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Board Member Profiles - 2013

JOHN T. COX, JR., Board Chair:
Mr. Cox is a practicing attorney and mediator and is the senior director in the Shreveport law firm of Blanchard, Walker, O'Quin and Roberts, APLC. Mr. Cox holds a B.S degree in Business Administration and Public Administration from LSU and a J.D. degree from the LSU Law Center.

In addition to being admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Louisiana, he is also admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeal for the 5th, 8th and 11th Circuits, the United States District Courts for the Western, Middle and Eastern Districts of Louisiana, and the Eastern District of Texas as well as the United States Tax Court.

Mr. Cox has over forty-two years of legal experience, handling both transactions and litigation in virtually every aspect of general practice, with greater emphasis on labor and employment law, business and corporate affairs and litigation. Mr. Cox also is a qualified mediator.

Mr. Cox is a frequent speaker at CLE programs around the state and has served as adjunct lecturer in business law and ethics at both LSUS and Centenary College. He has served as President of the Shreveport Bar Association and is currently serving as President of the Committee of One Hundred, a group of business and professional leaders committed to do all things of a civic, educational, and charitable nature to promote community relations and the general welfare of the cities of Shreveport and Bossier, their respective parishes and the surrounding area of northwest Louisiana. Mr. Cox holds the designation of Senior Master of the Bar in the Harry V. Booth and Judge Henry A. Politz American Inn of Court, is the recipient of the Valley Forge Freedom Foundation's George Washington Honor Medal and is listed in "Who's Who in American Law." He has formerly served as a member of the Board of Directors of Legal Services of North Louisiana, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Shreveport, as a member of Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Shreveport Symphony.

Mr. Cox was appointed to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board in 2009. Prior to his appointment to the Disciplinary Board, Mr. Cox served as a Hearing Committee Chairman and prior to that as a Lawyer Member of a Hearing Committee.

CARL A. BUTLER, Lawyer Member:
Carl Butler is a Louisiana native – born in New Orleans and reared in Jackson, LA, East Feliciana Parish – who has practiced law in state and federal courts throughout Louisiana for over 26 years. His educational background is detailed below and includes degrees from Cornell University and University of Michigan Law School.

His law practice has been wide ranging and diverse, though primarily as a civil litigator in defense of corporate interests as well as public bodies.

His representative client list includes the Louis Armstrong International Airport, Federated Department Stores d/b/a Macy’s, Intex Recreation Corporation, E&K Equipment, Inc., GUICO Machine Works, Inc., St. Paul Traveler’s Insurance Company, Hanover Insurance Company, the City of New Orleans and St. John the Baptist Parish. Additionally, he has represented many individual clients and small businesses in his general practice covering such areas as personal injury, workers’ compensation, successions, and varied commercial transactions.

To his credit, Mr. Butler has published in professional journals both as a law student and a practicing attorney. While at the University of Michigan he was an Associate Note Editor for the Michigan Journal of Law Reform and in 1985 authored “Pension Plan Terminations and Asset Reversions: Accommodating the Interests of Employers and Employees,” 19 U. Mich. J.L. Ref. 257 (1985). In 2000, he co-authored “Applying Negligent Advertising Theory,” For The Defense, DRI, July 2000.

Mr. Butler is a member of the New Orleans, Louisiana State, American and National Bar Associations. He served as Vice-Chair for the Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Committee of ABA TIPS section from 2008 – 2011. He attended the Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Spring Conference held in Phoenix, AZ, April 10 – 11, 2008 and delivered a paper entitled “Causation and Scientific Reliability: An Overview of Recent Applications in Toxic Tort in Louisiana”.

At the 2011 Spring Conference of the Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Conference held March 31 – April 2, 2011 in Phoenix, AZ, Mr. Butler moderated a distinquished panel discussion of the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill. The panel featured Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish President, Billy Nungesser.

