Rose LeBreton

Practice Areas

Rose McCabe LeBreton, senior counsel with Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard, is the leader of the real estate group at the firm, and is the founder of LAWLA Title, LLC, an in-house title agency providing commercial closing services. Her renowned knowledge in the areas of commercial real estate development, land use and entitlements, and complex title work has contributed to the economy and re-development of the geographic make-up of the city and its surrounding areas. Rose offers deep experience in resolving complex commercial real estate issues involving riverfront development, public-private partnerships, title claims and resolutions and land use applications.

Career

Title Representations: Since 2018, Rose has been instrumental in guiding the Port of New Orleans in its acquisition of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad from the City of New Orleans. The sale was part of a multisided transaction resulting in part in the transfer of ownership and operation of the Railroad to the Port, thus providing integrated cargo transportation services to the customers of each; and for the City, transferring title to the Esplanade and Governor Nichols Wharves for their redevelopment in conjunction with the adjacent uses of Woldenberg Park with Crescent Park. This sale gave the City control of the New Orleans Riverfront from Bienville Street to almost the Industrial Canal. In this transaction, Rose lead her real estate group in identifying the land acquired by Public Belt since its inception over 120 years ago by researching land records, ordinances, historic files in museums and internal files of the Port and the Public Belt.

Rose continues to represent the Port of New Orleans and the Public Belt in acquisitions and sales of new properties and discreet development projects. Her expertise in riverfront title is well recognized.

Similarly, she has provided Tulane University with a digital map of the main campus and all properties it owns in the 6th and 7th Districts of the City of New Orleans. Across Lake Pontchartrain her niche specialty with complex title issues helped in curing the title on 43,500 acres for the largest landowner in St. Tammany Parish.

Likely her largest representation, Rose served as counsel to the Deepwater Horizon Trust, from 2012 to 2018 with the responsibility to lead the Wetlands Review Team in determining ownership of the Louisiana wetlands area damaged by the BP Oil Spill. The wetlands project was a component of a larger plan to resolve all damage claims resulting from the spill, and the effort to compensate the true and affected wetlands owners was part of the largest economic settlement of an environmental damage in history. Almost 32,000 wetlands claims were determined, and millions of dollars were distributed back to the community.

Real Estate Development Projects: With a practice focused on commercial real estate development and land title, Rose was instrumental as lead counsel for land use and development issues concerning the re-development of part of the Grand Hyatt Complex, at the corner of Loyola Avenue and Poydras Street. The six-story building which includes Dave and Buster's, retail outlets and 4 floors of parking, is a well-traveled pathway to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the Smoothie King Center.

Rose’s real estate group is also responsible for guiding the renovation and re-development of the historic Maison Hospitaliere property, formerly home to the Ursuline Nuns long-term care facility, into ten luxury condominiums, occupying more than half of a square in the heart of the French Quarter. Rose has used her experience to oversee the land use rights, conditions, and restrictions necessary to unite ten individually owned French Quarter properties into one working hotel complex, and to develop multiple sites through lease or acquisition for a national bank in Louisiana and Texas. Among other condominium projects, Rose led the acquisition, re-subdivision of lots, construction of the project and imposition of the condominium regime for the development of 8616 Oak Street into 21 units.

Deemed “A Developer’s Lawyer,” Rose has handled development and land use issues for a number of major corporations, academic institutions and public entities including Capital One, the Port of New Orleans and Tulane University. She has been the “legal architect” for the development of Tulane University’s riverfront properties, working closely with the Port of New Orleans, the New Orleans Convention Center and the City of New Orleans on behalf of the client. She was instrumental in negotiating the major lease of the premises to Mardi Gras World and reopening Race Street approaching the River.

In 2021, Rose with her co-counsel Anne E. Raymond lead the multisided team on a New Market Tax transaction to provide funds for renovation of the renowned St. Augustine High School, committed to educating young black men. Rose previously closed a similar transaction for Kingsley House, which provides pre-school and elderly day care for lower income families.

Litigation: Rose has represented national title underwriters in almost 2,000 title claims. While many settled through negotiations, one case involved claims of the heirs of an early governor of Louisiana to property now owned by a major university. In another, on behalf of the insurer, she represented the owner of a Baton Rouge grocery store whose parking rights in front of the store were threatened by the new owner of the shopping center. She assisted in litigation on a large New Orleans East apartment complex and a case involving the driveway to Canal Place.

Closing Attorney: Rose also represents several local banks in closing services through LAWLA Title, LLC and represents sellers and buyers in acquisitions and sales.

Professional Memberships

As a 1976 graduate of Tulane University Law School, Rose served her alma mater as the Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, the first woman to be an administrator at the Law School from 1977 to 1979.

An active member of her local Tulane Law alumni group, Rose helped create a series of ongoing events to reacquaint local alumni with their school and their peers. Her efforts were focused on strengthening the law school community, increasing support of the University and growing hires of Tulane graduates, particularly locally and throughout the state to retain talent.

Since moving from her Tulane position into the world of commercial real estate law, Rose has remained deeply involved in the local New Orleans community. She is active in several organizations and charitable causes, serving on numerous boards and holding leadership positions.

She is not only an icon in the legal profession, but her efforts have also inspired generations of women, rightfully positioning her for Hall of Fame recognition. Her extensive involvement and loyalty to her alma mater, her years of involvement on boards and with organizations encouraging the advancement of women and her esteemed and tenured law career only scratch the surface of Rose’s effect in the workforce and in the community.

Current and past community efforts include:

• Serving on the Tulane University Law School Dean’s Advisory Board.

• Serving on the Tulane University Alumni Advisory Board.

• Serving on the Tulane Law School Alumni Committee and as chair of the annual Tulane Hall of Fame Luncheon.

• Serving as past president of the New Orleans Commercial Real Estate Women chapter and as the featured speaker for CREW’s 2016 View from the Top series, spotlighting local members who have achieved great career success and serve as a model for their peers.

• Serving as chairperson of the Recognition Committee for the national organization CREW Network for several years.

• Serving on the Board of Advisors to the New Orleans Opera Association, focusing on outreach to various nontraditional groups to increase audience size through the Sylvain Society for Young Professionals.

• Serving as member of the board of directors for the Garden District Association.

• Serving on founding boards for the Preservation Resource Center, the Association for Women Attorneys and Camp Pleasant, Inc.

• Serving as member of BRAVO for the New Orleans Ballet Association and Junior League of New Orleans.

• Serving as an active and longstanding member of the American Bar Association, Louisiana Bar Association, New Orleans Bar Association, and CREW Network.

Publications

In 2016, Rose was selected for a New Orleans CityBusiness Q&A in a discussion of the case resolving the claims of heirs of former Louisiana governor against property owned by Tulane University.