Franklin Parish Lawyers

Amanda Bourgeois is a partner in the Baton Rouge office. She joined the firm in 2012 and practices in the business and corporate group. Amanda has experience representing clients in connection with a variety of transactional matters, including asset and stock acquisitions and sales and the drafting and negotiating of industrial and construction procurement, purchase and service contracts. She has also assisted individuals and businesses with entity formation, structure and governance, including the drafting of organizational documents and planning of overall corporate structure.

Amanda received her J.D. in 2010 from the LSU Law Center where she was a member of the...

Beau Bourgeois is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2016 and practices in the commercial litigation and construction litigation groups. Beau has represented and counseled owners, general contractors, and subcontractors in the industrial and commercial markets and in both the private and public sectors. He has drafted construction contracts for owners, drafted and filed numerous Private Works Act liens, assisted clients with obtaining contractor’s licenses in multiple states, and represented clients in Public Bid Law disputes.

Prior to joining Kean Miller, Beau served as an Issue Editor for the Louisiana Law Review...

Randy Cangelosi is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He practices in the litigation group. Randy represents clients in complex products liability, general litigation, commercial and business litigation, environmental litigation, healthcare issues and related business disputes, medical malpractice defense, telecommunications law and litigation, trademark and intellectual property claims, and personal injury defense. He has trial experience in products liability defense and large commercial litigation matters. He also has experience in NORM, TERM and asbestos cases in the energy industry. Randy also has served client's needs on a national level, obtaining various admissions to the bar in...

Troy Charpentier is a dedicated and experienced Louisiana Attorney. He joined Kean Miller in 1996, where he works with the Litigation Group in the Baton Rouge office. Troy has successfully represented local, regional and national clients in an array of legal disputes. His practice areas include General Commercial Litigation such as Contract Claims, Lease Disputes and Landlord/Tenant matters. Additionally, Troy advocates for clients with Pipeline Permitting and Incident Response before the Department of Natural Resources. He has extensive experience in Pipeline Expropriation projects. Troy is committed to providing outstanding service and the best possible outcomes.

Troy received a B.A. from Louisiana...

Mallory McKnight Fuller is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2014 and practices in the utilities regulation and construction groups.

Mallory earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Louisiana State University School of Architecture in 2011, where she received the AIA Henry Adams Medal. She earned her J.D./D.C.L., cum laude, from the LSU Law Center in 2014, where she was named to the Chancellor's list and earned the CALI award for Business Associations, International Environmental Law and UCC Security Devices.

John Funderburk is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller and practices in the litigation and construction groups. He represents clients in energy, commercial, environmental, transportation, and construction litigation in both state and federal courts. Prior to joining the firm, John practiced with a global law firm from its Houston, Texas office.

John has represented both individuals and corporations in complex environmental litigation, contract disputes, maritime actions, personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, deceptive trade practices claims, and oilfield contamination litigation. In addition, he coordinates with clients and experts to respond quickly to accidents and incidents across the...

Bob Hawthorne is of counsel to the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He is one of the founding members of the firm and practices in the estate planning and probate, business and corporate, and real estate groups. Bob represents clients in the finance, acquisition, construction, purchase, refinancing, management, leasing and sale of various types of real estate developments, both commercial and residential, including office buildings, shopping malls, manufacturing facilities, retail centers, industrial facilities, and commercial developments.

Bob advises business and corporate clients with regard to commercial lending transactions, financings, and the structure and formation of corporate entities. He has extensive...

Melissa Hemmans is an experienced Litigation Attorney in Kean Millers's Baton Rouge office. Her practice includes Petrochemical, Manufacturing, Municipal, Civil Rights Defense, Oil and Gas, and Local Business matters. She has extensive experience with cases involving Toxic Tort and Environmental claims. Melissa is dedicated to providing clients with creative solutions, unique strategies, and unparalleled value.

In 1996, Melissa received her B.A. from Louisiana State University. She obtained her J.D. from the LSU Law Center in 1999. Melissa is admitted to practice law in the State of Louisiana, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, United States District Courts for the Eastern,...

Kris is a father of two and has been a resident of Baton Rouge since attending LSU in 1993. While at LSU, Kris, a two-time letterman, was a special teams captain for the LSU Tigers football team and recipient of the LSU Scholar Athlete’s Award. Since graduating LSU Law School in 2000, Kris has made an impression by helping hundreds in the courtroom and volunteering in the community.

