Adams and Reese Partners Michelle Craig, Charlie Gay and Leslie Lanusse were named among the New Orleans CityBusiness “Leadership in Law” 2013 honorees, recognizing 50 legal professionals who have helped move the legal community forward with energy, innovative ideas, achievements and a commitment to excellence.
They will be featured in a special insert profiling all the honorees in the March 22nd issue of CityBusiness, and honorees will receive their awards at a cocktail reception on March 18th from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Leadership in Law is in its ninth year, will recognize court-associated attorneys, in-house counsel and firm-associated attorneys.
At Adams and Reese, Craig is a labor and employment attorney. She has provided legal counsel for the National Association of African-Americans in Human Resources and helped the firm land a national corporate retail outlet for the company’s labor and employment matters. Her other labor and employment clients include schools, fast food companies, offshore companies, home improvement retailers, entrepreneurs and other small and medium-sized businesses across the Southeast region. Craig was selected among the “2012 Most Powerful and Influential Women in Louisiana,” by the National Diversity Council, and in 2011, she was one of just five attorneys in the New Orleans region honored as an “Outstanding Female Attorney” by the Urban League of New Orleans at the organization’s annual gala in July.
In 2008, Craig was named among the “Women of the Year” by CityBusiness. She also co-founded and served as an executive member of the Urban League of New Orleans Young Professionals Chapter, which was recognized in 2008 by New Orleans CityBusiness as an “Innovators of the Year” Honoree.
At Adams and Reese, Gay has more than 30 years of experience in general litigation, toxic tort, product liability and medical malpractice. He joined the firm in 1983 and currently serves as a member of the firm’s Pharmaceuticals and Products Liability team of the Litigation Practice Group. He also works extensively with the Healthcare Litigation Group.
In the last several years, he has tried over 15 major toxic tort, products liability and medical malpractice cases involving serious personal injury (e.g., quadriplegia, brain damage) to successful defense verdicts before juries in Louisiana. He is listed in Best Lawyers - Medical Malpractice Law, Personal Injury Litigation, Product Liability Litigation and Louisiana Super Lawyers - Health Care.
Leslie Lanusse joined Adams and Reese in 1985 and is a Partner serving on the Labor and Employment team. She has more than two decades of experience in the representation of management in all phases of employee relations. Her experience has included defending claims of discrimination before the EEOC and the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights; handling claims arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state compensation commissions; defense of OSHA and environmental whistleblower claims before administrative agencies; defense of FMLA claims; defense of claims of violation by employers of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986; and defending employers during investigation of compliance with wage and hour laws.
Lanusse is listed in Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers and Chambers USA in Labor and Employment law, and was named among the BTI Client Service All-Stars for 2011 and 2012.
Adams and Reese is a multidisciplinary law firm with offices strategically located throughout the southern United States and Washington, DC. American Lawyer includes Adams and Reese on its distinguished list of the nation's top law firms - "The Am Law 200.” The National Law Journal also includes the firm on the "NLJ 250" list of the nation's largest law firms.