Since 2004 Mr. Butler has been invited each year by the Louisiana State Bar Association to serve as an attorney instructor at the Tulane University School of Law where he has presented instruction on professionalism at the Annual Law School Professionalism Orientation Program to incoming law school students. He was also an attorney instructor in the Trial Practice Program at the Loyola University College of Law in 1998 and 1999.

Mr. Butler was appointed to the Disciplinary Board in 2011.

Professional Activities and Recognitions:

Louisiana State Bar Association (Special Committee on Insurance for Association, 1989 - 1993)
American Bar Association
National Bar Association
New Orleans Bar Association
Attorney Instructor, Loyola University School of Law Trial Practice Program (1998 - 1999)
Attorney Instructor, Tulane Law School Professionalism Orientation, August 2004 - 2011
Louisiana Technology Council, 2005-2008
Panelist, ABA Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Conference, Phoenix, AZ, 2008
Panel Moderator, ABA Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Conference, Phoenix, AZ, 2011
Member, Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, 2011 – present
Leader In Law, New Orleans City Business, 2011
Member, NAMWOLF Cross Marketing Committee, 2012

STEPHEN F. CHICCARELLI, Lawyer Member:
Mr. Chiccarelli was appointed to the Disciplinary Board in 2010.

GEORGE L. CRAIN, JR., Public Member:
Mr. Crain is a graduate of Nicholls State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Economics in May of 1969. He served in the U.S. Army from June 1969 through 1971 when he received an honorable discharge. He is currently the President of WHC, Inc. since 1976 and is responsible for all operations of the business.

Mr. Crain is active in numerous professional and civic activities including the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry; Member of the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors; Westpac Area Committee; Chairman of the Louisiana Oilfield Legislative Committee since 1988; Performing Arts Society of Acadiana; Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and the Bayou Vermillion Commission from 1989 to 1998.

Mr. Crain served as a hearing committee member from 2003 to 2008. He was appointed to serve as a member of the Board in 2009.

DOW M. EDWARDS, Lawyer Member:
Mr. Edwards is Partner at Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore LLC. His practice areas include railroad and transportation, insurance, casualty, product liability, premises liability, and complex litigation. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. Dow received a Juris Doctor-Cum Laude from Southern University Law Center where he served as Managing Editor of the Southern University Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Board. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Oklahoma Panhandle State University. He is a former Law Clerk for Chief Justice Pascal Calogero at the Louisiana Supreme Court. He served as an Adjutant General Officer in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Corps. He is also a former paralegal, claims adjuster and professional football player. He is a member of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute and serves as Co-chairman on the Langston Hughes Academy Charter School Board.

Mr. Edwards is admitted to the practice of law in the State of Louisiana, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States District Court for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana. In addition, he is a member of the Federal Bar Association, American Bar Association, National Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, New Orleans Bar Association, National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel and American Inns of Court.

Mr. Edwards is married to his lovely bride Lisa and they have five children Daniel, David, Erika, Jonathan and Dow II.

JAMIE E. FONTENOT, Lawyer Member:
Ms. Fontenot graduated in 1988 with a B.A. in psychology from Northwestern State University and in 1991, she received her degree in paralegal education from LSU.In1995, Ms. Fontenot graduated with honors from Southern University Law Center and she was admitted to the Louisiana State Bar Association in October.

Ms. Fontenot’s practice is devoted exclusively to family law, and she has been Board Certified as a Family Law Specialist since January 1, 2002.

Ms. Fontenot has been a lecturer for continuing legal education seminars, and she is a member of the 18^th Judicial District Bar Association, the Baton Rouge Bar Association, and the Family Law Section of the BRBA.In the Family Law Section of the BRBA, she served as Secretary/Treasurer for 2004, Chair-Elect 2005, the Chairperson for 2006 and Past-Chair in 2007.

Additional professional accomplishments include:

2010 to date
Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board member.
2009 to date
Louisiana Law Institute – Family Law Section
2009 - 2013
Family Law Advisory Committee for Board Certification in Family Law for the Louisiana State Bar Association, including as secretary, vice-chair and chair of the Committee;
2008 - 2010
Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee member

FRANK A. FERTITTA, LSBA Representative:
Mr. Fertitta was appointed as the LSBA Representative in 2012.

