VerifiedLawFirms editorial: Focus and practice areas — The firm works on two tracks at once: courtroom disputes and business deals. Its home page says it handles litigation and transactional matters for clients in Louisiana and…
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About Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert
Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. is based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The firm represents businesses, insurance companies and individuals in transactional matters and litigation.
Its website says the practice serves clients across Louisiana and elsewhere in the United States. The firm describes its staff as including more than 40 attorneys.
The firm's stated work includes business and corporate matters, business disputes, environmental matters, government matters, insurance, labor and employment, personal injury defense and real estate. Its practice-area listings also identify the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the False Claims Act, commercial real estate and complex litigation.
The firm handles both disputes and transactions, including matters that involve several legal fields. Capdevielle Title Corporation, an affiliate of the firm, provides commercial title insurance services through major title insurance companies. The attorney roster identifies co-managing members, members, associates and lawyers serving of counsel.
Editor's Review
VerifiedLawFirms editorial
Focus and practice areas
The firm works on two tracks at once: courtroom disputes and business deals. Its home page says it handles litigation and transactional matters for clients in Louisiana and in other states. The clients it names are businesses, insurance companies and individuals. That mix gives the firm a broad field of work.
The published practice list runs across several areas of law. It includes business and corporate matters, business disputes, environmental matters, government matters, insurance, labor and employment, personal injury defense and real estate. The site's navigation also points to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the False Claims Act, commercial real estate and complex litigation. In my opinion the list reads as a general business firm that keeps both transactional and dispute work under one roof.
Some matters cross more than one of those areas. A real estate deal can turn into a title dispute. An insurance file can move from advice into a lawsuit. The firm's own pages say it takes on matters that involve several legal fields, which fits the breadth of the roster.
How the team is built
The firm describes a staff of more than 40 attorneys. Its roster sorts them into co-managing members, members, associates and lawyers of counsel. Two co-managing members sit at the top of that structure, James M. Garner and Leopold Z. Sher.
James M. Garner earned a Bachelor of Science and a Juris Doctor from Tulane University. He works as a trial lawyer on commercial and complex litigation, and he has served as lead counsel in cases in several states. Before this firm he was a Member at McGlinchey Stafford. Leopold Z. Sher works on the business side, with a practice across commercial real estate, business and finance law, complex commercial litigation, health care law, creditors' rights, workouts and foreclosures, and commercial bankruptcy.
Martha Y. Curtis was one of the founding members when the firm opened in January 1999. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Tulane Law School. Her work centers on insurance law and personal injury litigation for plaintiffs. That gives the firm named history on both the insurance and injury sides of its practice.
Credentials on the roster
The attorney pages give schools and, in some cases, honors. John T. Balhoff II earned a J.D. from Louisiana State University in 1996 and a B.B.A., cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame. Elwood F. Cahill Jr. holds a B.S. from the University of New Orleans and a J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans. Jonathan B. Cerise studied at Davidson College and took his J.D. from the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center.
David A. Freedman joined the litigation section in 2015. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and served with the United States Peace Corps in Morocco. His Juris Doctor comes from Tulane University Law School, where he graduated Order of the Coif and magna cum laude. As a reviewer I find the roster gives real detail on where its lawyers trained.
The litigation side
Several members carry the courtroom work. James M. Garner handles commercial and complex litigation as lead counsel. John T. Balhoff II covers commercial litigation, title litigation, securities litigation, foreclosures and insurance litigation. Melissa Rome Harris and David A. Freedman both work in commercial litigation.
Complex commercial litigation often runs for a long time before any trial. It moves through pleadings, motion practice, document discovery and depositions, and many cases resolve on motions or settle before a jury hears them. A firm that lists lead-counsel trial experience signals that it can carry a matter through to a verdict when a case stays contested. The named litigators here draw on business, insurance and title law, which lines up with the firm's transactional work.
Title and securities disputes both sit inside that litigation group. Title litigation tests who holds valid rights to property, and it often follows a failed sale or a defect found in the public record. Securities litigation deals with claims tied to investments and disclosure. Keeping both on the roster lets the firm hold related deal work and dispute work close together.
Business, real estate and title work
The transactional group handles corporate and property matters. Leopold Z. Sher and Elwood F. Cahill Jr. both work in commercial real estate, business and finance law, creditors' rights, workouts and foreclosures, and commercial bankruptcy. Travis A. Beaton joined in 2014 and practices in the Business Section on commercial real estate transactions, leasing, land use, finance and general corporate matters. Jonathan B. Cerise represents corporate and individual clients in real estate development, acquisitions and leasing.
Beaton's stated work includes purchase and sale agreements, acquisitions and dispositions of real property, financing transactions, and title and survey matters. Cerise also represents debtors and financial institutions. The overlap across these members means a client on a property deal can find several lawyers at the firm who work the same ground.
Capdevielle Title Corporation, an affiliate of the firm, provides commercial title insurance services through major title insurance companies. That affiliate connects the firm's real estate practice to title coverage. Title work runs alongside the property deals the members describe, so the affiliation fits the shape of the practice.
