Professor Elizabeth R. Carter
LSU Law Center
Professor Elizabeth R. Carter is the A.N. Yiannopoulos Professor of Law and the Judge Anthony J. Graphia & Jo Ann Graphia Professor of Law at the Louisiana State University Law Center, where she teaches and writes in the areas of trusts & estates, tax, family law, and comparative law. In addition to her teaching responsibilities at the Law Center, Professor Carter teaches the courses in Federal Gift and Estate Tax and in Estate Planning in the University of Alabama’s LL.M. program in taxation. She is also an Academic Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Ms. Laura E. Fine
Attorney
Lehmann Norman & Marcus, LC
Laura Fine is a partner of the law firm of Lehmann Norman & Marcus, LC. Laura received her Bachelor’s degree in psychology at Centenary College of Louisiana in her hometown of Shreveport in 2001. Laura graduated with her J.D. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California in 2006. She then attended Tulane University Law School and received her LL.M degree in Comparative and International Law in 2007. She joined Lehmann, Norman, & Marcus in August of 2008. Her concentration is in the fields of estate planning, estate administration, and business law. She is admitted to practice in California and Louisiana. She is board certificated as a specialist in Estate Planning and Administration from the Louisiana State Bar Association, a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy through the American College, and an Accredited Estate Planner through the National Association of Estate Planning Councils. She is a Legal Advisory board member of Lift Louisiana, a board member of the Human Relations Commission for the City of New Orleans, a board member of the New Orleans Planned Giving Council, and a a board member of the New Orleans Estate Planning Council. She was also named a SuperLawyers Rising Star in 2016 and 2017.
Mrs. Katelyn Gunn
Jones Walker LLP
KATELYN GUNN practices in the area of estate planning, assisting clients with the preparation of wills, trusts, marital property agreements, and powers of attorney. She also works with clients in succession matters and is involved in the preparation of US estate tax returns. Before joining Jones Walker, Katelyn’s legal experience included advising single-employer and multi-employer clients on issues related to qualified pension and welfare plans. Katelyn continues to assist with the preparation of plan documents, summary plan descriptions, and other documents necessary for plan administration. While in law school, Katelyn served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Kurt D. Engelhardt at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Katelyn also serves on the Board of Directors of HandsOn New Orleans, a local non-profit dedicated to promoting and facilitating volunteerism in the Greater New Orleans community.
Ms. Miriam Wogan Henry
Attorney
Jones Walker LLP
Miriam Wogan Henry is a partner in the Tax Practice Group and a member of the firm’s board of directors. She focuses on estate planning, including family wealth transfer plans, charitable planning, and business succession planning, along with advising clients regarding fiduciary litigation and transfer tax controversy matters.
Miriam advises on trust and estate planning matters such as drafting wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and marital property agreements. Advising clients in connection with gift and estate tax returns is part of Miriam’s practice, which includes representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service in connection with gift, estate, and generation-skipping tax audits. She works closely with members of the firm's Litigation Practice Group in connection with fiduciary litigation and transfer tax controversies.
Miriam is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and currently serves as the Louisiana State Chair for ACTEC. She has been certified by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization as a Board-Certified Estate Planning and Administration Specialist. Prior to joining the firm, she served as a law clerk to Judge Frank J. Polozola of the US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana from 1997 to 1998.
Mrs. Rebecca M Hinton
Special Counsel
Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, LLP
http://www.taylorporter.com
Rebecca Hinton represents individuals and businesses in the areas of federal, state and local taxation; tax controversies; estate planning; business matters; successions; and trusts. Rebecca is ranked by her peers among Best Lawyers® in tax law. She is an adjunct professor at Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, and frequently presents at CLE and other seminars on the topics of federal estate and gift taxation, estate planning, and federal taxation. Rebecca serves as secretary of the Estate & Business Planning Council of Baton Rouge. In the community, she is a board member of the nonprofit SportsBR, dedicated to uniting sports and the Baton Rouge community.
