LAW OFFICE OF DEBORAH M. HENSON, LLC
New Orleans, Louisiana
DEBORAH (DEB) HENSON is a solo practitioner in New Orleans: The Law Office of Deborah M. Henson, LLC. Deb’s law practice includes disciplinary (ethics) consultation and representation for lawyers and mental health professionals who receive complaints concerning their ethical conduct; reinstatements from suspensions or disability; appellate practice for clients and to assist other attorneys as appellate co-counsel or to provide brief-writing services; ethical risk consultation for lawyers and mental health professionals to avoid ethics/licensing board complaints; juvenile advocacy and boarding school placement; and adoptions (agency, private, and international). Deb is also a family mediator.
Deb earned advanced degrees from Tulane School of Social Work (MSW 1977), Loyola Law School (JD 1991), and the University of California, Berkeley (LL.M 1993). After obtaining her law degree, Deb served as Judicial Law Clerk for Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice (retired) Pascal F. Calogero, Jr. (1991-92) and Associate Justice (retired) Harry T. Lemmon (1996-98). She taught appellate practice at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (1994-96) and was Board Counsel for the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board for nearly two years before going into private practice in 2000 representing lawyers in disciplinary matters and consulting/lecturing in ethics risk prevention. Deb clerked for Judge Edwin A. Lombard at the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal in 2003, then served as the Appellate Brief Writer for the City of New Orleans Law Department for the two years pre-Katrina. As the City’s brief writer, Deb handled the appellate practice for all the City’s litigators in the various sections of the Law Department, including writs and appeals in the Louisiana Fourth Circuit, Louisiana Supreme Court, United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. Deb is also admitted in Texas (inactive at present) where she lived for three years post-Katrina (Austin) before returning to NOLA in June 2008.
While in Austin, Deb worked for a small, downtown litigation firm, writing pre-trial and appellate briefs in the areas of business, construction and commercial litigation. Deb also assisted with appellate and pre-trial writing in a myriad of Texas real estate matters for solo practitioners, including condemnation cases, easements, and various residential construction fiascos.
Additionally, Deb has written numerous articles on preventing bar complaints/grievances for various legal publications and has lectured frequently for CLE workshops in the areas of appellate practice, ethics, attorney discipline, risk prevention, and professionalism. See below and click on links to access recent articles. For a list of recent presentations, see Curriculum Vitae. She has consulted with different solo practitioners on ways to manage their practices ethically and with liability risk prevention in mind.
LEGAL SERVICES OFFERED:
- Ethics consultation and representation (the latter only in Louisiana) for lawyers and mental health professionals who are defending licensing board complaints or malpractice lawsuits, seeking reinstatement from suspensions or disability, or desiring risk prevention counsel.
- Appellate practice or assistance for other attorneys in the form of appellate consultation, brief-writing and/or arguing to intermediate state or federal appellate courts, the Louisiana Supreme Court, or the United States Supreme Court (admitted in United States Fifth Circuit and United States Supreme Court). Deb can handle all aspects of civil and criminal appeals, supervisory writs (LA), writs of mandamus (TX), and petitions for writ of certiorari (LA, TX, and US).
- Juvenile advocacy in schools, employment settings, and assistance to parents with obtaining/interpreting evaluations for alternative school placements for struggling teenagers.
- Adoptions – agency, private, intrafamily, and international.
- Family mediation during divorce – for child custody and division of property.
Articles:
- Tips of the Trade in Appellate Practice in Louisiana Bar Journal (March 2010).
- Common Ethical Violations That Can Be Easily Avoided in The Practice Manager (March 12, 2007).
- Preventing Grievances in the Texas Bar Journal (September 2007).