Adams and Reese Partner Deborah Rouen was inducted into the CityBusiness "Women of the Year" Hall of Fame after receiving the distinction for the third time as she was a member of the 2014 class of honorees. She also received the honor in 2003 and 2010.
Fifty honorees for the 2014 class of CityBusiness “Women of the Year” were honored at a Nov. 14 luncheon at the Hyatt Regency. A special insert spotlighting all “Women of the Year” honorees will run in the Nov. 28 issue of CityBusiness.
Rouen joined Adams and Reese in 1983 and has extensive experience in defending class actions, mass torts and complex litigation involving tobacco, refineries, pharmaceuticals, crop fertilizer and Hurricane Katrina and Road Home suits. She is the former leader of the Class Action/Complex Litigation team and focuses her practice on defense of product design, toxic tort, environmental, maritime, fraud, misrepresentation, conspiracy and punitive damages.
After serving a three-year term as the first woman elected to the Executive Committee at Adams and Reese, Rouen was appointed Chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee and served in that role from 2006-2012. She worked to expand cultural inclusion, partnered with clients to meet diversity requisites, improved recruitment, mentoring and retention of women and minority lawyers; obtained firm recognition in national rankings of women and minority lawyers and increased firm support of minority-sponsored legal, cultural and social events. She has frequently participated in client-sponsored diversity conferences, panels and roundtables.
Rouen serves as Vice President of the Board of the New Orleans Bar Foundation and is a former board member of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. In the community, she serves as President of the Board of the Jefferson Performing Arts Society. She coordinates the firm’s participation in the Dress for Success program.