More Than Half of Phelps Lawyers Chosen for Best Lawyers in America, 12 Named "Lawyer of the Year," 40 Make “Ones to Watch” List
NEW ORLEANS — Aug. 19, 2021 — The Best Lawyers in America 2022 recognized 146 Phelps attorneys from 74 practice areas in its latest annual rankings. More than half of the firm’s attorneys made the list, which included lawyers from all of Phelps’ U.S. offices.
The publication named 12 Phelps attorneys as “Lawyer of the Year,” an award reserved for one attorney in each legal field and location. Over 30% of the firm’s honorees are diverse attorneys, and the full list of Phelps “Lawyer of the Year” recipients includes:
Baton Rouge, La.
- Shelton Dennis Blunt - Personal injury litigation - defendants
- Susan W. Furr - Labor law - management
- Karleen J. Green - Employee benefits (ERISA) law
- Patrick Ragan Richard - Real estate law
Birmingham, Ala.
- Steven A. Benefield - Business organizations (including LLCs and partnerships)
- John M. Graham - Transportation law
- Steve A. Tucker - Railroad law
New Orleans, La.
- Pablo Gonzalez - Insurance law
- Daniel T. Pancamo - Utilities law
- Mary Ellen Roy - Litigation - First Amendment
- James A. Stuckey - Equipment finance law
Tampa, Fla.
- A. Brian Albritton - Criminal defense: white-collar
Forty lawyers made the “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch” list, half of which are diverse attorneys. This list features lawyers with less than 10 years in practice. Those selected as “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch” include:
Baton Rouge, La.
- Madison T. DeWitt - Corporate governance and compliance law, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law
- Trevor J. Haynes - Banking and finance law
- Katherine Cicardo Mannino - Health care law, labor and employment law – management, litigation - labor and employment
- Molly C. McDiarmid - Litigation - labor and employment
- Kate Bernacchio Mire - Commercial litigation, insurance law
- Monica Vela-Vick - Commercial litigation, mass tort litigation / class actions - defendants
- Michael B. Victorian - Labor and employment law – management, litigation - labor and employment
- Kevin Welsh - Commercial litigation, government relations practice, insurance law
Gulfport, Miss.
- Drury S. Holland - Commercial litigation, construction law, insurance law, personal injury litigation - defendants
Jackson, Miss.
- H. David Clark III - Administrative / regulatory law, labor and employment law - management
- Nicholas F. Morisani - Litigation - labor and employment
Mobile, Ala.
- J. Haas Byrd - Insurance law, personal injury litigation – defendants, product liability litigation - defendants
- E. Barrett Hails - Commercial litigation, mass tort litigation / class actions - defendants
- Danielle Mashburn-Myrick - Bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights / insolvency and reorganization law, mass tort litigation / class actions - defendants
- Sumpter M. McGowin II - Corporate law, tax law
- Breanne Stanley Zarzour - Commercial litigation, personal injury litigation - defendants
New Orleans, La.
- Carys A. Arvidson - Litigation - construction
- Isabel Bonilla-Mathé - Health care law
- Lauren E. Burk - Insurance law
- Lindsay Calhoun - Commercial litigation
- Caroline F. Crosby - Insurance law
- James H. Gilbert - Commercial litigation
- Harrison Golden - Commercial litigation
- Ashley J. Heilprin - Commercial litigation
- Arthur R. Kraatz - Commercial litigation
- Thomas H. Peyton - Insurance law
- Matthew R. Slaughter - Commercial litigation, litigation - construction
- David J. Topping - Environmental law
Tampa, Fla.
- Robert H. Gidel, Jr. - Real estate law
- Julie A. Girard - Litigation - labor and employment
- Derek Larsen-Chaney - Real estate law, trusts and estates
- Jonathan E. Lewerenz - Commercial Litigation, insurance law
- Katherine Martinez - Insurance law
- Michael A. McGriskin - Insurance law
- Catriana N. Messina - Insurance law
- Rhett C. Parker - Commercial litigation, Litigation – construction, personal injury litigation - defendants
- Raciel Perez - Real estate law
- Sarah J. Smith - Insurance law
- Jamie R. Tasker - Personal injury litigation - defendants
- Mallory H. Thomas - Insurance law
Since 1983, Best Lawyers has been hailed as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Each year, it ranks lawyers by practice areas and locations. The 2022 edition is based on more than 8 million surveys and recognizes more than 65,000 lawyers in 147 practice areas.
Read about the 146 Phelps attorneys that made The Best Lawyers in America 2022 list on the publication’s website.
About Phelps Dunbar
Phelps is a full-service law firm of 300 attorneys. We blend valuable traditions and progressive ideas to foster a culture of collaboration among our lawyers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and London. Our six core practice groups — admiralty, business, health care, insurance, labor and employment, and litigation — work together to offer clients a progressive, diverse practice and partnership that handles a broad range of sophisticated business needs regionally, nationally, and internationally.