issues through a unique lens and becomes a trusted legal and business adviser.

After graduating #1 in his law school class, Scott Courrege was admitted to practice law in Louisiana in the Spring of 2018. Scott was born and raised in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and graduated from St. Stanislaus High School in 1998. In 2001, Scott was hired as a police officer for the Gulfport Police Department and worked full-time while he completed his B.A. in Criminal Justice at the University of Southern Mississippi.

In 2003, Scott went to work for the United States Border Patrol, where he served as a Senior Patrol Agent on the prestigious San Diego Sector Air Mobile Unit....

Trippe Hawthorne is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2004 and practices in the construction, ADR and business litigation groups. Trippe has experience in all phases of the construction industry and in a wide variety of commercial litigation, and general litigation matters, including design and construction contracting and dispute resolution across all sectors, including industrial, commercial, public, and residential; public bidding and procurement challenges; and public and private works lien laws. Trippe has experience with administrative law and occupational licensing law, having served as General Counsel for the Louisiana State Licensing...

I am an experienced felony criminal defense trial attorney – bringing more than 40 felony jury trials to verdict in the last nine years. Call me now if you have a serious legal matter and you need immediate assistance. I was born in Ascension Parish and grew up in Baton Rouge. After moving around the south, I settled back home in 1999 where I started back a LSU, concluding with a Law Degree from the Paul Hebert Law Center at LSU in 2008. I began further studies at the University of Florida, School of Pharmacy, where I am...

Danny Russell is an experienced and aggressive attorney representing clients who face DWI charges in Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston, St. Tammany, Covington, Mandeville, Gonzales, Tangipahoa, West Baton Rouge, Prairieville, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, Slidell, and throughout Louisiana.

A native New Orleanian, Leo graduated from Holy Cross High School, later obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of New Orleans, and then his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, where he served as the Study Body President, Lead Attorney in the American Trial Lawyers Association Trial Competition, and member of the Clinic Program, successfully trying and winning cases on behalf of individuals’ rights. After graduating from Loyola School of Law, Leo opened the Palazzo Law Firm. Leo is admitted to practice in all state and appellate courts throughout Louisiana, the Federal Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts,...

Scott Wilson has handled more than 185 cases in federal district courts, 35 appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, three petitions for writs to the Supreme Court of the United States, and numerous trials and appeals in Louisiana district and appellate courts. In a landmark ruling, I obtained a reversal from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of a summary judgment granted by the district court in the first Family and Medical Leave Act case heard by any federal appellate court. See Manuel v. Westlake Polymers Corp., 66 F.3d 758 (5th Cir. 1995)....

I am a CPA and attorney. I have been a CPA since 1994 and an Louisiana attorney since 2000. The Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization has designated me as a Board Certified Estate Planning and Administration Specialist (since 2008), as well as a Board Certified Tax Law Specialist (also since 2008). My practice focuses strongly on the needs and issues particular to farmers, middle income clients and small business owners. These include issues such as estate tax reduction, medicaid long-term care planning, special needs planning, asset protection planning, and small business protection planning. Plans I regularly recommend and personally draft for...

Chip applies his more than three decades of civil trial litigation experience to the most complex and difficult cases of medical malpractice and products liability nowadays. Based in the metro New Orleans area, Chip is licensed in Louisiana and Texas, he has a multi-state practice and has been admitted pro hac vice in many other states including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Chip brings together meticulous preparation with passionate courtroom advocacy on behalf of both his individual and corporate clients.

Chip’s preeminent professional achievements have been recognized by his peers and various legal and professional organizations including...

Alan Berteau is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 1995 and practices in the legacy and commercial litigation defense groups. He represents clients in complex and class action litigation matters involving damage claims relating to oil and gas exploration and production operations, commercial disputes, chemical exposure claims, and industrial accidents.

Alan has particular experience representing clients in class action and mass tort cases involving, long-term exposure and groundwater or soil contamination, air releases, and in the use of computer technology, including mapping and litigation support software, in the management and prosecution of...

Peyton Murphy is a lifelong resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After completing his undergraduate study at Louisiana State University in 1988, Peyton P. Murphy was immediately admitted to law school. He received his Juris Doctorate from Tulane Law School in 1991. Peyton P. Murphy was admitted to the Connecticut State Bar and the Louisiana State Bar in 1992 and 1993, respectively. Mr. Murphy is also licensed in the Western, Middle and Eastern District of the Federal U.S. District Courts in Louisiana as well as the United States Supreme Court. Peyton P. Murphy is an active member of the Baton Rouge Bar Association...

Scott Andrews is a 2011 Baton Rouge Business Report Forty Under 40 honoree, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers and Top 40 Under 40 member, Secretary of the Northwestern State University Foundation, an Adjunct Professor of Law teaching Insurance Law, Products Liability and Advanced Louisiana Torts at the Southern University Law Center. Scott has also been selected for inclusion in Louisiana Super Lawyers-Personal Injury Plaintiff (2012-2013), and enjoys a prestigious AV peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Scott Andrews is a Member of the Louisiana Law Review and published one article prior to graduating in 1996 as a member of...

Growing up, I had the typical south-Louisiana experience. I learned to swim before I could walk when I was thrown from the boat while fishing down in Lafitte (I do not know anyone who did not learn to swim that way). I used to know French may che. I raised alligators taken from the nest after wrestling mom for fun. And I used to have this great Cajun accent when I was the waterboy for the football team.

My name is Loyd Bourgeois. And while that is not exactly my life story, it is...

I started Mitchell & Associates because I wanted to be able to do more for my clients. Up until that point I worked at a prestigious law firm representing big, corporate and insurance industry type clients. My job was to defend them at all cost, even when they were wrong. I did my job, and I did my job well. In 1999 I walked out of the Firm with one file, a case where my client was seriously hurt in a car accident, determined to practice law the way I wanted to and for the clients I wanted...

As a partner at Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP (SSEK Law Firm), Kirk G. Smith focuses his practice on securities law. Representing individual and institutional investors against banks, brokerage firms and trust companies, Mr. Smith generally handles cases involving issues such as retirement losses, broker and brokerage firm misconduct, investment derivatives, fraud and financial product failures. He serves clients throughout the U.S.

Before earning a Juris Doctor from the South Texas College of Law Houston, Mr. Smith attended Loyola University New Orleans. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

Previously working as an investment advisor for a large brokerage firm and...

Paul "Woody" Scott is passionate in his representation of clients. Mr. Scott founded The Scott Law Firm and practices in immigration law, deportation and removal defense, criminal defense, and Federal Criminal and Immigration Litigation. Mr. Scott was born in a small hospital in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. At two years old he and his mother moved to the New Orleans, Louisiana, area where he was raised. After he graduated from Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie, he moved to Baton Rouge where he attended Louisiana State University to obtain his bachelor degree. He went on to receive his Juris...

Trenton A. Grand, a native of Baton Rouge practices law in areas of consumer and commercial bankruptcy, debt reorganization, estate planning-wills and trusts, personal injury, and residential and commercial real estate transactions.

Matt Smith is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2013 and practices in the commercial litigation, toxic tort defense, and environmental litigation groups. His work focuses on the representation of oil and gas exploration and production companies, mid-stream companies, and other industry companies in various litigation matters including property damage and contamination, property rights, and commercial and contractual disputes.

Matt has extensive experience guiding clients through claims related to soil contamination, groundwater contamination, air pollution, and the associated regulatory standards. His practice covers a wide range of commercial and litigation issues ranging...