Richard McConnell is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He is trial counsel for energy and financial companies in high stakes lawsuits involving a wide variety of claims. Prior cases involved soil and groundwater contamination, wetlands loss, toxic tort exposure, lost mineral leasing opportunities, mineral lease cancellation, pipeline right-of-way claims, expropriation/condemnation, and commercial litigation. Richard also serves as appellate counsel arguing before state and federal appellate courts.

Richard’s recent experience includes obtaining a successful verdict as trial counsel for national pipeline companies in a wetlands loss lawsuit involving canals that widened over time, he was lead...

Matthew Meiners is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2009 and practices in the business and corporate group. Matthew has experience in the drafting and negotiation of numerous industrial service and purchase agreements. He also has experience representing numerous individuals and small businesses in connection with acquisitions and divestitures of their respective businesses and with formation of new entities, including drafting organizational documents and planning of overall corporate structure.

Matthew earned his B.S. in International Trade and Finance with a minor in Economics from Louisiana State University in 1998. He earned his...

Gayla Moncla is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller and practices in the areas of toxic tort and environmental litigation, premises liability, and commercial litigation. She has more than 25 years of experience in the chemical and petrochemical industries, defending workplace accidents, chemical exposure cases, products liability cases, as well as advising clients regarding workplace safety issues and OSHA regulations. Gayla also has experience in retail premises litigation having defended retail clients for over 25 years.

Gayla earned her B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1973. She earned her J.D. in 1989 from the LSU Law Center...

Before starting a law practice in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, Matt left home to acquire the education and experience he needed to represent the people of Lafayette and Acadiana in legal matters. Earning first a college degree from Sewanee and then a law degree, with honors, from Tulane, Matt was a DeBlois-Sewanee Scholar and honors trial advocate. And he obtained the Tulane Civil Litigation Clinic's then highest ever trial award for an indigent client. Matt's law practice now draws on a wide range of experience and education to serve injured people in any Louisiana state or federal court. Matt has extensive...

Shane Sandefer is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He practices in the business transactions and environmental law groups and is a Registered Professional Engineer. Shane represents local, regional, and national clients in a variety of real estate, finance, and environmental matters including, industrial and commercial real estate transactions, title insurance matters, general preparation and negotiation, regulatory proceedings, wetlands permitting, wetlands mitigation, and state and federal environmental advice. Prior to law school, Shane was a project engineer for Turner Environmental and a senior staff engineer for URS. He also served as an assistant project manager for...

John D. Ray is the owner and operator of The Ray Firm, LLC and has practiced law for over 20 years and specializes in workers’ compensation. He opened his law firm in Baton Rouge in 2016 after years of working for New Orleans and Lafayette based defense firms, serving as Assistant Attorney General for the Louisiana Department of Justice and then serving as the Section Chief of Workers’ Compensation Section of LDJ. In addition to his role as Section Chief, he served as an in-house legal advisor to the Office of Risk Management and the Louisianan Department of Justice regarding...

John has been repeatedly recognized as a Louisiana “Super Lawyer” by SuperLawyers.com and as a “Top Attorney” by SB Magazine. He is a former member of the Shreveport City Council and served as Chairman of the City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Bar Foundation, a master of the bench of the Harry V. Booth and Judge Henry A. Politz Inn of Court, a past governor-at-large for Louisiana of the Bar Association of the Federal Fifth Circuit, and a past president of the Shreveport Bar...

Dana Brent Brown is the Managing Attorney of The Law Offices of Ossie Brown. He was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and he is the son of former East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Ossie and Faye Brown, a retired teacher. Dana has managed The Law Offices of Ossie Brown since his father’s retirement in 2000.

Susan is originally from Monroe, Louisiana and is a mother of two. Susan is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and Southern University Law Center. After becoming a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association in 1998, she began her career at The Law Office of Ossie Brown in 1999. She also served as an Assistant Public Defender from 2000 to 2008 with the Baton Rouge Public Defender’s Office. Susan’s areas of practice include: Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, DWI, and Traffic Offenses.

John joined the Joubert Law Firm team in 2013. The son of a computer engineer, he was born in Kansas, but was raised in Kansas, Colorado and finally, North Carolina. John attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his undergraduate degree in Political Science with a History Minor in 1994. He then studied law at the UNC School of Law at Chapel Hill, earning his Juris Doctorate in 1999. John then moved to Louisiana with his wife, Melissa Boyle Jacobs, who grew up in Baton Rouge, but attended UNC-Chapel Hill on a...

