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201 St. Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA 70170-5100
504.452.6438 cell or 504.582.8218 tel
504.589.8218 fax


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Kelly Duncan is a partner in the firm's Admiralty & Maritime Practice Group and is a member of the firm's board of directors. He was honored in 2005 and 2009 as a recipient of the New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law Award, which recognizes 50 New Orleans attorneys for their success in the legal profession and for their contributions to the community.

Mr. Duncan has more than 30 years of experience handling admiralty, maritime, and international and customs law matters. His maritime practice includes both domestic and international matters relating to marine acquisitions, financings, vessel construction, regulatory issues, maritime lien enforcement and foreclosures, contracts of affreightment, terminal tariffs, and charter parties. Mr. Duncan has served as a speaker at maritime seminars throughout the country. His international practice includes, among other things, international commercial transactions, customs rulings, protests, reliquidations, seizures, forfeitures, and classification disputes.

Mr. Duncan also serves as the head of the firm's Gaming practice and is a member of the International Association of Gaming Advisors and serves as President of the International Masters of Gaming Law. He was one of only ten gaming attorneys from the United States listed in the 2011 edition of Chambers Global Guide as a notable practitioner in the area of Gaming & Gambling. Mr. Duncan was also recognized in the 2009 and 2010 editions of the publication.

Since the passage of legislation in states outside of Nevada and New Jersey starting in the early 1990s authorizing video poker, riverboat gaming, land based casinos, and racinos, Mr. Duncan has been integrally involved in the representation of major casino companies, manufacturers, suppliers, and financial institutions regarding all matters relating to the development, financing, and operation of such facilities. His extensive experience in such matters includes public private leases, financings, land use approvals, statutory and regulatory interpretation and compliance, gaming operations, administrative hearings, and litigation. He regularly serves as a speaker at international gaming conferences. Mr. Duncan's clients include many of the largest gaming operators and gaming equipment manufacturers and suppliers in the world, as well as major investment banking firms and large commercial lenders involved in secured and unsecured lending, and debt offerings and bond offerings in connection with the development of various gaming projects.

As a result of his maritime, gaming, and international practices, Mr. Duncan has extensive experience appearing before regulatory bodies and state and federal courts.

Noteworthy

• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012 (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC) in the areas of Admiralty & Maritime Law and Gaming Law (listed annually since 2005)
• Named "New Orleans Best Lawyers Gaming Law Lawyer of the Year" 2011
• Recognized in Chambers Global Guide in the area of Gaming & Gambling (annually since 2009)
  
• Recognized in "Chambers USA – America’s Leading Lawyers for Business" in the area of Gaming & Licensing (annually since 2005)
• Named to New Orleans CityBusiness' Leadership in Law (2005, 2009)
  
• Listed in the 2012 edition of Louisiana Super Lawyers in the area of Gaming, and in the area of Transportation/Maritime (2007–2011)
• AV® Peer Review Rating in Martindale-Hubbell

Representative Matters

• Special maritime counsel in a $405-million sale of all marine assets of a publicly traded utility to a private equity group
• Special maritime counsel in a $9.5-billion acquisition financing associated with a publicly held entity being taken private
• Special maritime counsel in a $2.2-billion debt exchange offer
• Special maritime counsel in a $5-billion debt exchange offer
• Gaming counsel to a multijurisdictional casino company in connection with its $2-billion-plus Chapter 11 bankruptcy
  

News

• Jones Walker Announces New Partners, Office Heads, and Board of Directors Members
• Fifty-Six Jones Walker Attorneys Named to Louisiana Super Lawyers 2012
• Duncan Elected President of International Masters of Gaming Law
• Eighty-Two Attorneys Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012
• Jones Walker Receives Unmatched Rankings in Chambers USA
• Duncan Presents at Southern Gaming Summit and International Masters of Gaming Law Spring Conference

Presentations

• "Compliance: The Concept, the Application, and the Limits", May 23, 2011
• "Commercial Gaming Regulatory Update", May 4, 2011
• "Gaming Device Malfunctions—Winners and Losers", May 6, 2010
• "Financing, Debt Workout and Bankruptcy in Gaming", February 18, 2010
• "The New Politics of Gaming", May 6, 2009
• "North America—Will There be an Earthquake?", 2008

Memberships

• American Association of Exporters and Importers (Member)
• American Bar Association (Member, Sections of Admiralty and Maritime Law and Business Law, Marine Financing and Gaming Law Committees)
• Association of Average Adjusters of the United States (Member)
• Audubon Boulevard Association (Member, Board of Directors; Past President)
• Audubon Commission (First Vice-President, Member, Board of Commissioners)
  
• Audubon Nature Institute (Past Chairman; Past Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, and Parliamentarian; Member, Board of Directors, Executive and Compensation Committees; Past Chairman, Legal Committee; Past Member, Grounds Committee; Chairman, Annual Fund, 1998; Member, Zoo-To-Do Sponsor Committee)
• Audubon Nature Institute Foundation (Past Member, Board of Directors and Investment Committee)
• Bureau of Governmental Research (Vice Chairman: Member, Board of Directors; Immediate Past Treasurer and Chairman, Finance Committee; Member, Executive and 75th Anniversary Committees) 
• Chamber of Commerce of New Orleans and the River Region (Past Chairman, Port and Waterways Advisory Committee; Past Member, Long Range Planning, State Legislation, and Area Committees)
• Federal Bar Association (Member)
• Gaming Law Review (Editorial Board)
• Georgetown University Alumni Admissions Program (Member, Louisiana Admission Committee)
• Georgetown University Board of Governors (Past Member)
• Georgetown University Club of Louisiana (Member; Past President)
• International Association of Gaming Advisors (Member)
• International Masters of Gaming Law (President; Past Vice President; Past Treasurer; Past Speaker at Annual Conference)
• Louisiana Children's Museum (Member, Advisory Committee; Chairman, 2007 Nominating Committee; Past President, Board of Directors; Past Member, Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Development Committee, and Long Range Planning Committee)
• Louisiana Nature and Science Center (Past President, Board of Directors; Past Member, Executive Committee, Long Range Planning Committee, and Finance Committee)
• Louisiana State Bar Association (Member, Sections on Admiralty and International Law)
• Maritime Law Association of the United States (Member, Sections of Marine Financing and Carriage of Goods; Past Speaker at the Annual Meeting)
• Metropolitan Area Committee (Member; Past Participant, MAC Leadership Forum, 1982)
• National Center for Wetlands Education (Past President)
• New Orleans Bar Association (Past Co-Chairman, Maritime and International Law Committee)
• New Orleans Maritime Seminar (Member, Advisory and Planning Committees; Past Moderator and Speaker at Annual Seminar)
• New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute (Class of 2005)
• Society for Environmental Education (Past President; Member, Board of Directors)
• Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute (Member; Past Speaker at Annual Meeting)
• Trinity Episcopal Church (Member, Endowment Committee)
• Trinity Episcopal School (Past Member, Board of Trustees and Finance Committee; Past Chairman, Development Committee)
• Tulane Latin American Law Institute (Advisory Committee)
• UNLV Gaming Law Journal (Advisory Board)
• United Way (Past Professional Group Solicitor)
• World Trade Center (Member; Past Member, Transportation Committee)
• Young Leadership Council (Past Member, Board of Directors)