KIM LEIJA, Public Member:
Ms. Leija was appointed to the Disciplinary Board in 2010.

RALPH K. LEE, JR., Lawyer Member:
Mr. Lee was appointed to the Disciplinary Board in 2009.

TARA LAVEL MASON, Lawyer Member:
Ms. Mason was appointed to the Disciplinary Board in 2012.

EDWIN G. PREIS, JR., Board Vice-Chair/Adjudicative Committee Chair:
Mr. Preis is the Managing Partner and founder of Preis & Roy, a regional defense law firm with offices in Lafayette, New Orleans, and Houston. Mr. Preis earned his undergraduate B.A. Degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1969, and obtained his Juris Doctorate Degree from the LSU Law Center in 1972. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Preis served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Nauman S. Scott, U.S. District Judge, Western District of Louisiana (1972-1974).

Mr. Preis is licensed to practice in Louisiana and Texas. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana, and the Southern District of Texas. Mr. Preis is a member of the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit, Louisiana State Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Lafayette Parish Bar Association, Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, Defense Research Institute, Maritime Law Association of the United States, and Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute.

Mr. Preis is listed in Best Lawyers in America, Louisiana Super Lawyers, and holds an AV Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating.

Mr. Preis served as a faculty member for the LSU Law Center’s Trial Advocacy Training Program in 1992 and 1993, and currently serves on the LSU Law Center’s Board of Trustees.Mr. Preis has approximately thirty-eight (38) years of legal experience, and maintains an active litigation practice focused primarily on maritime and energy disputes, many of which are high profile, complex and involve major casualties.

Mr. Preis has been a member of the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board since January of 2010. Prior to his appointment to the Board, he served for seven years as a Hearing Committee Chairman.

R. LEWIS SMITH, Public Member:
Mr. Smith is a graduate of Northeast Louisiana University where he earned a Bachelor of Music Education in 1976 and a Master of Business Adminstration from Louisiana State University in Shreveport in 1983. He received his certification as a Public Accountant in 1986. Mr. Smith is currently a partner in Smith & Company, LLC and is active in numerous professional and civic activities including the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountant; Southwest Rotary Club and Broadmoor Baptist Church.

Mr. Smith was appointed to the Disciplinary Board in 2011.

LINDA P. SPAIN, Public Member:
Ms. Spain is a graduate of Louisiana State University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Speech Communications in 1973 and a Master of Education in 1978. She is certified to teach in the areas of Speech Pathology, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, and Visually Impaired/Blind. After twenty years of teaching, Ms. Spain entered the private sector and became Director of Marketing and then General Manager of a statewide travel agency.Currently she contracts her services as a consulting teacher with several school districts around the Baton Rouge area. Ms. Spain has served as a CASA and is currently a member of First United Methodist Church and is on the Board of Directors of McMains’ Children Developmental Center.She is married to John M Spain, Executive Vice President of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. They have two children and two granddaughters.

Ms. Spain began serving as a Hearing Committee member in 2003 and was appointed to the Disciplinary Board in 2007.

R. STEVEN TEW, Lawyer Member:
Mr. Tew was appointed to the Disciplinary Board in 2010.

Administrative Committee: John T. Cox, Jr., Chair; Dow M. Edwards, Lawyer Member; Ralph K. Lee, Jr., Lawyer Member; Kim Leija, Public Member; Frank A. Fertitta, LSBA Representative

Adjudicative Committee:

[Panel A]: Carl A. Butler, Panel Chair; R. Steven Tew, Lawyer Member; R. Lewis Smith, Jr., Public Member

[Panel B]: Stephen F. Chiccarelli, Panel Chair; Jamie E. Fontenot, Lawyer Member; Linda P. Spain, Public Member

[Panel C]: Edwin G. Preis, Jr., Adjudicative Committee Chair/Panel Chair; Tara Lavel Mason, Lawyer Member; George L. Crain, Jr., Public Member

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