Avery Island Business Lawyers

Rich is a shareholder with Wiener, Weiss & Madison. He joined the firm in 2013 and advises businesses, families and individuals in the areas of Taxation, Corporate Law, Securities Law, Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate Law, Estate Planning, Successions/Probate, Title Insurance and Nonprofit Law.

Roy’s law practice includes entertainment law (primarily television, film and music), contracts, transactional work, advising and forming business entities, intellectual property litigation, personal injury litigation and other complex litigation matters. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University and his Juris Doctorate degree from Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1986. Roy served five terms as a member of the Board of Governors of the Louisiana Association of Justice and served two terms on the Professionalism Committee for the Louisiana State Bar Association. He has also chaired and served on numerous Baton Rouge Bar...

Richard McConnell is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He is trial counsel for energy and financial companies in high stakes lawsuits involving a wide variety of claims. Prior cases involved soil and groundwater contamination, wetlands loss, toxic tort exposure, lost mineral leasing opportunities, mineral lease cancellation, pipeline right-of-way claims, expropriation/condemnation, and commercial litigation. Richard also serves as appellate counsel arguing before state and federal appellate courts.

Richard’s recent experience includes obtaining a successful verdict as trial counsel for national pipeline companies in a wetlands loss lawsuit involving canals that widened over time, he was lead...

Gayla Moncla is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller and practices in the areas of toxic tort and environmental litigation, premises liability, and commercial litigation. She has more than 25 years of experience in the chemical and petrochemical industries, defending workplace accidents, chemical exposure cases, products liability cases, as well as advising clients regarding workplace safety issues and OSHA regulations. Gayla also has experience in retail premises litigation having defended retail clients for over 25 years.

Gayla earned her B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1973. She earned her J.D. in 1989 from the LSU Law Center...

Greg Anding is a litigation partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 1995 and practices in the trial, toxic tort, expropriation, and commercial litigation groups. Greg represents clients in asbestos and benzene defense, other occupational and toxic tort litigation, hearing loss claims, expropriation (eminent domain) litigation, civil and business litigation, and construction law.

Greg has particular experience representing clients in cases involving premises liability, products liability, personal injury involving occupational and chemical exposures, and pipeline expropriation and expansion projects. He has specialized in asbestos and benzene litigation for over 20 years. Greg has handled...

Melissa Hemmans is an experienced Litigation Attorney in Kean Millers's Baton Rouge office. Her practice includes Petrochemical, Manufacturing, Municipal, Civil Rights Defense, Oil and Gas, and Local Business matters. She has extensive experience with cases involving Toxic Tort and Environmental claims. Melissa is dedicated to providing clients with creative solutions, unique strategies, and unparalleled value.

In 1996, Melissa received her B.A. from Louisiana State University. She obtained her J.D. from the LSU Law Center in 1999. Melissa is admitted to practice law in the State of Louisiana, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, United States District Courts for the Eastern,...

Rahim Smith, raised in the San Francisco Bay area, (Oakland, Ca) attended Morehouse College receiving his B.A. in Psychology and minor in English.

In 1996, he worked as an intern for Turner Sports, working his way up to producer, participating in projects such as: Summer Goodwill Games in 1998 (New York City), the Winter Olympics 1998 (Nagano, Japan), Inside the NBA 1998 through 2007 as a "tease" and "feature" producer.

Rahim is a three-time Emmy award winner for his role as Associate Producer for Inside the NBA playoffs coverage.

He served as a music consultant to Executive Vice President, Shakir...

Allison Benoit is special counsel in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2005 and practices in the toxic tort, occupational exposure, and commercial litigation groups. Prior to joining the firm, Allison practiced at an insurance defense firm in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Allison earned her B.A. in English, magna cum laude, from Louisiana State University in 1999. She earned her J.D. in 2003 from the LSU Law Center where she was a member of the Moot Court Board and a semi-finalist in the Robert Lee Tullis Moot Court Competition.

Alan Berteau is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 1995 and practices in the legacy and commercial litigation defense groups. He represents clients in complex and class action litigation matters involving damage claims relating to oil and gas exploration and production operations, commercial disputes, chemical exposure claims, and industrial accidents.

Alan has particular experience representing clients in class action and mass tort cases involving, long-term exposure and groundwater or soil contamination, air releases, and in the use of computer technology, including mapping and litigation support software, in the management and prosecution of...

Matthew Meiners is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2009 and practices in the business and corporate group. Matthew has experience in the drafting and negotiation of numerous industrial service and purchase agreements. He also has experience representing numerous individuals and small businesses in connection with acquisitions and divestitures of their respective businesses and with formation of new entities, including drafting organizational documents and planning of overall corporate structure.

Matthew earned his B.S. in International Trade and Finance with a minor in Economics from Louisiana State University in 1998. He earned his...

Forrest Guedry is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2018 and practices in the litigation group. Prior to joining the firm, Forrest practiced insurance and worker’s compensation defense in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Forrest earned his B.A., cum laude, from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2012. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2015, where he served as Editor in Chief of the Loyola Maritime Law Journal. He also participated in the Loyola Moot Court Program as an oralist on the 2014-2015 Judge John R. Brown Admiralty...

