I was born in Opelousas, Louisiana and served in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. I earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Louisiana State University Law School in 1979 and served as Law Clerk to the Honorable John M. Shaw, United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana until 1981. I'm admitted to practice in all federal and state courts in Louisiana, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and is duly admitted and qualified as an Attorney and Counselor of the Supreme Court of the United States. As a member of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association, I served as Co-Chairman of the Toxic Torts and Mass Torts Litigation Subcommittee. I'm a member of the American Association for Justice, the Bar Association of the Federal Fifth Circuit and a Charter member and Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation and a Master in the Acadiana Chapter of the American Inns of Court. In 2014 I served as President of the Lafayette-Acadiana Chapter of the Federal Bar Association where I continue to serve on its Board of Directors. As a member of the Louisiana Association for Justice, I have served on its Board of Governors, Council of Directors, and President's Advisory Council and I was recently re-elected to serve another term as a member of its Executive Committee. I am currently listed among the Top Attorneys in Louisiana by Louisiana Life magazine, and have been selected as a Louisiana Super Lawyer. My rating in the Martndale-Hubbel Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, a peer-review rating, is "AV", the highest possible rating for both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards. Memberships Lafayette, St. Landry and St. Mary Parish Bar Association (Board of Directors and President) Litigation Section of the American Bar Association Co-Chairman of the Toxic Torts and Mass Litigation Subcommittee American Association for Justice Bar Association of the Federal Fifth Circuit Charter member and Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation Louisiana Association for Justice, Board of Governors, Council of Directors, President's Advisory Council, and Executive Committee.