John M. McCollam

John M. McCollam is a founding partner of Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLP in New Orleans. John's diverse practice ranges from complex commercial and energy transactions and litigation to energy regulatory matters, products liability, toxic tort and environmental cases, telecommunications and intellectual property law. He has extensive experience litigating all types of oil and gas disputes, including those arising from take-or-pay gas purchase and sale contracts, onshore and offshore operating agreements, mineral leases, gas balancing agreements, farmout agreements, preferential purchase rights, purchase and sale agreements, pipeline transportation agreements, and unit agreements. John also regularly appears before the Louisiana State Mineral Board, the Louisiana Office of Conservation, and the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and he has represented clients before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Minerals Management Service. John has often served as an arbitrator in domestic and international oil and gas disputes, including disputes involving North Slope production from Alaska's Prudhoe Bay Field. He has given expert testimony on U.S. oil and gas law in several Australian arbitrations involving production from the Bass Straits, and he is frequently called upon to mediate complex oil and gas disputes. He has also served as a Special Master appointed by the federal court in New Orleans in a complex gas balancing dispute.

Additionally, John has broad experience defending class action litigation in state and federal courts, including tobacco products liability actions, actions involving oil and gas pricing and gas measurement practices, and pharmaceutical products liability actions. He also recently has handled matters involving trademark infringements, commercial real estate disputes, and telecommunication licensing and permitting.

At Tulane Law School, John was elected to the Order of the Coif. He served on the Board of Editors of the Tulane Law Review and was Editor-in-Chief in 1958-1959. Currently, John is a Fellow of the American and Louisiana Bar Foundations and the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of New Orleans (Executive Committee, 1969-70; Secretary, 1978-79; First Vice President, 1980-81), Louisiana State (Chairman, Mineral Law Section, 1975-76), Energy, and American Bar Associations, the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel (Board of Directors, 1983-84) and the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute (Advisory Counsel, 1981-82). He is also a Member of the Dean's Council and Professor Emeritus of Tulane University School of Law, where he taught courses on basic and advanced oil and gas law from 1963 to 1987. John additionally has published numerous papers and articles on oil and gas matters, including a comprehensive review of basic Louisiana mineral law entitled "A Primer for the Practice of Mineral Law Under the New Louisiana Mineral Code," 50 Tul. L. Rev. 729 (1976).

J. Michael Small

J. Michael Small is an attorney in Alexandria, Louisiana. His practice is limited exclusively to criminal defense and his case load is evenly divided between State murder cases and federal white collar crime and public corruption cases.

Mr. Small is a 1969 graduate of Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center where he was a member of the Louisiana Law Review and the Order of the Coif. He received his undergraduate degree from Louisiana Tech University.

Mr. Small is a past-President of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and has been listed for over twenty years in the Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Criminal Defense and death penalty litigation. He received the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Sam Dalton Capital Defense Advocacy Award in 2006. He is a member of Louisiana State and American Bar Associations, Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, International Academy of Trial Lawyers, International Society of Barristers, American College of Trial Lawyers and Litigation Counsel of America.

Phillip A. Wittmann

Phillip A. Wittmann is a member of the firm Stone Pigman . He concentrates his practice in commercial litigation, class actions, toxic tort litigation, products liability and antitrust matters. He has extensive trial experience, maintains an active litigation practice and is a frequent lecturer. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; the United States Fifth, Sixth and Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals; and all Louisiana federal and state courts.

Mr. Wittmann graduated from the Tulane University School of Law in 1961, where he was named to Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Coif, Omicron Delta Kappa and served on the Tulane Law Review Board of Editors. He received his undergraduate degree at Tulane University in 1956.

Mr. Wittmann is a past president of the New Orleans Bar Association. He has served as a member of the Civil Rules Advisory Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States and as a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. He has chaired the Louisiana State Board of Legal Specialization and is a member of the House of Delegates, the Continuing Legal Education Committee and the Antitrust Section of the Louisiana State Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers. He is the 2000 recipient of the G. Duffield Smith Outstanding Publication Award from the Defense Research Institute and he is the 2005 recipient of the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award in the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Wittmann has been named to The Best Lawyers in America in the field of business litigation since its initial publication. He has been named to Chambers USA in the field of General Commercial Litigation. He has been named to Louisiana Super Lawyer. He has co authored an article for the Defense Research Institute with Al Cortese on the subject of Class Action and Mass Tort Litigation: Recent Developments, Legislation and Jurisprudence.

George A. Frilot III

George A. Frilot III received the 2007 Louisiana Bar Foundation's (LBF) Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award. The award was presented on Thursday, June 7, at the Louisiana State Bar Association's (LSBA) General Assembly in conjunction with the 66th Annual Meeting in Sandestin, Florida.

Mr. Frilot was selected for his long-standing devotion to excellence in trial practice and for upholding the standards of ethics and consideration for the courts, litigants and all counsel in his practice of the law. He received a plaque signifying the honor bestowed to him. In addition, the award carries a $1,000 cash stipend, which the LBF donates to a non-profit law-related program or association providing services in the state of Louisiana in the honorees name.

Mr. Frilot is a founding partner of Frilot Partridge, L.C. and is a leading attorney in the firm's Energy & Environmental Practice Group. Over the course of 49 years of practice, he has tried cases in 23 states and has actively participated in proceedings in two foreign countries. His practice has involved the trial of cases resulting from major offshore catastrophes, energy and environmental issues stemming from class action proceedings, commercial litigation and products liability.

Mr. Frilot is a member of the LSBA, the New Orleans Bar Association and is a Fellow with the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has been selected to Best Lawyers in America-10 year Distinction, listed in Chambers USA and recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in New Orleans by CityBusiness. In addition Mr. Frilot has been identified as one of 93 "All-Star" attorneys is the U.S. and the only one from Louisiana. He has an undergraduate degree from Loyola University and received his law degree from Loyola University School of Law, New Orleans.