8 Attorneys Named by Best Lawyers®

Best Lawyers has named 8 Leake & Andersson attorneys to the 2025 Edition of the Best Lawyers in America® for their excellence across 7 practice areas in New Orleans. L&A is proud to have 4 attorneys recognized by Best Lawyers for more than 8 years, with Donald McKay first recognized in 2011 and George Fagan recognized 25 times since 2001, and one associate who has joined the ranks as Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® for the first time this year: Courtney Troxclair.

Awarded annually to only one attorney per practice area in the region, Eddy Hayes was named the Best Lawyers 2025 International Trade & Finance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in New Orleans.

L&A congratulates the following attorneys for their recognition in the 2025 Edition:

BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA®

George D. Fagan (2001)

  • Insurance Law
  • Litigation – Labor and Employment

Donald E. McKay, Jr. (2011)

  • Professional Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  • Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Patrick M. Wartelle (2013)

  • Insurance Law (Lafayette, LA)

Robert L. Bonnaffons (2018)

  • Litigation – Insurance

Dean Arruebarrena (2023)

  • Insurance Law
  • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants

Craig Cousins (2024)

  • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants

Edward T. Hayes (2024)

  • International Trade & Finance Law

LAWYER OF THE YEAR

Edward Hayes (2024)

  • International Trade & Finance Law

BEST LAWYERS: ONES TO WATCH® IN AMERICA

Courtney Troxclair (2025)

  • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants

(YEAR)  indicates first year recognized by Best Lawyers in America®


About Best Lawyers

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers recognitions are compiled based on an exhaustive Purely Peer Review® evaluation. More than 123,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and we have received more than 20 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world.

Lawyers are not required nor allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor.

“Lawyer of the Year” honors are awarded annually to only one lawyer per practice area in each region with extremely high overall feedback from their peers, making it an exceptional distinction.