Mr. Clinton M Bowers
Partner Attorney
Bowers Law Firm, LLC
http://Www.bowerslawfirmllc.com
CLINTON M. BOWERS is a member of the Shreveport law firm of Bowers Law Firm, LLC, having joined the practice in 2009. He attended Louisiana State University in Shreveport, earning a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, cum laude, in 2005. He attended the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. From 2007 to 2009, he served as Research Assistant to Professor Frank L. Maraist at the LSU Law Center. In May 2009, he was awarded his J.D. and Graduate Diploma of Civil Law, magna cum laude and was elected to membership in the Louisiana Chapter of the Order of the Coif. Mr. Bowers’ practice primarily focuses on family law litigation and serving as a family mediator. He is admitted to practice before Louisiana state courts, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Since 2011, he has served on the Louisiana State Law Institute with assignments to the Marriage-Persons Committee, Surrogacy Committee, and Child Support and Visitation Committee. In 2020, he was appointed as a Member of the Louisiana State Law Institute’s Council.

Hon. Dana M. Douglas
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Hon. Dana M. Douglas currently serves as United States Circuit Court Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Douglas is a graduate of Miami University (Ohio) and attended Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans. Upon graduation, she served as a law clerk in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana to the Honorable Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Douglas practiced in the areas of energy, products liability, and intellectual property litigation in the state and federal courts of Louisiana and across a wide variety of industry sectors as shareholder (partner) at Liskow & Lewis, PLC.

She was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana on January 4, 2019 where she served until 2022.

Judge Douglas was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden on June 15, 2022. On December 13, 2022, Judge Douglas was confirmed by the Senate with bipartisan support to serve on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. She received her commission on December 16, 2022.

Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
The Honorable S. Kyle Duncan received his B.A. from Louisiana State University in 1994, his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1997, and his LL.M. from Columbia Law School in 2004. After graduating from law school, he clerked for Louisiana-based Circuit Judge John Malcolm Duhé Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. From 2008–2012, Duncan served as Appellate Chief for Louisiana's Attorney General's office. From 2012–2014, he served as general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. From 2004-2008, he was an assistant professor of law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. Before becoming a judge, Duncan practiced at the Washington, D.C. firm of Schaerr Duncan LLP, where he was a founding partner. He was appointed by President Trump to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on May 1, 2018.

Hon. Kurt D. Engelhardt
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, on May 10, 2018. He was previously appointed by President George W. Bush to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on December 13, 2001, and became Chief Judge of that Court on October 1, 2015, serving until his appointment to the Fifth Circuit. He received a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1982 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and received his law degree from LSU in 1985. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Judge Engelhardt was a partner with the Metairie, Louisiana law firm of Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale, where his practice included all aspects of commercial transactions and commercial litigation, including real estate, bankruptcy, insurance defense and coverage issues, RICO, contract disputes, and construction litigation, along with some practice in the areas of personal injury litigation and white collar criminal defense work. In 1995, Judge Engelhardt was appointed by the Governor to serve a four-year term on the nine-member Louisiana Judiciary Commission; in 1998, he was elected by his fellow commission members to serve as Chairman. His work on the Judiciary Commission has been cited for its excellence by the Louisiana Supreme Court. In 2004, Judge Engelhardt was appointed by United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Rehnquist to serve on the Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction, where he served two terms. He also served on the U.S. Fifth Circuit’s Committee on Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions, charged with drafting and updating jury instructions for use throughout the Circuit. He is a member of several professional organizations including the Advisory Board of the New Orleans Chapter of The Federalist Society; the American Judicature Society; and previously the Board of Directors (and past president) of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. On October 17, 2019, he was elected to membership in The American Law Institute. He is also a Board member and past president of the Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans. Judge Engelhardt has been named Brother Martin High School Alumnus of the Year for 2023.

Judge Charles G. Fitzgerald
3rd Circuit Court of Appeal-Lafayette Parish
Judge Charles G. Fitzgerald earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Louisiana State University in 1997. Thereafter, he attended the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University, from which he graduated with a Juris Doctorate degree in 2001. While in law school, he was selected to the Order of the Coif, and he was also a member of the Louisiana Law Review.
After graduating from law school, Judge Fitzgerald was a founding member of the law firm Cox Fitzgerald LLC, where his practice focused in the family law area, with an emphasis on complex financial and community partition matters, and litigation in those areas. Judge Fitzgerald’s judicial career began when he was elected District Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial District Court, Division M, in November 2014. He served as a district court judge for six years, from January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2020. In July 2020, he was elected without opposition to the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. His service as an appellate judge began on January 1, 2021. Judge Fitzgerald is a member of numerous professional associations, foundations, and organizations. And while in private practice and since taking the bench, he has been a frequent presenter at regional, state, and local continuing legal education seminars. He has presented on various legal topics, including ethics, professionalism, business valuations, and evidence. He is an annual participant in the Judges in Classrooms and Judicial Ride-Along programs. He has hosted numerous educational presentations for students throughout Acadiana, and he regularly participates in the LBA Young Lawyer’s Mock Trial competition for high school students.

Mr. Thomas M. Flanagan
Flanagan Partners LLP
Thomas M. Flanagan concentrates his practice in complex business litigation and civil appeals in the state and federal courts of Louisiana.

Mr. Flanagan is an Adjunct Professor at Tulane Law School, where he teaches Civil Law Torts; a member of the American Law Institute; and the immediate past president of the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University and earned his law degree summa cum laude at Tulane Law School. After law school, he clerked for the Hon. John Minor Wisdom on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Best Lawyers has named Mr. Flanagan the New Orleans Appellate Practice “Lawyer of the Year” four times since 2015.

