Baker Donelson has added two attorneys in its New Orleans office: Melanie Breaux, who joins as of counsel in the Real Estate/Finance Group, and Lauren E. Burk, who joins as of counsel in the Business Litigation Group.
"We continue to focus on adding elite attorneys with the skills and experience to meet evolving and growing needs of our clients and marketplace. Melanie and Lauren exemplify that," said Kent Lambert, managing shareholder of the Firm's New Orleans office. "Both Melanie and Lauren bring significant experience and a depth of knowledge in their respective fields that will complement and build upon our existing capabilities to live up to our essential mission to serve and support our clients in Louisiana and beyond as trusted advisors."
Ms. Breaux helps clients with a broad range of legal matters concerning business, finance, and real estate transactions, including commercial leasing, real property conveyances, asset acquisitions and divestitures, and secured and unsecured lending. She has extensive experience in commercial leasing transactions, representing landlords and tenants in negotiating and drafting office building, shopping center, industrial, and ground leases. She represents clients in a variety of industries, including financial services, utilities, ports, recycling, gaming, and hospitality.
Ms. Breaux is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans School of Law and holds a B.S.M. in finance from Tulane University.
Ms. Burk focuses her practice on insurance coverage, representing domestic insurers in complex matters and catastrophic losses involving commercial general liability, professional liability, and excess liability policies. She advises and counsels insurers in multiple areas, including drafting policy forms, insurance disputes, extra-contractual exposure, bad faith risks, and efficient claim resolution. She represents both insurance and business clients in state and federal courts at various stages of litigation.
Ms. Burk is a graduate of the Tulane University Law School and received her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also holds a Certificate in General Insurance from St. John's University and a Master of Art Business from Sotheby's Institute of Art, Manchester University.
Both Ms. Breaux and Ms. Burk previously served as judicial externs with U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier in the Eastern District of Louisiana.