Allen C. Miller
Phelps Dunbar, LLP
Allen Miller is a trial lawyer with extensive experience in the areas of commercial and tort litigation. He concentrates his practice in the areas of general business torts, casualty litigation, professional malpractice, construction litigation, banking and lender liability, class-action litigation, bankruptcy litigation, products liability, trade secrets litigation and a variety of other corporate litigation matters. Allen has extensive experience in complex commercial matters.
His professional liability practice involves litigation and trial defense of errors and omissions (E&O), directors and officers (D&O), and professional malpractice claims. Allen’s professional and quasi-professional subject matters include insurance agents and brokers; attorneys; real estate and title agents; accountants/CPAs; architects, engineers and design professionals; and directors and officers.
Allen has experience representing owners, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals in all aspects of construction including claim drafting and counseling during construction and claims resolution in state and federal courts. He has handled construction disputes involving both private and public entities. Allen has represented owners, tenants, contractors and sub-contractors in state and federal courts in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi. He regularly represents clients in matters involving various aspects of the construction process, including delay claims, claims involving construction and design defects, lien claims, and claims involving performance and payment bonds. Allen has litigated claims involving breach of contract, breach of warranty, construction and/or design defects, negligence, unjust enrichment and construction liens.
He has handled a substantial number of cases from inception through resolution at trial, appeal and alternative dispute resolution where appropriate. His experience includes, without limitation, first chair litigation counsel in many successful bench and jury trials in state and federal court. Allen is solely responsible for the litigation strategy and handling of cases for several institutional firm clients and regularly supervises commercial litigation associates and paralegals. He regularly represents national Fortune 500 companies, privately held companies and educational institutions in federal and state litigation and disputes throughout the Gulf Coast.
In the community, Allen is a graduate of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute, a former Chairman of the St. Augustine High School Board of Directors,as well as a member of Benjamin Franklin High School Board of Directors. He is also a member of the CASA New Orleans Board of Directors and previously served as Board Chair for the City of New Orleans’ Ethics Review Board.
Mr. R. Fritz Niswanger
Managing Attorney
Niswanger Law LLC
http://www.niswangerlaw.com
R. Fritz Niswanger is the managing attorney of Niswanger Law LLC in West Monroe, Louisiana. Fritz focuses his practice in the following areas: federal income and transfer tax planning; business entity formations and reorganizations; mergers and acquisitions; trust and estate planning; and asset protection. He is certified as a tax law specialist by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization, holds a JD and an MBA from Tulane University in New Orleans, and holds a BA from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Ms. Rebecca S. Luster Radford
Associate
Wiener, Weiss & Madison, APC
REBECCA S. LUSTER RADFORD is a shareholder at Wiener, Weiss & Madison, A Professional Corporation in Shreveport. Rebecca’s practice primarily involves taxation, estate planning, successions, trusts, and business and commercial transactions. Rebecca is a frequent speaker on estate planning and taxation topics and is a co-author of Estate Planning in Louisiana, which is part of the Louisiana Practice Series. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business Administration, cum laude, from Rhodes College in 2008 and a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Virginia in 2009. Rebecca earned a J.D. and a Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law from LSU's Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 2012, cum laude. Subsequent to her studies at LSU, Rebecca earned a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida in 2013.
Ms. Betty A. Raglin
Attorney
Legacy Estate & Elder Law
http://www.legacycenterla.com
Betty A. Raglin is an A-V rated attorney practicing in the areas of Taxation, Estate Planning, Elder Law, Estate and Trust Administration and Litigation, and Business Planning. Betty is Board Certified by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization in the areas of Tax Law and Estate Planning & Administration.
Betty graduated from Lamar University with a Bachelor in Business Administration and then attended Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center where she graduated with her law degree in 2001. In 2002, Betty received her Master of Laws in Taxation from Southern Methodist University.
She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and a co-author, beginning with the 2010-2011 Supplement, of “Estate Planning in Louisiana” (Thomson West, 1991).
A frequent speaker and humorist, Betty has presented on behalf of the law schools of Louisiana State University, Loyola University New Orleans, Southern University, and Tulane University. In addition, she is the former Chair of the Estate Planning Advisory Committee of the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization, and former President of the Southwest Louisiana Bar Association.
