Jones Walker LLP is pleased to announce the firm has elected 10 new partners and elected Richard Cortizas and reelected Rivers Lelong to its board of directors for four-year terms, effective January 1, 2022.

Bill Hines, managing partner of Jones Walker said, "I am honored to welcome a strong group of newly elected Jones Walker partners. I also look forward to working with Richard and Rivers and the other leaders of our firm as we continue to execute our strategic plan for success and growth. Richard’s particular background and leadership in our diversity and inclusion efforts are an essential and welcome perspective for our board of directors and our firm.”

Jones Walker’s newest partners include former special counsel attorneys Gibbons Addison, Liz Craddock, Nick Irmen, John Morris, and Rose Sher as well as former associates Victoria Bagot, Daniel Baldwin, Jason Culotta, Thomas Slattery, and Joey Steadman. These partnerships are also effective January 1, 2022.

Board Members

Richard Cortizas is a member of the Corporate Practice Group in the New Orleans office and serves as the firm’s Chief Diversity Officer. He focuses on transactional matters, representing clients in complex land use and zoning matters, public finance, and economic development projects. He has extensive experience representing corporate clients, developers and individuals before local planning commissions, boards of zoning adjustments, and governing authorities of political subdivisions throughout the state.

Rivers Lelong is a member of the Corporate Practice Group and a reelected member of the firm’s board of directors. Rivers’ practice involves a variety of commercial transactions comprising secured finance, real estate, acquisitions and divestitures of privately held companies and their assets, and the negotiation of sophisticated commercial contracts. He is also general outside counsel to an international consumer packaged goods company as well as to other smaller private businesses.

New Partners

Gibbons Addison is a member of the Litigation Practice Group in the firm’s Baton Rouge office. He represents individuals and businesses, from local organizations to Fortune 250 companies, in commercial, real estate, property damage, construction, employment, personal injury, intellectual property, environmental, oil and gas, and successions, trust, and estate litigation. He handles all aspects of litigation and alternative dispute resolution, including seeking and defending against requests for emergency and injunctive relief. Gibbons serves in the community with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Louisiana and the Big Buddy Program.

Elizabeth “Liz” Leoty Craddock is a member of the government relations team in the firm’s Washington, DC, office. She helps corporations, trade groups, and nonprofit entities connect and work with elected and appointed federal officials to educate, develop, negotiate, and pass legislation critical to the success of the US economy. Her areas of focus include energy, environment, natural resources, agriculture, climate change, and trade policy, as well as social justice, ethics, sanctions, and governance issues. Previously, Liz served as the first female majority staff director of the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and as vice president of government and industry affairs for an international oil and gas industry association.

Nick Irmen is a member of the Tax Practice Group in the firm’s New Orleans office. He is a member on the tax credit finance team and focuses on federal and state new markets tax credit, historic rehabilitation tax credit, and low-income housing tax credit transactions. Nick's experience includes representation of investors, developers, community development entities, syndication funds, and lenders in transactions utilizing the federal new markets tax credit, historic rehabilitation tax credit, low-income housing tax credit, and various state tax credits.

John Morris is a member of the Corporate Practice Group in the firm’s Baton Rouge and Lafayette offices. He primarily focuses on public finance transactions and related matters. He serves as bond counsel to local government entities, such as municipalities, special districts, and other political subdivisions, for their debt issuances. John also serves as counsel to underwriters, issuers, and trustee counsel in various public finance transactions. John is a resident of Lafayette, Louisiana, where he is an active community member in Lafayette. He serves on the board of directors for Downtown Lafayette Unlimited and sits on its Executive Finance Committee. John also serves on the Governmental Affairs Committee for One Acadiana.

Rose Sher is a member of the Tax Practice Group and the firm’s trusts & estates team in the New Orleans office. She practices in the areas of estate planning and estate administration and is a board-certified estate planning and administration specialist, as certified by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. Rose also holds a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy professional designation from The American College of Financial Services. In addition to her legal work, Rose also serves on the board of directors for the Jewish Children’s Regional Service and for the Jewish Endowment Foundation.

Victoria Bagot is a member of the Corporate Practice Group and the corporate, securities, and executive compensation team in the firm’s New Orleans office. Victoria advises public and private companies across a broad array of industries on a range of corporate matters and in a variety of transactions, primarily in the areas of capital markets, finance, and mergers and acquisitions. These matters have included public and private securities offerings of debt and equity securities, initial public offerings, and other transactions, such as tender offers, exchange offers and consent solicitations. She also regularly counsels clients in regard to SEC reporting, securities law and disclosure issues, and corporate governance and compliance.

Daniel Baldwin is a member of the Litigation Practice Group and the Energy, Environmental, & Natural Resources Industry Team in the Houston office. He routinely represents clients in all sectors of the oil and gas industry with an emphasis on disputes involving master service, joint operating, development, and purchase and sale agreements. Daniel has also represented oil and gas companies in matters related to wrongful death and personal injury. He is a Texas Bar Foundation fellow and has been named to Best Lawyer’s One’s to Watch in Commercial Litigation for the past two years. Daniel is also a member of the Duke University Young Alumni Development Council.

Jason Culotta is a member of the Labor & Employment Practice Group in the firm’s New Orleans office. Jason is active member of both the trade secret and non-compete litigation team and the wage and hour litigation team, and his practice focuses on protecting employers from unlawful competition and ensuring employers implement policies that comply with state and federal law. Jason has successfully litigated a wide range of complex commercial and employment matters. He also is an active member of the firm’s pro bono team and regularly works with indigent clients on criminal justice and immigration matters.

Thomas Slattery is a member of the Litigation Practice Group as well as the corporate compliance and white collar defense team in the firm’s New Orleans office. Tom assists companies in a variety of compliance matters, including corporate policies and procedures, third-party risk management, government enforcement, and internal corporate investigations, with a focus on anti-corruption, sanctions, and trade compliance. He also has significant securities litigation experience representing directors and officers of public companies in shareholder derivative suits and federal securities fraud class actions. Tom is the board secretary for FLYTE (Financial Literacy You Take Everywhere), a New Orleans nonprofit whose mission is to create equitable access to financial and professional resources for minority business owners and families throughout the region.

Joey Steadman is a member of the Litigation Practice Group in the firm’s Mobile office. Joey represents banks, financial institutions, and investors in commercial collection disputes and real estate matters in Alabama and Florida state courts. He also has defended municipal clients in civil litigation involving personal injury claims and land use disputes, as well as insurance companies in personal injury matters.

About Jones Walker
Jones Walker LLP (joneswalker.com) is among the largest 125 law firms in the United States. With offices in Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, and Texas, we serve local, regional, national, and international business interests. The firm is committed to providing a comprehensive range of legal services to major multinational public and private corporations, Fortune® 500 companies, money center banks, worldwide insurers, and emerging companies doing business in the United States and abroad.