Mr. Johnston Burkhardt
Sternberg, Naccari & White, LLC
Johnston Burkhardt joined Sternberg, Naccari & White in 2021. Johnston works closely with the firm’s associated title company, Quality Title, and works from both the Metairie and New Orleans offices. His practice focuses on real estate transactions, general counsel services, divorce and marital agreements, and general litigation.



A lifelong New Orleanian, Johnston’s interest in the law began when he was selected in high school for the Louisiana State Bar Association student internship program. He graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science in General Business, and then obtained his Juris Doctor and Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where he served as Senior Articles Editor for the Journal of Energy Law and Resources, Volume VII.

Johnston is associated with the Louisiana, Orleans, and Jefferson Bar Associations and the St. Thomas Moore Catholic Lawyers Association. He is a former “40 under 40” honoree for the Youth Empowerment Program.



While in law school at LSU, Johnston served as legal extern for the Hon. Erin Wilder-Doomes, a Magistrate Judge at the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. He also clerked during his 2L summer for the Honorable Fredericka H. Wicker at the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal.



Notably, while a law student at LSU, Johnston was SNW’s very first law clerk. He returned to the firm as an attorney after practicing family law in downtown New Orleans. Johnston is an accomplished artist, enjoys playing tennis, traveling, and cooking. While studying for the bar and preparing to practice law, Johnston was the campaign manager for a prominent Judge running for an open seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court.

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.

Mrs. Leslie E. Halle
Shareholder
Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell
Leslie Halle is a shareholder at Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues and Rundell, located in Alexandria. She received her bachelor’s degree in Accounting from LSU and graduated from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 2010. After graduation she clerked for the Honorable Mary L. Doggett, 9th Judicial District Court. Upon completion of her clerkship, she joined Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell. Leslie’s practice focuses on estate planning, succession and trusts. She is a Board Certified Estate Planning & Administration Specialist and currently serves as the Secretary of the Estate Planning Advisory Committee of the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization.

Ms. Riley F. Huntington
Koch St. Martin, LLC
Riley F. Huntington is an associate attorney of the law firm of Koch St. Martin. Riley received her bachelor’s degree in business management at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2017. Riley graduated with her J.D. and Diploma in Comparative Law from Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center. During law school Riley was elected to The Order of the Barristers. Additionally, she served on the Board of Advocates and participated in several Dispute Resolution Competitions. Since graduating, Riley has remained active with LSU’s Advocacy Programs by coaching the ABA Negotiation Competition the past two years. Riley’s practice focuses on estate planning, successions, wills, powers of attorney, living wills, trusts, and tax resolution.

Ms. Beverly Isabel Perkins
Erlingson Banks
A native of New Jersey, Beverly earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Louisiana State University in 2017, and her Juris Doctorate and Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law from Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 2020. While in law school, Beverly was a Senior Editor for the Journal of Energy Law and Resources, the president of the Tax Law Society, a member of the Tax Moot Court Team, and a research assistant focusing on trusts, estates, and taxation.

Beverly’s practice area focuses on estate planning and estate administration including drafting trusts, wills, power of attorneys, and health care directives; the management and transfer of assets; handling successions; and trust administration. Since being admitted to the practice of law, she has been dedicated to providing excellent estate planning and succession services to her clients.

Beverly is admitted to practice in the State of Louisiana and is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Baton Rouge Bar Association.

Ms. Katherine Wells Gressett
Sternberg, Naccari & White, LLC
Katherine Wells Gressett is an attorney with Sternberg, Naccari & White, LLC, joining the firm in 2022 and practicing in the firm’s New Orleans office.



Katherine brings her considerable talents to the firm’s estate planning and business litigation groups, after working most recently in environmental litigation, and representing states in natural resource damages litigation. She also practiced with a large regional firm based in New Orleans.



In her legal career, Katherine has extensive experience in both federal and state court. She has advocated for both plaintiffs and defendants in environmental, toxic tort, and legacy litigation, as well as commercial, construction and insurance litigation. She has experience in all stages of litigation, from pre-suit investigations and negotiation, to discovery, dispositive motions, oral argument, trial, and federal and state appeals.



Katherine received her Juris Doctor and Diploma in Civil law cum laude from Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where she was a member of the LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources, was selected for the Moot Court Board and travelled nationally with LSU’s Jessup International Moot Court team. During law school, Katherine also completed an externship with U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Vance at the Eastern District of Louisiana as well as a summer clerkship with Judge Phyllis Keaty in the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal.



Katherine earned her bachelor’s degree in French Literature at Vanderbilt University. While at Vanderbilt, Katherine completed coursework at the Sorbonne in Paris and Aix-en-Provence.



Before attending law school, Katherine worked in Washington D.C. on a USAID-funded international health policy project advocating for maternal health services in Francophone West Africa.



Katherine is originally from Jackson, Mississippi but has adopted the francophone city of New Orleans as her home. She remains fluent in French. She lives in Mid-City with her husband, Tim, where they enjoy all kinds of outdoor adventures, traveling, and appreciating all the food, music, and culture that the region has to offer.