Mr. Kenneth P. Haines
Lawyer
Weems, Schimpf, Haines, Shemwell & Moore (APLC)
http://www.weems-law.com
Kenny Haines is a proud 1989 graduate of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU. He has been practicing law with the same Shreveport firm, Weems, Schimpf, Haines, & Moore, for over 32 years handling all aspects of family, business and injury litigation in his career. He has worked as an Assistant District Attorney for the 2nd and 42nd JDCs, where he handled all post conviction matters and appeals for those DA offices. He worked on Child in Need of Care cases and handled juvenile and child support matters for the DeSoto District Attorney’s office. Kenny clerked for the late Pike Hall, Jr. at both the Second Circuit Court of Appeal and Louisiana Supreme Court. He has been lead counsel in well over one hundred appeals in his career. He has spoken on both family law
and appeal topics for the SBA, LSBA and LSU. He has served as Chairman of the Appellate Specialization Advisory Commission. He is the only lawyer in the State of Louisiana certified in both Family Law (2004) and Appellate Practice (2017).

Ms. Elizabeth Baker Murrill
Solicitor General
LA Attorney General's Office
Liz Murrill was appointed as the first Solicitor General for Louisiana by Attorney General Jeff Landry In 2016. She has more than 25 years of experience working in diverse state and federal government legal environments and has experience handling complex litigation, state and federal appeals, and complex government transactions. Liz most recently served as the Louisiana Department of Justice's Director of Administration and, before that, Director of the Civil Division. She previously served former Governor Bobby Jindal as Executive Counsel and was Executive Counsel to the Commissioner of Administration. Liz was counsel for the Office of the Governor in the BP Oil Spill litigation and has served as a member and counsel to several state boards and commissions. She was a United States Supreme Court Judicial Fellow in 2007-08 at the Federal Judicial Center and taught appellate advocacy and legal writing at the Louisiana State University Law Center for more than ten years. Liz earned her bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, law degree from the Louisiana State University Law Center where she was Editor-In-Chief of the Law Review, and Master of Laws in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law. She clerked for U.S. District Judge Frank J. Polozola and Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Melvin Shortess. Liz has argued three cases at the United States Supreme Court (including June Medical v. Russo and Ramos v. Louisiana) and many others at the Louisiana Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit, and multiple state and federal courts. Additionally, she has filed briefs in courts across the country on a wide variety of constitutional issues.

Mr. Rodd A. Naquin
1st Circuit Court of Appeal
Rodd Naquin is the Clerk of Court for the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit, and has held that position at the court since 2016. Prior to being named Clerk, he worked at the First Circuit since 2004 as the Chief Deputy Clerk. He is originally from Thibodaux, LA. Attended LSU and graduated in 1992, with a degree in Political Science. Attended LSU Law School and graduated in 1997. Worked in the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office Litigation Division from 1997-2000, where he primarily defended the state in Road Hazards cases. Worked at the Louisiana Municipal Association from 2000-2004 as part of its Legal Section.

Hon. Gary J. Ortego
3rd Circuit Court of Appeal
Judge Gary J. Ortego is a life-long resident of Ville Platte, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. He is married to Carlene Fontenot Ortego, and they are the proud parents of three children, Angelique (husband Jimmy Litsey), Pastor Bo Ortego, Alanna Milliman (husband Dr. Cody Milliman), and blessed with four grandchildren, T.J. and Samantha Litsey, and Asher and Eli Milliman.

Judge Ortego earned his Bachelor degree from University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL), now University of Louisiana at Lafayette, in 1976. Judge Ortego attended the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, from which he graduated with a Juris Doctorate degree in 1982. Judge Ortego was admitted to the Bar of the State of Louisiana in October of 1982. Thereafter, he established a private law practice in Ville Platte, Louisiana, focused on general practice of law, where he litigated cases before numerous state district courts, federal district courts, and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Ortego’s judicial career began when he was appointed as the Hearing Officer for the 13th Judicial District Court in 2009, serving until 2014. Judge Ortego was first elected District Judge of the 13th Judicial District Court, Division A, in November of 2014, then re-elected in November of 2020, without opposition, and served as a district court judge for over 7 years, from January 1, 2015 through February 6, 2022. Judge Ortego was elected, without opposition, to the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, District 3, on February 7, 2022, and began his service as an appellate judge on March 7, 2022.

Mr. Thomas B. Plunkett III
US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Colonel (Retired) Tom Plunkett has served as the Chief Deputy, Clerk of Court for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit since September 27, 2010. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Louisiana State University and later was awarded a Master of Science in Health Care Administration and a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies. Prior to joining the judiciary, Tom served for thirty years in the United States Army, including combat tours in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Michael H Rubin
McGlinchey Stafford
Mike Rubin is a veteran appellate lawyer who has handled hundreds of appeals in state and federal courts, including before the U.S. Fifth, Seventh, and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeal, on a wide variety of issues affecting the entire Gulf region. As a trial litigator, Mike has handled ground-breaking cases in the areas of finance and secured lending and major multimillion-dollar commercial transactions, as well as trials of national importance concerning federal voting rights, bankruptcy, environmental law, and constitutional issues. Mike served as an adjunct professor at the LSU, Southern, and Tulane law schools for 40 years teaching courses in security devices and ethics. He is a prolific writer; his numerous legal publications on real estate, finance, and ethics have been cited as authoritative in state and federal courts around the country and have been used in law schools across the nation. A nationally known speaker and humorist who has given over 475 major presentations throughout the USA as well as in Canada and England, Mike also is an author of legal thrillers that have won national awards and have been translated and sold internationally.