June 2022
1970s
Mark A. Fullmer (’76) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in corporate/mergers and acquisitions.
Michael D. Hunt (’77) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in construction.
Jan M. Hayden (’79) of Baker Donelson has been elected to serve as chair of the American College of Bankruptcy Foundation. Hayden is the first woman to hold this position, and she previously served as the ACBF's vice chairperson. She has more than 40 years of experience handling bankruptcy and insolvency issues. Hayden concentrates on assisting clients with restructuring and creditors' rights both in and out of bankruptcy proceedings.
1980s
Richard Arsenault ('80) has been selected for 2022 membership of the Nation's Top One Percent by The National Association of Distinguished Counsel. Has has also been selected for inclusion in the 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers Guide.
Rudy Aguilar (’82), a partner at McGlinchey in the Baton Rouge office, has been elected to the board of directors of the Foundation for Woman’s Hospital, which is an extension of Woman’s Hospital that raises philanthropic support to improve the health of women and infants.
Randy P. Roussel (’84) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in real estate.
Thomas H. Kiggans (’84) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in labor and employment.
Kevin LaVie (’84) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in transportation: shipping/maritime: litigation - outside New York.
Steve J. Levine (’84) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in environment, and environment: litigation.
Errol King, Jr. (’86) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in health care.
John O. Shirley (’86) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in energy and natural resources: utilities.
Hon. John C. Davidson (’88) has been installed as treasurer of the Louisiana Bar Foundation. Davidson was elected as a Ninth Judicial District Judge in 2004. He began his private practice in New Orleans working in the areas of complex commercial litigation and bankruptcy. Davidson moved to Alexandria in 1992 and continued his private practice in the areas of commercial litigation, general defense work, personal injury and domestic law.
Susan W. Furr (’89) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in labor and employment.
1990s
Warner Delaune (’91) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in intellectual property.
Ragan Richard (’93) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in real estate.
Ivan Rodriguez (’93) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in transportation: shipping/maritime: litigation - outside New York.
Edmund J. Giering IV (’94) has been installed as secretary of the Louisiana Bar Foundation. Giering serves as general counsel to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and his practice emphasizes corporate law and governance, corporate, real estate and complex gift transactions, risk management, and nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations.
Angella H. Myers (’97) will serve as managing partner of the Dallas and New Orleans offices of Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck, a New York-based firm with more than 200 lawyers across the U.S., following the addition of the Myers Law Group. Myers will also serve as co-chair of KDV’s labor and employment law practice. Myers founded her firm in 2006.
Virginia Dodd (’97) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in Insurance.
Kelsey Funes (’97) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in construction.
Karleen J. Green (’97) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in employee benefits and executive compensation.
Alan Harrell (’97) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in environment: litigation.
Jeffrey M. Barbin (’98) of Phelps is included on the 2022 Chambers USA list of premier lawyers practicing in gaming and licensing.
Maggie Trahan Simar (’98), Family Court Hearing Officer for the 16th Judicial District Court in St. Martinville, is the recipient of the Louisiana Bar Foundation’s 2022 President's Award, which she was awarded in recognition of her outstanding support, dedication, and advancement of the mission and goals of the foundation. Maggie has been a LBF Fellow since 2010 and an LBF board member since 2020. She also serves on the Grants Committee as the CPP Subcommittee Chair, working with the nine panels to review funding recommendations. This year, she also worked with the panels to identify potential programs and projects located in areas designated as legal deserts that are eligible for LBF panel funding. In her spare time, Simar volunteers for other non-profit organizations in her community including the Junior League of Lafayette, Lafayette Bar Association, Krewe of Xanadu, where she is a past president, Lafayette Bar Foundation, and Maddie's Footprints. She is also an active Editorial Board member on the Louisiana Bar Journal and a House of Delegates member for the 16th Judicial District. She has been elected to serve as the President Elect for the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts-Louisiana Chapter for the upcoming year.
2000s
Andy Dupre (’09) of the Dupre Law Firm in New Orleans has been named a top personal injury attorney in Louisiana by The National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys.
2010s
Anna Brown Priestley (’13), a Vice President and Trust Advisor at Regions Private Wealth Management, recently earned the Certified Trust & Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) professional certification from the American Bankers Association (ABA). The CTFA certification is awarded to individuals who demonstrate excellence in the field of wealth management and trust.
Reshonda W. Thompson (’13) has joined Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn in New Orleans. Thompson focuses her practice on trucking and transportation law, casualty litigation, personal injury, and premise liability cases. She has nearly 10 years of experience handling bench trials in both city and district court. Before joining the firm, Thompson worked for a large regional personal injury firm.
Brian Marcelle (’97), Alex Robertson (’16), and Jacques Mestayer (’16) have formed the law firm of Marcelle Robertson Mestayer. MRM will advocate for those involved in railroad worker and train-related accidents, maritime incidents, serious car crashes, asbestos exposure, insurance disputes, hurricane property damage disputes and other areas of personal injury. Marcelle is a nationally-recognized litigator with 25 years of courtroom experience, having tried nearly 100 jury trials in both state and federal courts. He previously served as assistant district attorney in Orleans Parish and an assistant U.S. attorney in New Orleans. Robertson worked at the New Orleans defense firm Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore litigating and trying high-stakes personal injury for corporate defendants. He then became a plaintiff lawyer. Mestayer is a former law clerk to Judge W. Eugene Davis of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He has represented hundreds of plaintiffs across Louisiana in wrongful death, maritime, railroad, motor vehicle accident and property damage cases.
In Memory
Robert E. Leake (’48), 3/16/2022
James Hugh Martin (’57), 4/5/2022
Charles M. "Mike" Cassidy (’71), 04/20/2022
Sumpter B. Davis, III ('67), 4/20/2022
Timothy John McNamara (’61), 5/4/2022
Graydon Kelly Kitchens, Jr. ('64), 6/12/2022
