On February 9, 2010, following oral argument, the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal upheld the trial court's ruling that the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, represented by Jones Walker associate Avery B. Pardee, was not negligent in a personal injury case. The Fifth Circuit, in a unanimous decision, rejected plaintiff's arguments that a witness called by the Public Belt improperly gave expert testimony, and that the trial court erred in failing to find the Public Belt negligent. Gonzalez v. Gov't Employees Ins. Co., et al., 09-140 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2/9/10).

Ms. Pardee is a member of Jones Walker's Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group, and practices in the areas of appellate litigation, business and commercial litigation, and corporate compliance and white collar defense. She received her juris doctor degree, summa cum laude, from Tulane University Law School in 2007.