What the record shows
The firm's public record rests on named attorneys, a listed set of practice areas and a founding member's account of a January 1999 start. The pages our research read do not publish case results or rankings, so this review stays with what the firm states about its people and its work. In my opinion that is enough to place the firm clearly: a New Orleans business firm with litigation and transactional depth and a title affiliate attached to it.
Two co-managing members lead a group of more than 40 lawyers. The practice areas span business, insurance, labor and employment, environmental and government matters, and real estate. The firm also lists work under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the False Claims Act, both federal statutes that reach compliance and fraud claims. That range points to clients who want one firm for both advice and disputes.
The insurance and injury work runs in two directions. Personal injury defense appears in the practice list, and Martha Y. Curtis handles personal injury litigation for plaintiffs. A firm that names both defense and plaintiff injury work can take cases from either seat, subject to conflicts. John T. Balhoff II adds insurance litigation to that same group.
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AFAlexis Friedman-BentonAssociate
ACAlvin C. Miester IIIMember
ARAmanda Russo SchenckMember
Amanda Russo Schenck earned an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications from Louisiana State University in 2003 and a law degree from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law in 2006. While at Loyola, she served as Vice-president of the Student Bar Association, a Student Practitioner in the Family Law Section of the Loyola Law Clinic, and a teaching assistant in the Research and Writing Lab. She has been an associate in the litigation section at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, LLC since 2006. Her work covers matters including personal injury litigation and commercial litigation.
AGAshley Gremillion CokerMember
Ashley Rene Gremillion Coker is a lawyer based in New Orleans, Louisiana. She practices at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, LLC, located at 909 Poydras Street in New Orleans. The profile does not specify her practice areas.
BWBrandon W. KeayAssociate
Brandon W. Keay is an attorney with Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. in New Orleans, Louisiana. His practice areas include civil litigation, personal injury, creditor debtor rights, energy and natural resources, and real estate.
CPChad P. MorrowMember
Chad P. Morrow is a Member at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert in New Orleans. He received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University and his law degree from Louisiana State University, where he served on the Moot Court Board. He represents clients in secured financing transactions, real estate transactions, real property and leasing, and other commercial transactions. He has spoken on legal topics including title insurance, UCC rights and remedies, real estate leasing, and bankruptcy matters.
CSClaire Schnell St. GermainAssociate
CJCurtis J. CaseAssociate
DRDaija Renee SmithAssociate
DADavid A. FreedmanMember
David Freedman joined the litigation section of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert in 2015. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Washington University in Saint Louis and served with the United States Peace Corps in Morocco. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Tulane University Law School, where he graduated Order of the Coif and Magna Cum Laude. His practice covers commercial litigation and litigation involving banking and finance, construction, environmental, and real estate matters.
DADavid A. MarcelloOf Counsel
David Marcello has served Of Counsel to Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. since 2002. He is a 1968 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College and holds a 1971 J.D. degree from Tulane Law School, where he was an assistant editor of the Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. His work covers the practice areas of Municipal Law, Administrative and Regulatory Law, and Land Use and Zoning Law.
Elwood F. Cahill Jr.Member
Elwood F. Cahill Jr. is a member of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert in New Orleans, where he practices in the firm's Business Group. He earned a B.S. from the University of New Orleans in 1977 and a J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans in 1980. His practice concentrates on commercial real estate, business and finance law, creditors' rights, workouts and foreclosures, and commercial bankruptcy. He has taught at Loyola Law School as an adjunct professor and skills instructor and has spoken at seminars and conventions for professional and trade organizations.
GAGrace Arden Van HancockAssociate
GGGrant G. ButlerAssociate
HBHannah BrewtonAssociate
JAJacob A. AireyOf Counsel
Jacob Albert Airey is a lawyer at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, LLC in Slidell, Louisiana. He earned a B.A. from Louisiana State University in 1997 and a J.D. from Louisiana State University in 2002. His practice focuses on real estate, antitrust and trade law, and estate planning.
JMJames M. GarnerCo-managing Member
James M. Garner is the Co-Managing Member of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a Bachelor of Science and a Juris Doctor from Tulane University. He is a trial lawyer whose work focuses on commercial and complex litigation, and he has served as lead counsel in cases in several states. Earlier in his career he was a Member at the firm McGlinchey Stafford.
JKJason K. SumichAssociate
JDJeffrey D. KesslerMember
JTJohn T. Balhoff IIMember
John T. Balhoff II is a Member at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned his J.D. from Louisiana State University and A. and M. College in 1996 and holds a B.B.A., cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame. His practice centers on litigation, including commercial litigation, title litigation, securities litigation, foreclosures, insurance litigation, and construction litigation. He has handled matters before Louisiana state courts and federal courts.
