The Suit Magazine

New Orleans is a city still rebuilding six years after Hurricane Katrina. The effects of that 2005 storm are still receding as the area and its people pick up the pieces and build something better.

The New Orleans-based law firm Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer also built something new—something more than just the sum of its parts—in 2007, when the venerable business law practice Baldwin Haspel, formed in 1914, merged with maritime law firm Burke & Mayer. “Post-merger, things have gone much better than anyone could have hoped for,” said Lance Arnold, one of the firm’s partners. “[The new firm has] complementary—but not conflicting—practice areas, so we’ve done quite well.”

A New Orleans native, Arnold joined Baldwin Haspel in 1988, after earning his MBA and finishing law school at Louisiana State University.  He became a partner in 1996. He is an avid sailor and enjoys one of New Orleans’ greatest natural resources, Lake Pontchartrain.  Arnold specializes in commercial business representation: formation, consultation, employment-related matters and disputes between and among business owners. 

Arnold says it is the firm’s responsiveness to its clients that sets it apart from the competition. He spearheaded the post-Katrina temporary relocation of the firm’s offices, restoring networks and communications in order to provide continuity of service to clients.  “We live in a technological environment where an immediate response is expected,” said Arnold, and the firm lives up to that expectation.

Just as its city is busy building itself up, so too is Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer adding onto its past successes. “We’re still in a rebuilding and growth environment,” said Arnold. And despite Katrina’s lingering aftereffects, the firm has been spared the worst of the dismal economic situation affecting the rest of the United States. “This area has done better and may be counter-cyclical to the rest of the country,” he said.

That’s not to say that the local economy has been unaffected by the recession. Because there are so many variables at play in Louisiana, Arnold feels that it can be very difficult to find specific reasons why clients are seeing so many changes. “We’ve seen a lot of mergers and acquisitions affecting clients,” he said. “It’s really hard to say what the driving factor is.” The simple solution is to stay adaptable to changes, no matter what their cause.

Arnold feels that developing talent in new lawyers—fresh out of law school with good grades, but lacking crucial practice experience—is one of the most important things he can do, and he devotes much of his time identifying and developing that talent.  “The key to success is always going to be your people,” he said. “If you don’t have good people, you can’t do this job and you will not keep clients.”   

For more information, please visit: www.bhbmlaw.com

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