Laura E. Fine

Richard Cozad is a partner in SBSB’s New Orleans office with more than 45 years of experience in private law practice. A member of the firm since August 2018, he has focused his years of practice primarily on admiralty, marine insurance and environmental law. Richard received his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University before going on to earn his law degree from Tulane University. Following graduation, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Nauman Scott, former Chief Judge of...

Judy Barrasso is a founding member of Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation, and includes complex commercial litigation matters and class actions involving complex commercial contracts, director and officer liability, securities fraud, and insurance coverage and bad faith claims. Judy has been ranked by Chambers USA as a top commercial litigator, by Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star, and by the Diversity Journal as among 20...

Heather Angelico quickly and efficiently evaluates claims and related legal issues to assist clients in deciding whether matters should be resolved early or taken through trial. She focuses her practice on the Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and Defense Base Act and has extensive experience defending employers and carriers under the Longshore & Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Non-appropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act, the Louisiana State Workers’ Compensa...

Ned Bergin is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. He represents utilities and publicly held companies in a broad range of disputes. Ned has a robust commercial litigation practice focused on utility regulation, complex and class action litigation, contract litigation, energy litigation, state constitutional and home rule law and antitrust matters. He represents publicly held entities in these areas, including large nationwide telecommunications providers and energy production and coge...

Of Counsel

Natalie Taylor enjoys a diverse commercial law practice handling a wide range of issues, including corporate formations, reorganizations, and dissolutions, joint venture arrangements, corporate governance, private equity capital raising, project finance, real estate, and title review. Natalie’s practice has focused primarily on assisting local and international clients with all stages of project development, including company start-up, industrial site land acquisitions, structuring and ...

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...

Ashley advises businesses, financial institutions, and individuals concerning bankruptcies, class actions, contracts, construction, environmental issues, fidelity, surety and financial institution bonds, insurance, professional malpractice, real estate, corporate, and estate matters. She also mediates and arbitrates business disputes. Ashley currently serves as a member of the AAA Construction Panel, AAA Commercial Panel and FINRA Panel as an arbitrator and mediator. After Hurricane Katrina, ...

Joanne Rinardo defends clients in employment and constitutional claims and is best known for litigation involving Title VII, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and Family Medical Leave Act, as well as general employment claims. Ms. Rinardo has defended 60 EEOC and/or comparable state agency charges in a tri-state area over a two-year period with no findings of “cause” issued against the client. She also advises clients ...

Demarcus Gordon is a partner in the Oil and Gas/Energy and Environmental Litigation sections and specializes in litigation involving the oil and gas industry. He has experience representing clients in cases involving premises liability and personal injury, particularly in cases involving chemical exposures such as asbestos, benzene, or naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). Mr. Gordon also defends oil and gas exploration and production companies in legacy litigation by landowners a...