BRBA elects 2017 officers; installation ceremony to be held Wednesday, Jan. 11

New leaders and officers of the Baton Rouge Bar Association will be installed during a ceremony and reception Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, beginning at 3 p.m. at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

Being sworn in by Chief U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson as the 88^th president of the BRBA is Karli G. Johnson, a partner with Kean Miller LLP. The other 2017 BRBA officers are Linda Law Clark (president-elect); Amy C. Lambert (treasurer); Shelton Dennis Blunt (secretary); and Jeanne C. Comeaux (past president). Clark practices with DeCuir, Clark & Adams, LLP; Lambert is with Taylor Porter; Blunt practices with Phelps Dunbar, LLP, and Comeaux is with Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLP.

 The 2017 BRBA Directors-at-large are Kelly E. Balfour of Balfour Emonet; Melissa M. Cresson of Kean Miller LLP; Lauren Smith Hensgens of Postlethwaite & Netterville, APAC; Christopher K. Jones of Keogh Cox; Melanie Newkome Jones; and David Abboud Thomas of Walters, Papillion, Thomas, Cullens, LLC.

The 2017 Officers and Council Members of the Young Lawyers Section of the BRBA are:  Loren Shanklin Fleshman of Smith Shanklin Sosa LLC (chair); Francisca M. M. Comeaux of Phelps Dunbar, LLP, (chair-elect); Jordan L. Faircloth of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLP (secretary); and Kara B. Kantrow of Marionneaux Kantrow, LLC (past chair).

The following were elected as Young Lawyers Section council members: Ashley N. Butler of the Louisiana Department of Justice; Chelsea Gomez Caswell of Kean Miller, LLP; Kellye Rosenzweig Grinton of Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson, LLP; Erin Sayes Kenny of Taylor Porter; and Lauren Temento of the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

Chairpersons and officers of several sections of the BRBA will also be sworn in during the installation ceremony, including the Bankruptcy, Business/Corporate Law, Construction Law, Public Law Practice and Workers’ Compensation sections.

The President’s Awards and the YLS Judge Joseph Keogh Award will be presented during the ceremony.

The Baton Rouge Bar Association is a voluntary professional association of lawyers and judges with more than 2,500 members who work and live primarily in the Greater Baton Rouge area. Ann K. Gregorie is the executive director of both the BRBA and the Baton Rouge Bar Foundation.