Fishman Haygood LLP

Number of partners: 19

Number of other lawyers: 24

Fishman Haygood was founded in the mid-1990s by leading business and litigation lawyers from three of the largest firms in Louisiana. Today, we enjoy a reputation as one of the state’s leading business law firms.

Banking & Finance

• Advised Sanderson Farms, Inc., in connection to its $1 billion revolving credit facility with a consortium of banks led by BMO Harris Bank, N.A., as agent.
• Represented Provident Resources Group, Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary in connection with the Michigan Finance Authority’s issuance of more than $249 million Act 38 Facilities Senior Revenue Bonds (The Henry Ford Health Detroit South Campus Central Utility Plant Project) Series 2024 (Green Bonds) related to the design, construction, financing, operations, maintenance, possession, control and improvement of a new central utility plant and related system improvements to satisfy the chilled and hot water needs of a now under construction hospital facility.

Bankruptcy & Restructuring

• Represented numerous law firms and their class representative clients in high profile bankruptcy cases, including Clark, Love, & Hutson, a law firm representing over 15,000 tort claimants in multi-district litigation involving ear plug product liability claims against the Debtors and the 3M Company; firm was successful in protecting the claimants’ rights and opposing the preliminary injunction sought by the Debtors in favor of the 3M Company.
• Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Alfred Miller Contracting Company case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Represents the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of S2 Operating in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Venture, Inc. in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
• Represented the Ad Hoc Committee of Equity Holders in the Mallinckrodt plc bankruptcy cases pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware; Mallinckrodt plc filed a plan of reorganization that contemplated cancelling, releasing, and extinguishing 84.6 million shares of common stock.

Corporate, Securities and M&A

• Represented Sanderson Farms, Inc., handling financing and securities matters and advising management and Board of Directors on an ongoing basis, including securities law compliance and reporting, corporate governance, executive compensation, risk management, shareholder engagement, and capital markets and M&A transactions; advised the company on its agreement to be acquired by a joint venture for $203/share in cash, representing a total equity value for Sanderson Farms of $4.53 billion.
• Represents H&E Equipment Services, one of the country’s largest rental equipment companies, in mergers and acquisitions; transactions for this Baton Rouge-based company span the country, with its most recent acquisitions expanding H&E’s reach into the states of California, Arizona and Montana.

Real Estate

• Served as local real estate counsel for Seefried Industrial Properties in the redevelopment of a 1.2 million square-foot shopping mall into a $350 million 3.8 million square-foot warehouse and distribution facility for Amazon.com Services LLC, in Baton Rouge, La.
• Served as counsel to the New Orleans Convention Center on the proposed $750 million to $1 billion River District mixed-use development consisting of housing, retail, office space, hotels, entertainment, and a Civil Rights museum.
• Represented Provident Resources Group, Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary in connection with the issuance by the Economic Development Authority of the City of Williamsburg, Virginia, of more than $217 million Student Housing Revenue Bonds (Provident Group – Williamsburg Properties LLC – William & Mary Project) Series 2023A Bonds related to the design, construction, financing, operations, possession and control of two student housing facilities; other projects include renovations to existing facilities, the design and construction of a dining area and offsite development work, infrastructure improvements, temporary storm water retention facilities, and a pedestrian bridge.

Land Use & Economic Development Projects

• Serves as lead counsel for the renovation, expansion, and development of several Louisiana State University (LSU) Athletic Facility Projects and LSU Research District and Entertainment District. The potential projects are estimated to exceed $1 billion upon completion, and—in addition to the development of a new arena—include renovations and expansion of Pete Maravich Assembly Center, relocation and development of a new track and fieldhouse facility, development of mixed-use LSU Town Center, and development of mixed-use development on the LSU Golf Course Property.
• Formed over fifteen Economic Development Districts through the state of Louisiana for private development and was recently retained by the City of Lafayette/Parish of Lafayette Consolidated Government to establish five real estate-based economic development districts within the City of Lafayette; continues to serve as general counsel for the EDDs.
• Represented parties in numerous public private partnerships, serving as lead counsel in connection with the entitlement, incentives, permitting and development of the following projects: Water Campus, IBM Building Complex (Baton Rouge), IBM Center (Monroe), Shaw Center, Port Wonder (Lake Charles), and Moncus Park (Lafayette).

Litigation & Arbitration:

Commercial

• Lead counsel representing Knauf Gips KG, an international manufacturer of building products, in multi-district litigation and in state court product liability cases throughout the Gulf South.
• Represented a putative class of student borrowers whose private loans to non-qualified schools were discharged in bankruptcy but continued to be subjected to collection by the servicer; the recent nationwide settlement will result in approximately $236 million in debt relief for these borrowers, as well as $44 million in cash compensation.
• Represents Halliburton in personal injury cases arising out of operations in the Gulf of Mexico, including a high-profile Hurricane Ida lawsuit involving the Noble Globetrotter II Drillship.

Environmental

• Represents private landowners and governmental entities, including the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, seeking to restore land loss caused by pipeline canals across Louisiana.
• Represents and has obtained favorable outcomes in multiple actions brought on behalf of clients whose private property has been contaminated by oil and gas exploration and production activities.
• Represents landowners in oil and gas plug and abandonment and equipment removal cases.

First Amendment & Media Law

• Regularly represents media outlets and individuals in defamation cases and public record and access disputes, including cases for the Associated Press, the Guardian, Cable News Network, and The New York Times.

Securities

• Represents the Official Stanford Investors Committee and individual Stanford investors with claimed damages exceeding $5 billion, resulting from the infamous Stanford International Bank certificate of deposit Ponzi scheme; settlements totaling $1.6 billion were reached with five bank defendants on the eve of trial.
• Lead counsel prosecuting securities fraud claims against Raymond James, as underwriter of over $330 million of public finance municipal bonds used to construct a wood pellet manufacturing facility in Urania, La.
• Represented hundreds of individual investors against their brokers or investment advisors, recovering tens of millions of dollars for these clients.

Tax Litigation

• Represents the Louisiana Department of Revenue in cases seeking to recover corporate income, franchise and sales taxes from among the largest taxpayers in the State; currently, the firm represents the Department in cases against R.J. Reynolds, Grainger, Home Depot, Monsanto, Rent-A-Center, General Mills, Expedia, and others.

International Arbitration

• Represents claimant-investors in confidential international arbitrations against sovereign nations with particular attention to matters involving North African and Eastern European nations; cases involve construction projects, large-scale infrastructure and industrial development projects, and complex financial transactions.

• New Orleans: 201 St. Charles Ave., Ste. 4600, New Orleans, LA 70170 | 504.586.5252
• Baton Rouge: 100 North St., Ste. 800, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 | 225.706.4040