Thomas Rayer Jr.

Mr. Whittaker is Chair of the firm's Business Section. He represents clients in a wide variety of transactions, including buying, selling and merging companies; private placements of securities; venture capital and private equity transactions; joint ventures; roll-ups, spin-offs and split-ups; and all phases of real estate acquisitions, development and financing. Mr. Whittaker joined Stone Pigman in 1984.

During law school, David was a member of the Law Review from 1985-1987 and served as Articles/Comments Editor from 1986-1987. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Louis M. Phillips, Judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. David's practice has centered on bankruptcy law and commercial litigation. He has a comprehensive knowledge of the Bankruptcy Code and extensive experience in bankruptcy court litigation. He has successfully represented debtors, ...

Avery Pardee is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. She is a career defense attorney and represents clients in white collar criminal matters, internal and government investigations, and commercial litigation. Avery has significant experience defending and advising individuals as well as publicly traded companies, private businesses, and other entities with respect to internal investigations, government and grand jury investigations, criminal prosecutions, parallel proceedings, regulat...

Wayne Zeringue, a partner in the Maritime Practice Group and Energy, Environmental, and Natural Resources Industry Team, represents marine and energy clients in a broad range of litigation and transactions. Wayne has more than 30 years of experience in admiralty and maritime, oil and gas, construction, products liability, and environmental litigation. He represents oil companies, exploration and production companies, builders, owners, barge lines, towing companies, marine fabricators, shipyar...

Pat Vance is a partner in and leader of the Litigation Practice Group. He focuses on business litigation, debtors' and creditors’ rights litigation, and business bankruptcy. Pat has the distinction of being one of the few lawyers who is both a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He is also a life member of the American Law Institute and a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference. As a trial attorney, Pat has handled mor...

Jeff Tillery is a partner in the Maritime Practice Group and co-leader of the maritime litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution team. He helps maritime and marine industry clients prevent and resolve a broad range of disputes. For more than 35 years, Jeff has advised and represented clients in maritime personal injury and collision matters, commercial litigation, longshore matters, and marine insurance coverage disputes, and has tried, as lead counsel, complex marine multi-party casual...

Clyde is a native of Norfolk, Virginia, and a Director in the firm’s labor relations and employment practice. His experience spans over 30 years, working exclusively in the field of labor relations and employment. Clyde has represented employers throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Norway, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Nigeria. He speaks regularly to employers and associations nationwide, trains managers on the fundamentals of employee relations, and advises companies...

Mr. Garner, a Member of the firm is a trial lawyer specializing in commercial and complex litigation. He has been lead counsel in cases in New Mexico, California, West Virginia, Kansas, Arizona, Indiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, involving complex and class action litigation ranging from asbestos exposure, benzene exposure, mass closings of big box retailers, noise pollution, commercial, banking, bankruptcy and financial litigation. He is admitted to practice before the fede...

Blair Schilling is a partner in Fishman Haygood’s Litigation Section, where she represents clients in a wide range of commercial matters in federal and state court, with a concentration in environmental law. Blair’s environmental practice spans coastal erosion and restoration, land contamination, land use, clean water, asset retirement, brownfield site cleanup and redevelopment, regulatory and permitting matters, and expropriation issues. In doing this work, Blair represents state...

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.