NEW ORLEANS – Phelps Dunbar LLP announced it has elected Nathan Huntwork of the New Orleans office to partnership, effective Jan. 1. The firm also elevated Michael Held, Doug Kleeman and Tessa Vorhaben of the New Orleans office from associate to counsel.
Huntwork has practiced law with Phelps Dunbar’s New Orleans office since earning his law degree in 2008. He practices in the area of business and finance with a focus on energy and utility regulation. Huntwork has represented electric public utilities in a broad range of regulatory proceedings before the Louisiana Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including for mergers and acquisitions, rate cases, power plant acquisition and construction, fuel adjustment clause audits and issues related to electric transmission and wholesale sales. He recently represented an electric utility before the Louisiana Public Service Commission and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a $4.7 billion merger transaction. In addition, Huntwork represents intrastate liquids pipelines before the Louisiana Public Service Commission in their rate and tariff filings, as well as intrastate natural gas pipelines before the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
Huntwork has been recognized by his legal peers throughout the state of Louisiana as a Louisiana Super Lawyers – Rising Star, which recognizes the top 5 percent of attorneys in the state who are younger than 40 or have been in practice for 10 or fewer years.
He earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2008, where he was managing editor, Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, and his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in German literature from Tulane University in 2005.
Held has practiced law with Phelps Dunbar since 2005, recently moving from the Gulfport office to the New Orleans office, and practices in the areas of admiralty, commercial litigation and general insurance defense matters involving both third-party liability claims and first-party coverage issues (including extensive work in the area of lender/ force-placed insurance). He has experience defending tort claim liability matters, as well as transportation litigation, collections, real property disputes, contract disputes, municipal liability defense claims, products liability claims and professional liability matters. He has also litigated cases in the area of maritime law, representing owners, charterers and/or underwriters in defense of personal injury claims, both blue and brown water, and cargo claims, as well as handling environmental, Customs and Coast Guard matters.
Held has litigated matters in Mississippi state courts, including chancery, county, and circuit courts, the Mississippi Supreme Court (including interlocutory appeals), and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi. Additionally, he has litigated matters before the state and federal district courts of Alabama.
He has been recognized by his legal peers throughout the state as a Mid-South Super Lawyers – Rising Star, which recognizes the top 5 percent of attorneys in the state who are younger than 40 or have been in practice for 10 or fewer years.
He earned his J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 2005 and his bachelor’s degree from Auburn University in 2002.
Kleeman has practiced law with Phelps Dunbar’s New Orleans office since 2012 and practices in the area of insurance and reinsurance. He counsels clients, manages disputes and tries cases involving a variety of first- and third-party insurance coverage issues.
Kleeman has been recognized by his legal peers throughout the state as a Louisiana Super Lawyers – Rising Star, which recognizes the top 5 percent of attorneys in the state who are younger than 40 or have been in practice for 10 or fewer years.
He earned his J.D. from Tulane University Law School in 2007, where he was managing editor of the Tulane Law Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, and his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Tulane University in 1999.
Vorhaben has practiced law with Phelps Dunbar’s New Orleans office since 2010 and practices primarily in the areas of general litigation, insurance coverage and tort litigation. She defends claims involving personal injury, products liability, premises liability, property damage, business interruption, insurance bad faith and extra-contractual litigation. Ms. Vorhaben also represents Write-Your-Own (WYO) insurance carriers participating in the U.S. Government’s National Flood Insurance Program.
Vorhaben has been recognized by her legal peers throughout the state as a Louisiana Super Lawyers – Rising Star, which recognizes the top 5 percent of attorneys in the state who are younger than 40 or have been in practice for 10 or fewer years.
She earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2007 and her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Honors College in business economics in 2004.
With offices positioned along the Gulf Coast from Houston to Tampa, Phelps Dunbar is a regional law firm of more than 260 attorneys uniquely equipped to serve clients in the major commercial centers of the burgeoning “Third Coast” of the United States, firm reps said. Locations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, LA; Jackson, Tupelo and Gulfport, MS; Houston and Dallas/ Fort Worth, TX; Tampa, FL; Mobile, AL; Raleigh, NC; and London enable Phelps Dunbar to serve clients not only along the Third Coast, but also the South, nationwide and abroad.
Michael Held
Doug Kleeman
Tessa Vorhaben