JWJohn Wade Myles, Jr.Associate
JBJonathan B. CeriseMember
Jonathan B. Cerise is a Member at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a J.D. from Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center and a B.S. from Davidson College. He represents corporate and individual clients in real estate development, acquisitions, and leasing. His practice also includes representing debtors and financial institutions in secured financing transactions, including loan originations and loan workouts.
JMJoseph M. KaiserAssociate
JSJoshua S. ForceMember
KTKaren T. HolzenthalAssociate
Karen T. Holzenthal is an associate at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, LLC in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University in 1990 and a B.A. from the University of New Orleans in 1981. Her practice focuses on commercial real estate and real estate matters.
KBKaylyn Blosser HandyAssociate
LALaura A. LarksAssociate
LZLeopold Z. SherCo-managing Member
Leopold Z. Sher is a business lawyer at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, LLC in New Orleans, where he serves as Co-managing Member. His practice covers commercial real estate, business and finance law, complex commercial litigation, health care law, creditors' rights and restructuring, workouts and foreclosures, commercial bankruptcy, disaster recovery, ADR, and secured and asset-based lending. His real estate work involves the development, acquisition, leasing, financing, and sale of properties such as office buildings, shopping centers, hotels, multifamily and mixed-use projects, and historic rehabilitation projects. He represents institutional lenders such as banks, insurance companies, and finance companies, as well as landlords and tenants in leasing and operational agreements.
MAMarie A. MooreMember
Marie A. Moore is a Member at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert in New Orleans. She received her B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1975 and her J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1978, where she was a member of Order of the Coif and associate editor of the Alabama Law Review. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert S. Vance of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. She practices in the areas of commercial leasing and real estate, construction, lending, and general commercial transactions.
MYMartha Y. CurtisMember
Martha Young Curtis is a member (partner) of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C., and was one of the founding members of the firm when it opened in January 1999. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Vanderbilt University and her Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Tulane Law School. Her practice focuses on insurance law and personal injury litigation for plaintiffs.
MRMelissa Rome HarrisMember
Melissa Harris is an attorney at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation.
MAMiles A. RoppoloAssociate
NJNeal J. KlingMember
Neal J. Kling is a Member at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, LLC in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a BS from Louisiana State University in 1989 and a JD from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1993, where he was a member of the Louisiana Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He serves as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Tulane Law School and is a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers. His practice covers admiralty and maritime, bankruptcy and debt, business, commercial real estate, financial markets and services, and real estate matters.
Richard P. RichterOf Counsel
RDRyan D. AdamsMember
RJRyan J. TaixAssociate
RORyan O. LuminaisMember
Ryan O. Luminais is a member of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. in New Orleans, joining the firm in 2007 after practicing with Brunini, Grantham, Grower, & Hewes, PLLC in Jackson, Mississippi. He received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of New Orleans in 2002 and earned his Juris Doctorate and Bachelor of Civil Law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 2005. He is a trial lawyer who handles both plaintiff and defense matters, including commercial and complex litigation, personal injury and motor vehicle accidents, products liability, construction disputes, insurance defense, real estate and lease disputes, and professional malpractice and liability.
SRSophie Rae TrosclairAssociate
SISteven I. KleinMember
Steven I. Klein is a member at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert LLC in New Orleans, Louisiana. He received a BA in 1972 and a J.D. in 1975, both from the University of Maryland. His practice covers business organizations, closely held companies and family businesses, franchise law, real estate law, tax law, trusts and estates, and related litigation matters. He has chaired the American Bar Association's S Corporations Committee and served on the boards of advisors for publications on business entities and S corporation taxation.
SDStuart D. KottleMember
Stuart D. Kottle is an attorney at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in 2013 and began practicing law that same year. His practice covers appellate and business litigation matters, and he also handles administrative law, constitutional law, government relations, eminent domain, insurance, municipal, and oil and gas law issues.
TJThomas J. Madigan IIMember
Thomas J. Madigan is a Member at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C. in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his practice focuses on litigation. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Tulane University Law School in 2002 and received a B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1998. He served on the Tulane Law Review from 2000 to 2002.
TPThomas P. McAlisterOf Counsel
TBTimothy B. FrancisOf Counsel
Timothy B. Francis is Of Counsel at Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a J.D. from Tulane University and a B.S. from Xavier University. His practice focuses on antitrust and trade law, administrative law, and real estate. He previously served as Assistant to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1981 to 1982 and as Counsel to U.S. Senator John Breaux from 1986 to 1988.
TATravis A. BeatonMember
Travis Beaton joined Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert in 2014 and is a Member of the firm's Business Section. His principal areas of practice include commercial real estate transactions, leasing, land use, finance, and general corporate matters, and his work includes purchase and sale agreements, acquisitions and dispositions of real property, financing transactions, title and survey matters, and commercial and retail leases. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University and his law degree from Tulane University Law School, graduating magna cum laude. Beaton is an adjunct faculty member at Tulane University Law School teaching a course in Real Estate Transactions, and he works as a title insurance producer and agent through the firm's title agency, Capdevielle Title Corporation.
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