Meet the Team
At Fishman Haygood, we use data to try big-time cases.
Our lawyers handle all types of litigation in Louisiana, across the nation, and around the globe. We pride ourselves in taking the hard cases and representing our clients with integrity and unrivaled tenacity. The firm’s litigators approach cases by balancing creative solutions with managed risk, and they never back down from a challenge. In fact, they relish a fight.
Our Litigation Section prides itself on exceptional quality and results-driven excellence in the courtroom. While our work spans complex plaintiff cases across a broad range of industry sectors, we are best known for Securities Litigation and Arbitration, Post-Bankruptcy Specialty Litigation, Environmental Litigation, Private International Arbitrations, Tax Litigation, and Class Actions.
Lara K. Richards
Lara is particularly skilled at managing complex litigation projects. From spearheading the firm's focus groups in the R. Allen Stanford case and organizing the review of millions of documents in municipal finance disputes to shepherding the firm’s 200-plus cases filed after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and assisting in multi-day trials and arbitrations, Lara’s background as city editor for a daily newspaper fully equips her for dealing with the daily demands of her job. With a combination of efficiency, ingenuity, and Texas sass, Lara’s case management skills aid the firm in going to battle against the biggest law firms in the nation.
Lara has worked on dozens of cases, and she has seen everything from arbitrations to trials in federal and state court, some of which have settled on the eve of proceedings.
C. Hogan Paschal
Hogan's practice covers complex securities, environmental, and other civil litigation and arbitrations. Notably, she served on the team representing individuals and the Official Stanford Investor’s Committee against five banks in a lawsuit alleging that the banks aided and abetted the $7 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by R. Allen Stanford. Total recoveries in the case amounted to more than $1.6 billion. In addition, Hogan and the Fishman Haygood team recently filed the most comprehensive lawsuit filed to date on behalf of FTX customers in Miami's federal court. She also represents a putative class of plaintiffs in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands, who have suffered catastrophic damage from multiple Limetree Bay Refinery chemical releases.
Hogan's experience spans trial work in state and federal courts, as well as arbitration tribunals both domestic and international.
Fishman Haygood Focus Group Examples
Determining the Issues that Matter Most to Jurors
Peggy Roif Rotstain, et al. v. Trustmark National Bank
The firm represented the Official Stanford Investor’s Committee against five banks in a lawsuit alleging that the banks aided and abetted the $7 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by R. Allen Stanford. The Fishman Haygood team completed three focus groups on this matter, which included the preparation of both plaintiff and defense presentations, in order to gain clarity around what issues would matter most to jurors, how to explain complex securities regulations, and more. On the eve of trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston), the team reached settlements of $100 million with Trustmark National Bank and Bank of Houston. Together, recoveries from the five banks amount to more than $1.6 billion.
Better Understanding the Settlement Value
Trinity Medical Services, LLC et al. v. Merge Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
The firm's client, the owner of a toxicology testing lab and provider of related laboratory management services, claimed lost profits in a lawsuit against Merge, the developer and manufacturer of clinical laboratory software systems and a subsidiary of IBM. After surviving a motion for summary judgment, the Fishman Haygood team conducted a focus group with live witnesses including client testimony. The results of this exercise helped the Plaintiff better understand the value that jurors might assign to the case, and the parties were able to resolve the case with a favorable settlement ahead of trial.
Communicating Complex Business Concepts
Rouse's Enterprises, LLC v. Associated Grocers, Inc.
In this case, the firm's client, regional grocery chain Rouse's Enterprises, filed a lawsuit for damages based on its improper expulsion from Associated Grocers, a wholesale grocery supply cooperative. After a lengthy litigation spanning six years, the matter was finally set for trial; the Fishman Haygood team prepared by conducting a focus group in a neighboring parish aimed at helping attorneys understand how best to communicate these complex business concepts to jurors from the local community. After three days of trial, the case settled for a confidential amount.
Fishman Haygood
New Orleans Office
201 St. Charles Ave., Ste. 4600
New Orleans, LA 70170
fishmanhaygood.com
Ph: 504.586.5252
Fax: 504.586.5250