Melanie C. Lockett

Stephen Brooks joined Pugh Accardo as a Special Partner. He has been practicing law since 1994 in Louisiana. He is an experienced insurance casualty and workers’ compensation defense attorney. He is trial counsel for multiple insurance companies, risk retention groups, self-insurers’ funds, insurance agencies and agents and corporate employers involved in litigation throughout the Southeast Region of the United States. Mr. Brooks has also been extensively employed by the insurance...

Peter S. Title practices in real estate, bankruptcy and commercial law. He is a graduate of Columbia University and of the Tulane University School of Law. At Tulane, he served on the Board of Editors of the Tulane Law Review, where he was Articles Editor in 1974-75, and received the Rittenberg-Weinstein Award for excellence in legal writing. He is a member of the Order of the Coif and of the Federal, American, Louisiana State and New Orleans Bar Associations. He has served as chairman of Tru...

Fishman Haygood partner Paul Thibodeaux has thrived in some of the most complex commercial litigations in the country for more than 20 years. With a background in civil engineering, Paul is a trial lawyer whose practice focuses on environmental and construction litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants. He routinely represents business interests, as well as individuals and landowners. Over the course of his career, Paul has successfully taken a lead role in many high-profile matters, incl...

David K. Smith is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Admiralty and Maritime Law. David K., who practices law in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which David K. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Steven W. Usdin is a founding member of Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C. His practice is concentrated in commercial litigation, including insurance coverage, contracts, class actions and complex litigation, oil and gas litigation and intellectual property. Throughout his career, his diverse representations have included, among many other cases, representing large public companies in shareholder litigation, a shipbuilder in a multi-million dollar contract dispute, and insu...

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,...

Kim Boyle practices in the areas of labor and employment, civil rights, constitutional law, commercial, tort and general litigation. Her employment practice includes representing employers in employment related claims, such as retaliation and discrimination claims as well as workplace harassment. She also handles EEOC charges and other administrative complaints through the administrative and judicial process. Her practice also includes the representation of public and private clients in a wid...

Lisa Futrell is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. She focuses on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters. Lisa Futrell has practiced in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency, and financial restructuring for more than 30 years. The scope of her practice includes the representation of creditors, debtors, trustees, and official and ad hoc committees in Chapter 11 cases, a foreign representative in Chapter 15 cases, adversary proceedings, out of court restructurings and forbearance...

Chris Ralston practices in a broad variety of commercial litigation and specializes in the areas of antitrust law, business torts, contract disputes, securities litigation and arbitration and intellectual property litigation. Mr. Ralston serves as the main litigation contact for a number of the firm's institutional clients. He also serves as a part of the firm's appellate practice. Mr. Ralston regularly appears in state and federal courts. He frequently litigates breach of contract disputes a...

Charles R. Talley is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Admiralty and Maritime Law and Oil and Gas Law. Charles R., who practices law in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been recognized since 2015. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Charles R. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.