News & Knowledge

Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP significantly expands in Texas with a new office in Beaumont, and an addition to its Houston and New Orleans offices. Joining FormanWatkins and establishing the Beaumont office are David Ledyard, Michael Baker and Vickie Thompson. Thompson, who is licensed in Louisiana and Illinois, will practice out of the firm’s New Orleans office as well.  Additionally, K.B. Battaglini joins the firm’s Houston office. All previously practiced with Strong Pipkin Bissell & Ledyard, LLP and have decades of experience representing regional and national clients in the energy, rail, chemical and securities industries. Founded in Jackson, Mississippi, FormanWatkins opened its Houston office in 2003 and a New Orleans office in 2002. Along with firm offices in New Jersey and Detroit, the addition of Beaumont strengthens the firm’s toxic tort litigation practice and strategically extends its ability to meet the needs of clients nationally and throughout the Gulf South region. “The firm could not be more pleased to deepen our Texas and Louisiana roots and gain a group of attorneys with decades of trial experience,” said New Orleans Partner Tim Gray. “In addition to anticipated work for their existing clients, David, Michael, Vickie and K.B. will also provide tremendous trial depth for firm clients in Texas, Louisiana and nationwide.” Having served as counsel for major oil and chemical companies, Mr. Baker’s practice focuses on toxic tort, mass tort, environmental, products liability, and premises liability litigation. Mr. Battaglini has expertise in commercial, securities, energy, environmental, natural resources, media and entertainment […]

FormanWatkins is pleased to announce its selection by New Orleans CityBusiness as one of the Best Places to Work.  The New Orleans office earned the same distinction in 2019 and 2021 as well. Voted on by employees, the firm values this honor each year as it speaks to the vitality of the firm’s culture. To participate in Best Places to Work, companies submit extensive nomination forms disclosing workforce data such as salaries, benefits, retention levels, and employee advancement. Employees of the nominated companies are then anonymously surveyed to measure workplace culture. All companies chosen are honored at an awards event where the top three large and small companies are announced. The list is then published in the year-end issue of New Orleans CityBusiness magazine. See the full list here.  

Forman, Watkins & Krutz is pleased to welcome Sonya Dickson to the firm’s Jackson office. Sonya joins the firm as an Associate. Prior to joining FormanWatkins, Sonya served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Kristi H. Johnson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. She earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Mississippi College School of Law in 2021 and her B.S. in Psychology, summa cum laude, from Mississippi College in 2019.

FormanWatkins attorneys and summer associates from the Jackson office were among those who volunteered July 29,2022, at the Hinds County Family Law Clinic, a pro se legal clinic held at the Hinds County Chancery Courthouse. The clinic assisted individuals with a variety of legal matters, including irreconcilable differences divorces, uncontested guardianships, birth certificate corrections, and name changes. The clinic was hosted by the Fifth Chancery District (Hinds County Chancery Court), Jackson Public Schools, the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project, Mission First, the Capital Area Bar Association, and Forman Watkins & Krutz. Our participating team included Mary Clift Abdalla, Mimi Arthur, Jean Folsom, Ruth Huskey, Sampada Kapoor, and summer associates, Kelsi Baldwin (Mississippi College School of Law, May 2023), Merritt Baria (University of Mississippi School of Law, May 2024), Keri Herrington (Mississippi College School of Law, May 2024), Teresa Jones (University of Mississippi School of Law, May 2023) and Cailin Sims (Mississippi College School of Law, May 2024).

FormanWatkins is pleased to announce that 24 attorneys have been named to The Best Lawyers in America© list for 2023. FormanWatkins Partner Malissa Wilson was named a “Lawyer of the Year” for Jackson, Miss., in Labor and Employment litigation. Those named “Lawyers of the Year” received the highest overall peer-feedback in the listed practice area and geographic region. Only one attorney is recognized as the “Lawyer of the Year” for each specialty and location. In addition, 15 FormanWatkins attorneys were named to The Best Lawyers in America: “Ones to Watch”  list, a recognition of attorneys who are on the rise, excelling in their career. Established in 1983, Best Lawyers® has earned the respect of the profession, the media and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals. For the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, more than 12.2 million votes were analyzed to identify the top legal talent, as identified by their peers. Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP would like to congratulate the following attorneys: 2023 Best Lawyers in America Charles H. Abbott  Commercial Litigation Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants Mary Clift Abdalla  Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants Product Liability Litigation – Defendants Michael H. Abraham Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants Product Liability Litigation – Defendants Pete F. Andarsio  Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants Mary R. Arthur Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants James L. Banks Commercial […]

