The LADB is pleased to announce that four new speakers will be joining our veteran speakers, Charles B. Plattsmier (Ethics: Troubles and Trends), Richard P. Lemmler, Jr. (Professionalism and Advertising), and Gary M. Carter, Jr. (Crisis Management in the Age of Social Media: Litigating Your Case Before the Public and the Jury) for our 2017 free CLE Seminar Series. We thank them for lending their expertise to what will be a very informative and timely program. Welcome Arlene, Jeff, Ed and Tim to the 2017 line-up!
Arlene D. Knighten: Practicing as a Government Attorney (1.0 Ethics Credit)
Arlene D. Knighten serves as Executive Counsel for the Louisiana
Department of Insurance. Prior to be appointed as Executive Counsel, she served as Deputy General Counsel for the Department. She also serves as one of
the Department’s ethics officers. She holds the NAIC designation of Senior Professional of Insurance Regulation (SPIR). She is also a Certified Compliance
and Ethics Professional and holds the designation CCEP.
Prior to joining the Louisiana Department of Insurance, she served as panel-body Chief for the Insurance and Tobacco panel-bodys of the Louisiana Department of Justice. Prior to her employment at the Attorney General’s Office she was employed by Southeast Louisiana Legal Services as Supervisor of its Elder Law Unit.
Arlene is a 1981 graduate of Loyola Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana and was admitted to practice law in October of 1981. She is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C where she graduated with honors and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She also has a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies.
She is a member of the National Bar Association. Arlene is also a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, Baton Rouge Chapter of the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, the Louisiana Association of Black Women Attorneys (LABWA), Baton Rouge Bar Association, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, and other legal and professional organizations. She has also served as a Hearing Committee Chair for the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board and has been designated as an arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA).
Jeffrey D. Jeter: P–OFESSI–NAL–SM - Solving the Puzzles of Professionalism in our Day-to-Day Practices (1.0 Professionalism Credit)
Jeffrey DeWitt Jeter is special counsel in the Baton Rouge office of Jones Walker, LLP, in the Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group and on the Healthcare practice team.
Mr. Jeter possesses a unique blend of skills serving previously as both an in-house compliance officer and a healthcare prosecutor. His deep experience gives clients access to counsel in managing anti-fraud and ethics programs, securing and protecting private information, and litigating cases involving alleged fraudulent activities.
Prior to joining Jones Walker, Mr. Jeter was with Amedisys for more than 15 years as a Chief Compliance Officer. In this role he was responsible for the oversight of the anti-fraud and ethics program for the national home health and hospice services provider. He administered policy development, training, and enforcement for more than 16,000 employees, and he managed audit oversight of more than 400 home health and hospice agencies in 37 states across the country. He also served as the company’s Chief Privacy Officer and was responsible for ensuring the privacy and security of the company’s protected health information. His work at Amedisys included serving as primary transactions counsel for 18 mergers and acquisitions having a total transaction value of $255 million.
Mr. Jeter began his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General with the Louisiana Department of Justice in the Criminal Division, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit where he was responsible for investigating, charging, and prosecuting Medicaid Fraud offenses, as well as crimes involving the abuse and neglect of residents of skilled nursing facilities. During his tenure with the Louisiana Department of Justice, his agency was recognized as the nation's top Medicaid Fraud Control Unit by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role he drafted the State’s Fraudulent Remuneration (Anti-Kickback) Statute and oversaw enforcement of health care anti-fraud laws and elder-protection statutes.
Mr. Jeter received his juris doctor degree from Louisiana State University Law Center in 1996, a Masters of Public Administration from Louisiana State University in 2000 and a Bachelor of Arts (Major: Political Science, Minor: Economics), cum laude, Texas Christian University in 1993. Additionally, he is a graduate of the prosecutor training course at Northwestern University School of Law.
Edward F. Harold: New Administration, Same Laws: Employment Law 2017 (1.0 General Credit)
Edward F. Harold is the regional managing partner of Fisher and Phillips, LLP, in the New Orleans office and chair of the firm's Retail Industry Practice Group. His practice is primarily devoted to employment litigation in both state and federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and counseling employers to avoid litigation.
Throughout his career, he has spent significant time and attention assisting employers in managing employee attendance and leave issues.
As a result of this work, in 1999, Ed testified before the Subcommittee on Children and Families of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee of the United States Senate about the problems employers face in administering Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave.
Ed has written numerous articles and is a frequent speaker on employment issues and has accepted leadership roles in several community organizations.
Areas of Practice: Disability Discrimination, Hospitality, Retail Industry, Title VII, Family and Medical Leave Act, Employee Retirement Income, Security Act
Honors & Awards: Ed is “AV” peer-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He has been listed in Chambers USA, America's Leading Business Lawyers since 2009, Louisiana Super Lawyers since 2014 and in The Best Lawyers in America since 2010.
Education: Louisiana State University law Center, J.D. 1992, The University of the South, 1989 B.A.
Bar Admissions: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi
Timothy F. Averill: Judicial Ethics and Discipline (1.0 Ethics Credit)
Timothy F. Averill served as the Judicial Administrator of the Supreme Court of Louisiana from January 2011 through February 2014. In that role, he assisted the Justices of the Supreme Court of Louisiana in the management and supervision of the Louisiana state court system. His duties and responsibilities involved virtually all aspects of court administration, including court policies and procedures; budgeting; court property; disaster planning; personnel; finances; technology; security; pay and benefits; statistics; judicial-branch reporting; judicial education; and judicial ethics. During this time, he also simultaneously served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana. As Chief Executive Officer of the Judiciary Commission, Averill provided managerial oversight and guidance to the Commission, a nine-member constitutional body charged with investigating allegations of misconduct involving state court judges, and with recommending discipline to the Supreme Court of Louisiana as appropriate.
Averill served as Deputy Judicial Administrator/General Counsel of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1989 to 2008. In that role, he assisted the Justices and the Judicial Administrator in the administration of the state court system. He also provided legal assistance involving various issues affecting the bench and bar; monitored litigation involving the courts; and participated in assessing the need for new judgeships.
In 2008, Averill was named as a Fellow in the United States Supreme Court Fellows Program, where he served until August 2010. In that role, Averill analyzed a number of legal and administrative issues of interest to federal judges, and spoke frequently to foreign judges and dignitaries about administration of the federal court system and rule of law issues. In 1994, Averill was admitted as a Fellow in the Institute of Court Management of the National Center for State Courts, where he received an Award of Merit for his analysis of the Orleans Parish Civil District Court Pilot Mediation Program. Averill received a B.A. degree from James Madison University in 1979, a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Alabama in 1980, and a J.D. degree from Loyola University (New Orleans) College of Law in 1985.