Jones Walker LLP is pleased to announce the firm has elected eight new partners and elected Ryan Johnson and reelected Aileen Thomas to its board of directors for four-year terms, effective January 1, 2023.

Bill Hines, managing partner of Jones Walker, said, “Our newly elected partners at Jones Walker are a strong group of lawyers who represent our ongoing commitment to diverse and exceptional leadership and will support our goals of growth and high-performance client service. The board and I are also very pleased to be working with Aileen and Ryan as we lead the firm into the future.”

Jones Walker’s newest partners include former special counsel attorneys Meredith Maxwell and Carmen Rodriguez as well as former associates Jessica Allain, Brett Beter, Jeff Birdsong, Michael Foley, Allison Kingsmill, and Chris Ulfers. These partnerships are also effective January 1.

Board Members

Ryan Johnson is a member of the Litigation Practice Group in the Baton Rouge office. He represents clients in state and federal courts in a wide range of litigation matters, including commercial disputes. He has extensive experience with class action defense, intellectual property matters, and products liability matters.

Aileen Thomas is a member of the Tax Practice Group in the Jackson office and a reelected member of the firm’s board of directors. She regularly serves as bond and underwriter’s counsel for a variety of public finance clients and is actively involved in New Markets Tax Credit and Historic Preservation Tax Credit transactions on a national basis. Aileen has served many years as an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law and currently serves on the board of directors of the Mississippi Capital Area Habitat for Humanity.

New Partners

Meredith Maxwell is a member of the Corporate Practice Group in the New Orleans office. She regularly advises clients with regard to mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; joint ventures; business entity formation and business planning; corporate governance; and other business transactions. Meredith has extensive experience representing various sectors of the healthcare services industry.

Carmen Rodriguez is a member of the Litigation Practice Group in the Lafayette office. Her practice includes admiralty, commercial litigation, administrative law, telecommunications, environmental and toxic tort litigation, and insurance coverage and fraud matters. Carmen has considerable experience with complex cases, including multidistrict litigation and class actions, both as a litigator and as a special master.

Jessica Allain is a member of the Litigation Practice Group in the Lafayette office. She represents and advises clients on contract disputes, real estate issues, construction litigation, business torts, and general commercial disputes. Jessica also regularly volunteers within her Lafayette community, including serving on the boards of the Acadiana Center for the Arts and The Family Tree.

Brett Beter is a member of the Corporate Practice Group in the New Orleans office. He represents public and private companies, including private equity funds and strategic investors, in connection with mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, reorganizations, and other general corporate matters in a variety of industries and sectors, including construction, healthcare, telecommunications, infrastructure, energy, sports, and entertainment. In the New Orleans community, Brett serves as an active member of the Fore!Kids Foundation.

Jeff Birdsong is a member of the Tax Practice Group in the New Orleans office. He advises businesses on a range of state and local tax controversy and planning matters, including issues dealing with corporate income, franchise, sales and use, property, severance, license, transfer, and hotel/motel taxes, among others. Jeff also maintains a full service tax-exempt organizations practice, counseling an array of not-for-profit entities from formation to dissolution, including obtaining and maintaining federal tax exemptions. He commits his time to several nonprofit organizations by serving on the boards of directors for Music to Life, No Days Offline, and the City Park Conservancy.

Michael Foley is a member of the Labor & Employment Practice Group and the trade secrets team in the New Orleans office. He provides broad-ranging employment law counsel and litigation services, with a focus on issues involving the use and protection of trade secrets and other proprietary information. Michael represents private employers in industries such as oil and gas, advanced manufacturing, technology, insurance, hospitality, and healthcare, among others.

Allison Kingsmill is a member of the Litigation Practice Group in the New Orleans office. Her practice includes breach of contract, government projects and public bids, business torts, insurance coverage, and other areas of complex commercial litigation as well as appellate work in the state and federal appellate courts. In addition to her litigation experience, Allison has assisted in drafting and proposing new legislation that was enacted by the state.

Chris Ulfers is a member of the Maritime and Corporate practice groups in the New Orleans office. He focuses his practice on maritime law and regularly advises and represents clients in maritime, regulatory, and commercial matters. Chris has extensive experience in marine finance and the negotiation and drafting of a wide variety of maritime contracts. He also has experience handling a variety of commercial disputes in the maritime, energy, and other industries, including issues related to insurance coverage, indemnity disputes, construction litigation, maritime lien disputes, vessel seizures and attachments, maritime and aviation personal injury cases, property damage cases, and vessel collisions and allisions.

About Jones Walker
Jones Walker LLP (joneswalker.com) is among the largest 135 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.