Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  Companies and individuals who find themselves under investigation for, or charged with, a criminal offense are best served by counsel who has extensive experience with domestic and foreign criminal prosecutions.  Our relationships with Government agencies and our knowledge of government enforcement priorities, methods, and techniques affords us unique insights for our clients. Our lawyers are frequent speakers and commentators who have published articles on criminal law topics such as...
• Wrongful Death
  The Chaffe McCall products liability group has defended personal injury, property damage, and wrongful death cases arising out of consumer, user, and bystander product use and exposure.  Our attorneys also prosecute and defend other product-related matters, such as indemnification, contract, attorney general and/or governmental actions and commercial disputes.  Our team has provided service in a wide-range of product areas, including...
• Fraud
  The Commercial Litigation Section includes representation of financial institutions, diversified national corporations, real-estate companies, insurance companies, and state and federal governmental agencies. The cases are as varied as the commercial and regulatory settings from which they arise: anti-trust, civil RICO, securities fraud, patent and trademark infringement, intellectual property disputes, unfair trade practices, dealer terminations, lender liability, professional liability, bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions, minority shareholder rights, lease disputes, secured transactions, real-estate, fidelity and surety bonds, foreclosure and collections, tortious interference, and contract breach.
• White Collar Crimes
  The past decade has witnessed dramatic changes in the global white collar enforcement landscape.  Walter Becker, a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, will participate in the “14th Annual White Collar Crime Symposium,” hosted by the Louisiana State Bar Association. … More»
• Money Laundering
  Chaffe McCall’s Government Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense Group represents individuals and corporations that are under federal, state, or foreign investigation, and/or have been charged with criminal violations. The group can also assists corporations with internal investigations, risk assessments, and creation of corporate compliance programs, especially corruption and money laundering risk due diligence programs.

Business and Corporate Law

• Mergers and Acquisitions
  Chaffe McCall’s Banking and Finance practice represents significant financial and commercial clients on all business issues. Our group has extensive and wide-ranging experience advising financial institutions and those who use their services  with respect to loan transactions, real estate development, debt restructuring, the formation of financial institutions and their holding companies,  mergers and acquisitions, compliance with regulatory requirements, director and officer responsibilities, employment matters, and operational issues.
• Business Formation
  The Business and Taxation Section provides advice and representation in a wide variety of business areas, such as business formation and start-up issues, mergers, dispositions, stock and asset acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, dissolutions, federal and state regulations, bank governance, corporate management, franchising, and entertainment law.
• Business Disputes
• Business Transactions
  The Banking and Commercial Transactions team at Chaffe McCall represents national, regional and local lenders in a full range of financial and business matters. Our group brings a fresh look to each new opportunity in our evolving business climate and collectively bring years of solid experience to...
• Intellectual Property
  Chaffe McCall’s copyright and trademark litigation lawyers offer strategic insights and innovative solutions to individuals and companies facing complex intellectual property issues. We partner with our clients to cultivate strategies that effectively protect their proprietary interests.  Whether enforcing rights against infringers or defending against claims, our practice has deep capabilities across all categories of transactional matters including...
• Unfair Competition
  Our practice experience includes not only state and federal litigation, but also proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as well as before arbitration panels and the International Trade Commission (“ITC”).  Our lawyers have extensive experience drafting and negotiating IP representations, publication contracts and copyright registration, warranties and covenants as well as licensing, cross-licensing and grant-back arrangements.  Our litigators are recognized throughout the industry in providing the necessary insight to defend against sophisticated claims in today’s wide range of complex technologies.
• Antitrust
  The antitrust practice at Chaffe McCall focuses on creating opportunities and limiting risks in all aspects of a client’s business. Chaffe McCall’s antitrust practice draws upon a diverse group of experienced litigators and transactional lawyers who concentrate in the most complex areas of antitrust law and whose work has spanned many industries, including...

Employment Law

• Employment Contract
  Chaffe McCall’s Labor & Employment attorneys counsel and represent local, regional, and multi-national clients in all aspects of traditional labor and employment law, including compliance with federal and state statutes and regulations, drafting personnel policies and employee handbooks, drafting employment contracts, conducting training for managers and supervisors, maintaining union-free employer-employee relations and protecting management’s rights during union organizational campaigns and collective bargaining contract negotiations.
• Employment Litigation
  The Section’s litigators also have decades of experience appearing before not only state and federal courts but also labor arbitrators and state and federal boards and agencies, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the National Labor Relations Board, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the U.S. Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division.  We counsel employers on the wide variety of employment issues that arise in the workplace, including how to effectively manage discipline and discharges, complaint investigations, and reductions in force.  We represent employers in litigation of discrimination, harassment, employee benefits, tort and contract claims, as well as claims arising under federal antitrust laws and the Labor Management Relations Act.  We also have significant experience in litigation to enforce employment contracts and restrictive covenants, including non-competition agreements.

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
• Construction Litigation
• Real Estate Transactions
  Our experience includes helping clients create and administer family trusts, annual gifts, life insurance trusts, and real-estate transactions, including the transfer of complex family owned property to a trust or a family LLC or other entity for smoother property control and management. Chaffe McCall attorneys have also been called upon to serve as trustees and executors.
• Land Use and Zoning
  We have a breadth of experience in the legislative, administrative and regulatory aspects of complex zoning and other land use issues.  We represent real estate investors, developers, and landowners. We develop and implement legal strategies to expedite a project from the conceptual stage all the way through application and ultimate approval while minimizing the risk of litigation and other delays. Our vast knowledge of local, regional, and state agencies help us minimize roadblocks and find solutions to problems that can arise in the development process.
• Property Damage
  Stewart Enterprises, Inc. v. RSUI Indemnity Co., 614 F.3d 117 (5th Cir. 2010), our client had sued its second-layer excess insurer, seeking reimbursement for property damage and other losses suffered in Hurricane Katrina. On cross-motions for partial summary judgment, the district court ruled that the policy covered the risk of flood but that the policy’s anti-concurrent causation clause (“the ACC clause”) limited the flood coverage. The district court certified its ruling for appeal sua sponte under Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b), and both parties appealed. Our brief presented a clear explanation of the complicated relationship between the policy’s ACC clause and its flood sublimit. The Fifth Circuit ruled in our client’s favor, finding that the ACC clause limited coverage only after the full amount of the flood sublimit had been exhausted.

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  Personal injury claims and investigations involving the Federal Employer’s Liability Act, the Safety Appliance Act, and the Locomotive Inspection Act
• Medical Malpractice
  Served as mediator or arbitrator in various maritime, automobile accident, and personal injury and medical malpractice cases involving serious injuries and death.

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  The firm represents individuals and corporate executors, beneficiaries of successions, trustees, and trust beneficiaries in the administration of estates and trusts. Our experienced attorneys have arranged the probate of wills, planning and administered “successions,” and advised clients on federal taxation of gifts, generation skipping transfers, and estates. Our attorneys have also rendered advice on all phases of the estate planning, representing parents and children in successions, trust creation and termination, and the transfer of assets at and prior to death. Our knowledgeable attorneys can also provide customized counseling in the areas of...
• Wills
• Trusts
• Probate

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
  Our lawyers understand all aspects of bankruptcy law and have a comprehensive knowledge of the Bankruptcy Code.  The Bankruptcy Practice Group includes a 13-year Adjunct Professor of Bankruptcy Law board certified in Business Bankruptcy Law, former law clerks to a bankruptcy judge and federal district judge, and lawyers that have received national and local recognition for their services in handling bankruptcy matters.
• Foreclosure
  We also have broad experience in complex real estate loan foreclosures, workouts and re-structurings and regularly collaborate with other practice areas in litigation and bankruptcy matters involving real estate assets or issues.  The finance group also actively participates in M&A transactions that have a real estate component.
• Tax Law
  The United States Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have been engaged in an effort to curb abusive tax shelters. As part of this effort, the IRS issued regulations known as IRS Circular 230 that have broad effects on tax-related communications sent by the firm to clients, including those communications relating to federal income tax planning techniques.