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Brian Ballay

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Brian M. Ballay is an experienced litigator who focuses his practice on a broad range of complex commercial litigation matters.

Featured Experience


Represented a retailer in a products liability matter alleging food product contamination.

Provided advice with respect to record keeping requirements and payments of health and welfare benefits on a federal communications contract.

Provided advice regarding Service Contract Act wage issues involving food-service contracts on military bases.

Professional Biography


Mr. Ballay has a diverse litigation practice consisting of a variety of complex commercial litigation matters. He counsels clients of all sizes on matters involving contractual disputes, products liability, real estate, ERISA, oil and gas, environmental contamination, construction, banking and collections, employer/employee disputes, maritime, tax controversies, and state and local government issues.

In the areas of employment law, Mr. Ballay focuses on unique wage and hour issues that arise under federal contracting law, including the Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Acts. In this regard, he has substantial experience counseling clients during wage and hour investigations conducted by the United States Department of Labor. Further, he has assisted clients with bidding/rebidding on federal contracts governed by the Service Contract Act and satisfaction of prevailing wage requirements, including, but not limited to, conformance requests, satisfaction of health and welfare benefits, vacation and holiday pay issues.

Prior to joining Baker Donelson, he served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Carl J. Barbier, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.

  • Represented a retailer in a products liability matter alleging food product contamination.

  • Represented a manufacturer in a products liability matter alleging a defective product.

  • Provided advice with respect to record keeping requirements and payments of health and welfare benefits on a federal communications contract.

  • Provided advice regarding Service Contract Act wage issues involving food-service contracts on military bases.

  • Advised clients with respect to Davis-Bacon Act record keeping and wage requirements for VA hospital construction.

  • Represented a national contractor in a large scale wage and hour investigation conducted under the Service Contract Act involving thousands of laborers.
  • Represented local contractors in wage and hour audits by the U.S. Department of Labor.
  • Prevailed before the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit in an appeal from a confirmed default judgment with the result that the judgment, which included injunctive relief, declaratory relief, monetary damages, the disqualification of prior counsel, statutory penalties, and attorneys' fee awards, was vacated in its entirety because it was rendered without proper notice.

  • Obtained a judgment from the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit on behalf of a bank, vacating a trial court's judgment as null in a residential foreclosure action, after a debtor obtained a default judgment against a bank in an ex parte proceeding, resulting in the bank filing for a new trial, asserting a lack of notice. The circuit court vacated the trial court's judgment because the debtor had failed to send required notice of the date of the entry of the judgment of default by certified mail at least seven days, exclusive of holidays, before confirmation of the judgment of default, as is required by law.

  • Prevailed on appeal before the Louisiana Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, which affirmed the decision of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, Louisiana dismissing a gross negligence suit against a mortgage servicer related to alleged lender misconduct in the administration of so-called Section 203(k) financing.

  • Defended a construction/project management company in a matter involving a payment dispute, resulting in dismissal of a lawsuit and 100 percent recovery on the client's counter-claim in an arbitration hearing.
  • Successfully defended a nationwide retail chain in an eviction and lease dissolution lawsuit filed by its landlord in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, resulting in denial of the eviction and continuation of the lease.

  • Won summary judgment for a Louisiana dental practice in a lawsuit by a former member disputing the valuation method for his ownership interest. The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment.

  • Represented a development company in a lawsuit against a local governing body regarding the body's failure to vote on the company's zoning application.

  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation, 2021 – 2025
  • Listed in Louisiana Super Lawyers in the area of Business Litigation, 2018 – 2024
  • Listed in New Orleans Magazine as a "top lawyer" in New Orleans, 2023 – 2024
  • Member – Louisiana State Bar Association
  • Member – Federal Bar Association
    • Board of Directors – Federal Bar Association New Orleans Chapter
    • Co-Chair – The New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association's Annual Federal Judges Reception (November 2024)
  • Member – American Bar Association
  • Member – New Orleans Bar Association
  • Member – Jefferson Parish Bar Association
  • Member – Thomas More American Inn of Court

Industries

Education

  • Loyola University School of Law, J.D., 2004, magna cum laude
    • Editor-in-Chief, Loyola Law Review, 2003 – 2004
    • William L. Crowe, Sr. Scholar
  • Louisiana State University, B.A., 1997

Admissions

  • Louisiana
  • United States District Courts, Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana
  • United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • United States District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, pro hac vice
  • United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, pro hac vice
  • United States District Court, Northern District of California, pro hac vice

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