Laura Carlisle is an associate in the New Orleans office of Baker Donelson, and a member of the Advocacy Department. She assists in a wide variety of business litigation matters for clients.
Jennifer McNamara, of counsel in the New Orleans office of Baker Donelson, has litigated in state and federal courts for fifteen years and concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial litigation, employment, and intellectual property. Her commercial litigation experience includes representing corporate and individual clients in a variety of business disputes, including class actions, contract disputes, defamation claims, franchise disputes, and unfair trade practices. Ms. McNamara has also represented national insurance companies in class actions and the defense of first-party claims.
Ms. McNamara's employment law experience includes defending employers against claims brought under state discrimination statutes, the Family Medical Leave Act, Title VII, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act before the EEOC, in mediation, and in state and federal courts. She also counsels employers regarding personnel policies and covenants not to compete.
With respect to her intellectual property practice, Ms. McNamara counsels clients on copyright, trademark, and defamation issues arising from Internet publications and Web sites. She is experienced in handling trademark litigation, including litigation arising from the transfer and use of domain names. Ms. McNamara has also counseled and represented media clients in areas such as access to public records and protection of the reporter's privilege in civil and criminal court.
Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Victor Schwartz chairs the firm's Public Policy Practice Group, which focuses on integrating litigation, government affairs and public relations. The group seeks to be the vanguard of developing public policy issues that will help improve our civil justice system. Mr. Schwartz also has an active appellate practice and advises product manufacturers on liability prevention, litigation and public relations issues.
Sought by print and broadcast media, Mr. Schwartz is frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times. He has appeared on Oprah, 60 Minutes and leading news programs. The Legal Times of Washington has named Mr. Schwartz one of Washington’s Top 30 “Visionary” lawyers, and The National Law Journal named Mr. Schwartz one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States in March 2013.
Mr. Schwartz is on the Board of Directors of the Searle Civil Justice Institute at George Mason University School of Law. He is a frequent participant in judicial education programs. Mr. Schwartz serves as General Counsel to the American Tort Reform Association.
Prior to entering the full time practice of law, Mr. Schwartz was a professor and dean at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He currently serves on the College’s Board of Visitors. In 2012, the College established the Professor Victor E. Schwartz Chair in Tort Law.
Mr. Schwartz, while at the U.S. Department of Commerce, served as chair of the Federal Inter-Agency Task Force on Product Liability, and the Federal Inter-Agency Council on Insurance. He was the principal author of the Uniform Product Liability Act and the Federal Risk Retention Act. He received the Secretary of Commerce’s Award for Professional Excellence.
Mr. Schwartz is co-author of the most widely used torts casebook in the United States, Prosser, Wade and Schwartz’s Torts (12th ed. 2010). He is author of the leading text Comparative Negligence (5th ed. 2010).
Mr. Schwartz has been an advisor for each of the American Law Institute’s (ALI) Restatement (Third) of Torts projects; Products Liability, Apportionment of Liability, and Liability for Physical Injury and Emotional Harm. He is a life member of the ALI.
Mr. Schwartz’s law review articles have analyzed almost every major subject of modern tort and civil justice public policy issues. His articles are frequently cited by both state and federal courts.
Individualizing the FLSA: Collective Action Waivers and the Split in the Federal Courts
Laura Carlisle, Amelia W. Koch, Jennifer McNamara
Introduction The ability of employees to proceed collectively under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)...
Silica Litigation: Controls are Needed to Curb the Potential for Unwarranted Claims
Victor E. Schwartz
The number of personal injury lawsuits alleging injuries from occupational exposure to respirable silica, or...