Bob Hawthorne is of counsel to the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He is one of the founding members of the firm and practices in the estate planning and probate, business and corporate, and real estate groups. Bob represents clients in the finance, acquisition, construction, purchase, refinancing, management, leasing and sale of various types of real estate developments, both commercial and residential, including office buildings, shopping malls, manufacturing facilities, retail centers, industrial facilities, and commercial developments.

Bob advises business and corporate clients with regard to commercial lending transactions, financings, and the structure and formation of corporate entities. He has extensive...

Kimberly Hymel is an attorney in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2004 and practices in the energy, oil and gas, pipeline and commercial litigation groups. Kimberly represents national and international energy and petrochemical clients in a wide variety of litigation, with particular experience in environmental property damage cases, commercial contractual disputes, and toxic tort litigation. She has also worked extensively on electronic discovery issues, including management of large-scale discovery efforts for multi-national companies and advising clients regarding development and implementation of workable strategies, procedures, and discovery software tools for the collection, review, and...

Patrick L. McCune practices between the Baton Rouge and Shreveport offices of Wiener, Weiss & Madison. He engages in a broad legal practice, including a variety of commercial litigation matters in both state and federal courts, with a particular emphasis on creditor’s rights and litigation in bankruptcy court.

Patrick is licensed to practice law in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, and has appeared in courts in each of these states to represent the interests of his clients.

An honors graduate of LSU law school, the recipient of a Master of Business Administration and a former manager at a non-profit in New York...

Cliffe Laborde is licensed to practice law in Louisiana and Texas, and has more than 24 years of experience in a wide variety of business and commercial real estate transactions, and estate planning and administration matters, including:

Asset and stock purchase transactions, and other agreements (employment, non-competition, etc.) arising in connection with business acquisitions and divestitures.
Formation of corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships, including the drafting of complex shareholder, operating and partnership agreements, and the purchase and sale of ownership interests in such entities.
Negotiation and documentation of purchase, sale, financing, development and leasing transactions related to all types of commercial real...

Brad’s practice utilizes the Master of Business Administration he earned in addition to his Juris Doctor. In addition to representing businesses of all kinds, he practices many different areas of law, performing both transactional work and litigation. Brad’s trust and estate practice covers everything from simple wills and successions to complex trusts and advanced estate planning. As part of his real estate practice, he is a title agent for Gulf Title Corporation, which is an agent for First American Title Insurance Company of Louisiana. Brad’s collection practice specializes in purchased debt. He also litigates many labor and employment matters and...

After practicing in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, probate, and real estate law for several years with a boutique law firm in the Baton Rouge area, Siobhan Leger opened the Leger Law Group, LLC. As the managing attorney for the Leger Law Group, LLC, Siobhan now practices in all areas of civil law, but continues to focus her practice on wills & trusts, estates, real estate, Medicaid and Veteran's Aid & Attendance planning, and family law.

Siobhan Leger is a graduate of both Louisiana State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English, and the Paul M....

Mr. Cullens was born in New Orleans on April 3, 1967.

Troy Villa practices extensively in the areas of business transactions, corporate advisory, banking and finance. He also represents both lenders and borrowers in leveraged financing transactions, mezzanine financing, private equity funding, venture capital and other high-yield credit facilities. He also represents clients in a wide variety of business transactions, including the structuring, negotiation and drafting of contracts and agreements related to the purchase and sale of businesses, mergers, corporate reorganizations, limited liability company and other entity formations and restructuring and other general corporate matters.

John Heinrich is Of Counsel to the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2000 and practices in the litigation group. John represents clients in commercial litigation, products liability, chemical exposure claims, personal injury defense, medical malpractice defense, toxic tort defense, ERISA, and OSHA matters. John has litigated cases not only in Louisiana but in 14 other states in both state and federal forums.

John earned his B.A. from Louisiana State University in 1973. He earned his J.D. in 1987 from the LSU Law Center where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Order...

Jennifer Wise Moroux is an associate at Walters, Papillion, Thomas, Cullens, LLC. Her practice focuses on complex commercial and civil litigation. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Jennifer earned her undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University in 2002. She earned her Juris Doctorate and Bachelor of Civil Law from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 2007, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif.

After being admitted to the Louisiana bar in 2007, Jennifer served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable George H. Ware, Jr., and Honorable William G. Carmichael in the 20th...

Troy Charpentier is a dedicated and experienced Louisiana Attorney. He joined Kean Miller in 1996, where he works with the Litigation Group in the Baton Rouge office. Troy has successfully represented local, regional and national clients in an array of legal disputes. His practice areas include General Commercial Litigation such as Contract Claims, Lease Disputes and Landlord/Tenant matters. Additionally, Troy advocates for clients with Pipeline Permitting and Incident Response before the Department of Natural Resources. He has extensive experience in Pipeline Expropriation projects. Troy is committed to providing outstanding service and the best possible outcomes.

Troy received a B.A. from Louisiana...

Ben Jumonville is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller.