Mr. Martin A. Stern
Adams and Reese, LLP
http://www.arlaw.com
Martin Stern serves as both General Counsel and Appellate Team Leader for Adams and Reese LLP. Martin is one of 15 lawyers in Louisiana certified as an appellate specialist by the Louisiana State Bar Association Board of Legal Specialization. Martin's appellate practice is deep and varied, ranging from representing an oil-and-gas company in the appeal of a $1 billion punitive damage award to representing a defendant sentenced to death, both of which resulted in grants of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court. Martin has argued 14 times to the Louisiana Supreme Court as well as to all of the Louisiana state courts of appeal and the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In one of Martin’s most recent arguments to the Louisiana Supreme Court, he represented fellow Appellate Practice Specialists as amici in helping to win an important issue regarding the right to appeal. Amedee v. Aimbridge Hospitality LLC, 351 So.3d 321 (La. 2022). In another recent matter, Martin served as an expert witness in the field of appellate litigation, where his opinion was quoted at length in the court of appeal's decision. Henry v. Ahern, 335 So.3d 871 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2022). In addition to his appellate practice, Martin has a deep background in legal ethics. He has represented judges before the Louisiana State Judiciary Commission and lawyers before the Louisiana State Disciplinary Board, for which he formerly served as Hearing Committee Chair. Martin is also heavily involved in pro bono efforts. He is past director of both national and Louisiana Appleseed, non-profit organizations that attack injustice at its root cause—what The American Lawyer called "pro bono's new frontier." In 2016, Martin received the Louisiana State Bar Association's Catherine D. Kimball Award for a project culminating in the adoption of a rule allowing lawyers in Louisiana to earn CLE credit for pro bono representation. Martin is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Hon. Sharon D. Wilson
3rd Circuit Court of Appeal
Judge Sharon Darville Wilson serves on the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. She was elected to the appeal court on November 3, 2020, and she assumed office on January 1, 2021. The Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal is the largest of five circuit courts of appeal in Louisiana. Its territory consists of 21 Parishes in Southwest and Central Louisiana. Her legal career began in the 14th JDC Calcasieu Parish (Lake Charles, LA) District Attorney’s Office in 1992. She served Southwest Louisiana as a career Prosecutor for 17 years; including three years in the 33rd JDC Allen Parish (Oberlin, LA) District Attorney’s Office where she served as Chief Felony Prosecutor. While serving as an Assistant District Attorney, she maintained a civil law practice and in 2009, she established her own full time private practice, Sharon Darville Wilson, A Professional Law Corporation.

Prior to her election to the Court of Appeal, Judge Wilson was elected as a District Judge for the Fourteenth Judicial District on April 5, 2014. She is the first African American woman to be elected as Judge in the Fourteenth Judicial District (Calcasieu Parish). Judge Wilson served as Chief Judge on the Fourteenth Judicial District Court from January 1, 2017, until January 1, 2019, and she co-founded the Veterans Treatment Court in Calcasieu Parish. During her time as a District Judge she served as an Executive Board Member for the Louisiana District Judges Association and as a district judge member of the Louisiana Judiciary Commission from January 1, 2019, until December 31, 2020. On December 27, 2022, the Louisiana Supreme Court announced the appointment of Judge Wilson to serve once again on the Judiciary Commission as the appellate court member for a term which commenced on January 1, 2023, and concludes on December 31, 2026.

Judge Wilson earned her bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University in 1988 and her jurist doctor degree from Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1991. In July 2023, Judge Wilson completed the New York University School of Law Institute for Appellate Judges. She is a member of many professional associations including the Louisiana State Bar Association, Southwest Louisiana Bar Association, Louisiana Third Circuit Judges Association, Louisiana Judicial Council/National Bar Association Division, American Bar Association, the American Judges Association, and the Louisiana Conference of Court of Appeal. Judge Wilson is a frequent lecturer and CLE presenter on various legal topics. She is married and is the mother of two children and bonus mom of three children.