Lawyering in the Big Easy

Leslie and I are leaving New Orleans today (I will post a few pictures tomorrow) after a wonderful trip to the Crescent City. Much has changed since I lived here but thankfully the essence has remained the same. We were here to participate in the reunion of the clerks who served with Judge W. Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Davis is approaching his 40th year as a judge and has an intensely loyal clerkship alumni. Indeed, virtually every one of his roughly 100 clerks showed up from around the country to celebrate his service and thank him for mentoring us all as young lawyers. Given the reason for the trip, I wanted to share a couple of lawyer signs that I spotted walking around New Orleans. They left me wistful in thinking about my life had I stayed on the faculty at Tulane Law School or . . . even opened up a firm like this one next to a tattoo shop on Magazine Street (perhaps offering “Torts and Tats” as a package deal).

I truly love New Orleans and we had a ball with the former clerks with a wonderful reception on St. Charles serving a whole pig made as Cochon de lait. The next night we had a fantastic meal at Galatoire’s where a bartender named Beauhanon makes the best Old Fashion that I have ever had. Leslie and I treated ourselves to dinner at Brennen’s and had an incredible (if pricey) meal. One of the most interest dishes was their version of Bread Pudding. We always go to the Bon Ton for the best bread pudding in NOLA (left overnight in Bourbon). Brennen’s has a more pudding like bread pudding that is equally wonderful (I would definitely skip the Black Forest Cake, which was the only disappointment of the evening).

My favorite legal sign was at the end of Magazine street. Now this is as far as you can get from those lace curtain NOLA firms off the French Quarter. I like the offer of cold drinks. Nice touch, though I would have added “Contingencies and Colas” free of charge. (By the way, “Sothern” is the last named member, Billy Sothern, as opposed to promising a vintage “Southern Criminal Trial” which presumably would be done in a Seersucker suit and a long Southern Drawl).