Donald R. "Don" Abaunza

Calling on over 35 years of experience, Mr. Stout's practice includes insurance defense and general litigation in the areas of products liability and toxic torts. Mr. Stout mainly defends clients in toxic tort cases involving long-term latent disease, personal injury, and death claims involving silicosis or asbestosis and also has experience with asbestos property damage and building abatement claims. Mr. Stout also defends clients in products liability and maritime personal injury claims def...

Jennifer Kogos is a partner in the Labor & Employment Practice Group. She advises and defends employers in a broad range of compliance matters and employment disputes. A trusted advisor and dependable advocate, Jennifer focuses on litigation, counsel, and training for large employers in the healthcare, retail, and energy industries. She has particular experience defending Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions and litigating a broad range of employment claims, including sexual...

Seth Levine is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group and co-chair of the Industrial, Petrochemical & Advanced Manufacturing Industry Team. Seth has a wide-ranging practice primarily focused on the petrochemical and energy industry and has extensive experience in project infrastructure financing, land acquisitions, servitude acquisitions, mineral issues, title and surveys, and all other real estate matters, including all aspects of commercial and industrial real estate development, dil...

Tim Brechtel is a partner in the Tax Practice Group. He counsels employers on tax and ERISA compliance issues relating to employee retirement, health, welfare, compensation, and other plans. Tim advises clients ranging from sole proprietorships to large, multinational corporations on establishing, administering, merging, and terminating qualified defined-contribution and defined-benefit retirement plans — such as 401(k) plans and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) — and nonqua...

Mark Dodart is a partner in the litigation group of Phelps Dunbar who practices primarily in the areas of general litigation, insurance coverage and tort litigation. He counsels clients, manages disputes and tries cases involving personal injury, products liability, class actions, toxic tort exposure, premises liability, and property damage. Mr. Dodart also serves as local, regional and national coverage counsel for domestic insurance companies in matters arising from bad faith, construction ...

Kelly Ransom’s practice is focused on intellectual property litigation, energy and environmental litigation, and other high-stakes, complex litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. Ms. Ransom defends a range of clients in patent infringement cases, including banks, a leading global payment and financial technology solutions provider, and some of the world’s largest technology companies. She was recognized as a top performing patent litigator in the U.S. by Patexia’...

Mark A. Cunningham is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group and co-team leader of the corporate compliance and white collar defense team. Mark provides strategic advice to clients on competition and trade issues related to the structuring of national and global distribution networks, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property protection. Mark also serves as first-chair trial counsel for companies and individuals under law enforcement scrutiny or facing bet-the-co...

David Patrón serves as the Regional Practice Coordinator of the firm’s New Orleans Litigation Group where he manages one of the firm’s largest practice groups. With over twenty years of legal experience, David Patrón has established a solid reputation as a talented litigator who successfully represents businesses at all phases of litigation in state and federal courts throughout the Gulf South and beyond. Whether winning at trial or negotiating favorable settlements,...

Joe Lowenthal is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. He has extensive experience in the fields of healthcare, insurance coverage, contracts, and environmental and toxic torts. Joe provides broad-based advice and focused litigation counsel for a variety of clients. Leader of the firm’s healthcare team, his representative matters include litigation on behalf of a managed service organization in multiple federal and state district courts across the United States, with responsibilit...

Carl Rosenblum is special counsel in the Litigation Practice Group. He focuses on representing parties involved in significant oil and gas contract disputes. Carl counsels and advises clients with operations onshore and on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. For more than three decades, he has represented independent producers, major producers, pipeline companies, oilfield service companies, seismic exploration companies, oil and gas management companies, financial institutions...