Betty's hobbies include reading, traveling, and learning everything she can about New Orleans.
Tyler Rench
Jones Walker LLP
Tyler J. Rench is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. He focuses on defending class actions and civil RICO cases, and also handles oil and gas and banking disputes.
Tyler has broad-based experience representing clients in federal and state courts, as well as in alternative dispute resolution.
Before joining Jones Walker, Tyler worked at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana as an extern to the Honorable Sarah S. Vance. Additionally, he collaborated with Loyola College of Law Interim Dean, Kathryn Venturatos Lorio, on updating her Louisiana Civil Law Treatise on Successions and Donations. While in law school, Tyler was an oralist on Loyola's National Moot Court Team.
Tyler is active in the Louisiana legal community and is involved in local non-profit and civic organizations.
Mr. Leon Rittenberg III
Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer, LLC
Leon Rittenberg III is a New Orleans native. He attended the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania where he studied economics and graduated magna cum laude. He returned home to attend Tulane University School of Law where he graduated magna cum laude. Leon was a summer associate at the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C. and also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Will Garwood of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal.
Leon joined the firm in 1994 and became a partner in 2000. His practice focuses on serving the needs of small and mid-sized businesses and their owners; including philanthropy and non-profit law, taxation, finance, private equity, estate planning, probate, real estate, mergers and acquisitions and related matters. Leon represents the interests of a number of private investors, oil service businesses, marine transportation companies and physician groups. He is a Board Certified Tax Specialist and Board Certified Estate Planning & Administration Specialist, as certified by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. He frequently lectures in areas such as taxation, estate planning and maritime transactions.
Leon is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel. He has been recognized by Chambers USA (Louisiana Corporate/M&A: Tax section; 2017), Super Lawyers (Tax, Estate Planning & Probate and Business/Corporate) and Best Lawyers in America (Non-Profit/Charities Law and Trusts & Estates) since 2007, and by New Orleans Magazine as one of their “Top Lawyers of New Orleans” for his work in Equipment Finance Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law and Tax Law. New Orleans City Business selected him for their Leadership in Law class of 2014, which “identifies and honors 50 outstanding legal professionals whose successes in law and contributions to the community have set the pace for the legal community.”
Leon is active in the New Orleans community, serving on the Boards and Executive Committees of numerous non-profit organizations. In 2015, he served as chairman of the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization’s Tax Law Advisory Committee. He enjoys spending time with his wife and three children.
Mr. Jacob C. White
Ayres, Shelton, Williams, Benson & Paine, LLC
Jacob is a partner at Ayres, Shelton, Williams, Benson & Paine, LLC in Shreveport and is engaged in a transaction-focused practice covering all facets of Louisiana and Texas business and estate planning and operations, from initial planning, structuring, and negotiation stages through closing, with an emphasis on federal income (including corporate and partnership), estate, and gift taxation.
In addition to serving as general outside counsel for various businesses, representative matters include formation, amendment, governance, and recapitalization of various business entities; representation of both purchasers and sellers in taxable stock, membership interest, and asset sales and non-taxable mergers and reorganizations; tax free property exchanges; and structuring multi-tiered estate plans, integrating limited liability companies, family limited partnerships, trusts , and private non-profit foundations.
In addition to his primary transactional practice, Jacob assists clients in Louisiana succession and ancillary succession proceedings, both complex and simple, and in litigation focusing on business and estate related matters, including contested succession, fiduciary, and commercial proceedings.
Jacob has been listed in Super Lawyers® for Louisiana as a Rising Star for his practice in the field of tax law since 2018. Jacob is a Board Certified Tax Law Specialist by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization and currently serves as a member of the Tax Law Advisory Commission of the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization.
In 2008, Jacob received his undergraduate degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History and Spanish, with a Concentration in American Studies. In 2011, Jacob graduated from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center and was admitted to practice in Louisiana in 2011 and in Texas in 2013. Jacob received his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 2014.
