Press Release

NEW ORLEANS and PHOENIX—William H. Hines, Managing Partner of the law firm of Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère & Denègre L.L.P., announced the official opening of the firm’s Phoenix office effective January 5, 2009. The new office will be led by partner H. Hughes Grehan. Partner Monique A. Cenac will also work from the Phoenix office.

Mr. Hines commented, "Our new Phoenix office allows us to offer a wider range of services and locations to our corporate and financial services clients. One of the firm's larger clients, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, relocated its corporate headquarters to Phoenix, and we are pleased to serve our client more efficiently with a local office."

Mr. Grehan stated, "In addition to serving the needs of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, this office also helps to meet one of the firm's strategic business objectives and allows us to take advantage of a number of opportunities throughout the Southwest."

Jones Walker currently has 270 attorneys practicing in offices in Birmingham, Mobile, and Montgomery, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and New Orleans, Louisiana; Miami, Florida; Houston and The Woodlands, Texas; and Washington, D.C. The firm plans to grow its new Phoenix office as needed to serve its client base from that location.

Jones Walker has grown significantly in the past year through combinations with the law firms of Miller, Hamilton, Snider & Odom LLC in Ala., and Longman Russo, APLC in Lafayette, La. Jones Walker is the 163rd-largest law firm in the United States, according to The National Law Journal's 2009 survey of law firms, the NLJ 250.

Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère & Denègre L.L.P. provides a comprehensive range of legal services to a national and international corporate client base through offices in Arizona, Alabama, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

# # #