FormanWatkins recently concluded its Diversity Pipeline Program’s pre-law school bootcamp. Students from Tougaloo College, an historically black college located in Jackson, Mississippi, participated in an all-day educational event featuring a Q&A panel discussion with the firm’s summer clerks on what to expect the first year in law school; a seminar taught by FWK associates, Katherine Pettis and Chandler C. Agee, on case briefing and outlining; and, a mock law school lecture by University of Mississippi School of Law Professor Larry J. Pittman. In addition to the bootcamp, the students spent their spring break at the firm participating in a week-long series of activities that included a civil litigation legal education seminar, attorney shadowing opportunities and panel discussions with outside counsel. In partnership with the pre-law society at Tougaloo College, the FWK Pipeline Program is a firm diversity initiative to recruit stellar students attending historically black colleges and universities with an interest to practice law. All program participants are set to attend law school in the fall on full scholarships. Participants included: Precious Thompson, George Washington University Law School Amber Magee, Suffolk University Law School Clifford Benton, Jr., Suffolk University Law School Pierrerasha Goodwin, University of Alabama Law School Octavius Henderson, Vermont Law School Marvin Dale, Jr., Washburn University School of Law Samuel Patterson, III, Drake University Law School Kevana Funches, Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Forman Watkins & Krutz New Orleans partner, Charles Abbott, has been selected as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA). The Litigation Counsel of America is a trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. Fellowship in the LCA is highly selective and by invitation only. Fellows are selected based upon excellence and accomplishment in litigation, both at the trial and appellate levels, and superior ethical reputation. Abbott, licensed in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, has a very diverse litigation practice. He routinely is retained in significant, high-dollar commercial, contractual, tort, admiralty/maritime, products liability, construction, and toxic tort cases pending in both federal and state courts. In addition, Charles serves as national coordinating counsel on behalf of a Fortune 100 client and its subsidiaries in connection with its toxic tort litigation. Abbott is also a frequent guest lecturer at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University teaching toxic tort classes consisting of second- and third-year law students, an assistant bar examiner for the Committee on Bar Admissions of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, and a member of the board of directors for the Brain Injury Association of Louisiana.

The American Bar Association’s Business Law Today recently featured an article written by FormanWatkins attorney Sampada Kapoor on the U.S. Labor Union spike. Sampada explores the unique factors that have caused a newfound rise of labor unions in recent years – a stark contrast to trends in recent decades. Read more here: https://businesslawtoday.org/2022/07/us-labor-union-spike/

The Forman Watkins & Krutz New Orleans office has been awarded a Top Workplaces honor for 2022 by The Times-Picayune and The New Orleans Advocate. Top Workplaces are determined solely by employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered through Energage LLC. The anonymous survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization including alignment, execution, and connection. Only 71 out of nearly 1,000 companies in the Greater New Orleans area earned this distinction.  

FormanWatkins attorneys Joshua Metcalf, Peyton Smith, Chelsea Lewis and Charles Abbott secured a win in the U.S. Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit when the Court affirmed the Eastern District Court of Louisiana’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the firm’s forest products client in a pesticide application matter where the plaintiff sought monetary damages and an injunction. The FormanWatkins team secured the significant summary judgment in April 2021 after excluding all medical causation experts under Rule 702/Daubert and successfully convincing the district court to dismiss the plaintiff’s nuisance and negligence claims. The Appellant contested the District Court’s exclusion of a treating physician and challenged the summary judgment ruling, arguing that sufficient evidentiary and legal support was provided for the claims of negligent infliction of emotional distress. Metcalf presented oral argument to the Fifth Circuit in April of 2022, explaining why the treating physician’s testimony did not satisfy the requirements of Rule 702 and why summary judgment was appropriate. The Fifth Circuit issued its opinion July 1, 2022, affirming the expert exclusion and the dismissal of the case, continuing a series of significant victories for our forest products clients.