Melanie Derefinko

Brian D. Katz is a partner of Herman, Herman & Katz, L.L.C. Mr. Katz attended the University of Alabama, where he was the President of the College of Communication (1990-1991) and Zeta Beta Tau fraternity (1989-1991), as well as a member of the Blue Key Honor Society and the Order of Omega. After receiving his B.A. from the University of Alabama, Mr. Katz attended Tulane University School of Law, where he received his J.D. in January of 1996. While at Tulane, Mr. Katz clerked for the Orle...

Frederic Theodore 'Ted' Le Clercq acts as a “problem solver” for his clients faced with labor & employment law, professional liability defense, civil rights litigation, and constitutional law claims. His experience includes developing a national coordinating counsel program for a Fortune 200 national retailer. He currently serves as that client's national coordinating counsel for high-value personal injury claims. Ted is also a frequent speaker for a variety of professional gr...

Tyler Rench is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. He focuses on fiduciary, insurance, and banking disputes. Tyler has broad-based experience representing clients in federal and state courts, as well as in administrative proceedings and alternative dispute resolution. He represents and advises clients in connection with succession and trust litigation; disputes over life, health, and disability insurance; banking and commercial issues; and class action and civil RICO litigation. Befor...

Sid Lewis is a partner and leader of the Labor & Employment Practice Group, where he consults and advises management and human resources personnel with respect to employment and labor laws. Sid advises clients throughout the United States in all industries, including retail, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, and service industries. A majority of his work involves general advice to employers on a variety of employment situations, including discipline, terminations, applications, leav...

Dirk Wegmann is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. He focuses on commercial civil litigation. Drawing on his more than 30 years of litigation experience, Dirk provides effective representation to clients in federal courts, state courts, and arbitration. He has substantial experience providing counsel regarding disputes and litigation in the areas of insurance coverage, tax, breach of contract, injunctions, fraud, unfair competition, landlord/tenant, construction, trusts and estates, ...

S. Frazer Rankin focuses on commercial real estate transactions and development, estate planning, trusts, successions, corporate and commercial law, oil-and-gas law, and employment law. Frazer was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He attended Tulane University and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1969. Graduating from Tulane University Law School in 1972 with his Juris Doctor, he was admitted to the bar in 1973. Frazer has extensive experience in the representation of major landowners, and in iden...

Kerry Miller is a partner in Fishman Haygood’s Litigation Section. Kerry has the distinction of trying both the longest civil and criminal trials in the history of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. As jury trials resumed following pandemic related delays, Kerry tried the first civil jury trial in federal court in Louisiana and in Miami-Dade County in state court. Since June 2021, Kerry has tried several jury trials and participated in a large arbitr...

I am a founding partner of JJC Law LLC, where I focus on maritime, products liability, environmental, and personal injury litigation. I was born in Patterson, Louisiana, in St. Mary Parish, and grew up along the Bayou Teche. My journey eventually led me to New Orleans, where I attended Tulane University and Tulane Law School. My background in physics, mathematics, and computer science, combined with my lifelong experience around the offshore and inland oil and gas industries, gives me a uniqu...

Richard E. Sarver is a founding member of the law firm of Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C., a New Orleans litigation firm ranked among the top litigation firms in Louisiana. Rick has extensive jury trial experience, including trials in thirteen different states. He has served as lead trial attorney in more than 100 jury trials, including complex multidistrict litigation. Many of his trials have been in bet-the-company litigation, where he repeatedly has succeeded before j...

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...