Adam Young grew up in Abbeville, Louisiana and attended Tulane University School of Law, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 2005. Following graduation, Adam worked for law firms and companies in the Oil & Gas industry in Louisiana, gaining business law experience that he has transferred to his own practice. He has experience in bankruptcy law, in which he focuses on complex bankruptcy situations. Adam is a member of the Bankruptcy Section of the Louisiana Bar Association, as well as the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. Additionally, he has extensive experience representing clients in divorce and family law cases,...

Robert “Bob” Brahan is a personal injury attorney whose practice focuses on serious personal injury and wrongful death cases involving 18-wheeler and automobile accidents, premises liability, and general injury law. Before he began representing plaintiffs, Bob gained experience representing insurance carriers, giving him valuable knowledge of the insurance defense industry that he uses to maximize recovery for his clients.

Bob graduated from Louisiana State University in 2002 with a degree in Business. After graduation, he moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane Law School where he received his Juris Doctorate degree with a certificate of specialization in Civil Law in 2005.

Bob...

Reneé Chabert Crasto is an associate at Walters, Papillion, Thomas, Cullens, LLC., where she works with Darrel J. Papillion as co-trial counsel on highly complex and specialized legal matters. Her practice focuses on very large and complex complicated wrongful death and catastrophic burn and other personal injury cases. Reneé has extensive experience in all areas of personal injury and wrongful death litigation including products liability, catastrophic 18 wheeler and other highway and interstate death and serious injury cases, as well as petrochemical and other industrial cases involving fires, explosions, electrocutions, burns, asbestos exposure and mesothelioma. She practices...

Hayden A. Moore is an associate at Walters, Papillion, Thomas, Cullens, LLC. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, she is a proud graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy where she lettered in volleyball. She attended Louisiana State University and obtained two degrees in Political Science and Sociology with a concentration on Criminology. While at LSU she served as the President of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity International.

She attended law school at Southern University Law Center where she graduated cum laude in 2013. While at Southern she served as Vice Justice of Phi Alpha Delta and was a student attorney in the...

Jennifer Wise Moroux is an associate at Walters, Papillion, Thomas, Cullens, LLC. Her practice focuses on complex commercial and civil litigation. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Jennifer earned her undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University in 2002. She earned her Juris Doctorate and Bachelor of Civil Law from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 2007, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif.

After being admitted to the Louisiana bar in 2007, Jennifer served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable George H. Ware, Jr., and Honorable William G. Carmichael in the 20th...

Michelle McCune Sorrells is of counsel to Walters, Papillion, Thomas, Cullens, and concentrates her practice in the area of workers' compensation law.

David Abboud Thomas is an veteran trial lawyer who has handled many jury trials throughout the State of Louisiana.

Edward J. Walters, Jr. has been representing individuals in personal injury cases for over 40 years.

Mr. Cullens was born in New Orleans on April 3, 1967.

Born and raised in Baton Rouge, I am a product of our local public schools. I graduated from LSU in 1983 with a degree in Finance. I graduated from Loyola New Orleans Law School in 1987, but before graduating, I tried my first jury case. It was a manslaughter charge. The Orleans District Attorney was impressed enough to offer me a job upon graduation. I was an Assistant District Attorney for Mr. Harry Connick from 1987 through 1990 and have been on my own since then.

As to public service after the District Attorney's Office, in 2009 I was elected to...

What We Do Our law practice is 100% devoted to helping professionals, executives, hard-working wage earners, and their families recover their denied Long Term Disability, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, and Life Insurance Benefits. This includes those claims that fall under federal ERISA law, Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI), and Service Members’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI). IT'S ALL WE DO! How We Do It We love using our knowledge developed representing insurance companies for years to your advantage against insurance companies. Our entire practice, all of our resources, processes, focus, and continual education and training, are...

Michael S. Brandner, owner of the Brandner Law Firm, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He grew up there and attended Jesuit High School. After graduating from high school, he attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he earned his bachelor's degree in political science in 1999. He then went on to study law at the Loyola University New Orleans School of Law where he served on the Executive Board of the Loyola Student Bar Association and was a member of the Loyola University School of Law Board of Trial Advocates. Mr. Bradner received his juris doctor in 2002....