Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2018 
H.S. Bartlett III (“Tad”), who leads the firm’s Appellate Practice, focuses on appellate advocacy and brings deep experience across state and federal courts nationwide. An Appellate Practice Specialist certified by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization, he serves as the 2026-2027 Secretary of the LBLS Appellate Practice Advisory Commission.
Tad has built a nationally recognized appellate practice, representing clients in all Louisiana state courts, multiple federal circuit courts of appeal—including the Second, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits—and in certiorari proceedings before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tad first practiced under the Louisiana student practice rule in 1999 as a member of the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic before graduating magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from Tulane Law School in 2000. While at Tulane, Tad served for a year as a research assistant to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (U.S. Supreme Court) and Judge James L. Dennis (U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit) for a class on comparative human rights law. After graduating, he served as a judicial clerk for Judge Dennis, then developed his litigation and appellate practice at the law firms of Liskow & Lewis and Krebs, Farley & Pelleteri. In 2009, he joined the team of attorneys at Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison, where he led that firm’s appellate practice across both its commercial and environmental litigation areas, working closely with Fishman Haygood’s litigation group on environmental and complex commercial matters where the two firms were co-counsel.
Tad was an integral part of a multi-firm team that developed the coastal litigation practice regarding land-loss on behalf of both landowners and governmental entities. In addition, Tad has been deeply involved in numerous complex commercial cases, from preferential rights disputes to bet-the-company litigation, as well as construction litigation.
Since 2019, Tad has served on Tulane Law School’s faculty as an adjunct professor, teaching an advanced seminar on Coastal Law Litigation & Policy each spring. He also serves as an advisory board member of the Tulane Institute of Water Resources Law and Policy.
In addition, Tad runs the Take the Fifth blog, which digests all opinions released by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, summarizes all opinions designated for publication, and tracks statistics on opinion releases from the Circuit.
