EFFECTIVE ORAL ADVOCACY
Hon. Wendy B. Vitter, Chief U.S. District Judge, USDC-EDLA
Wendy Vitter was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana on May 30, 2019, and assumed the role of Chief Judge in May 2025. Immediately prior to her appointment to the Bench, Judge Vitter was General Counsel for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the first General Counsel in the history of the Archdiocese. In that role, she provided counsel to the Archdiocese as well as various associated entities such as Catholic Charities, Second Harvest Food Bank, the Clarion Herald, Notre Dame Seminary, and over 100 elementary and high schools. Judge Vitter previously worked as an associate at Abbott & Meeks Law Firm which specialized in Maritime litigation. Prior to that role, she served as an Assistant District Attorney in New Orleans, trying over 100 jury trials with a specialty in homicide prosecutions. At the time she left the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, she was Chief of the Trials Division, overseeing the trial attorneys in ten sections of Criminal District Court. Judge Vitter received her BA degree from Sam Houston State University, earning her degree in 3 ½ years and Law Degree from Tulane University Law School. Most significantly, she and her husband David became grandparents of precious twin boys last year. She is considering her grandmother name to be “Your Honor.”
Hon. Carl J. Barbier, U.S. District Judge, USDC-EDLA
Carl J. Barbier currently serves as a senior judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans. Judge Barbier took the oath of office as an active district judge on October 12, 1998. As of January 1, 2023, he assumed senior status on the court. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Barbier was a practicing attorney in New Orleans since 1971, primarily representing plaintiffs, consumers and small businesses in civil litigation. He earned his law degree with honors in 1970 from Loyola College of Law, where he was associate editor of the Loyola Law Review. He served as law clerk to Judge William Redmann, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, and to Judge Fred Cassibry, U. S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.
Judge Barbier is a past president of the New Orleans Bar Association and formerly served as president of the Thomas More Inn of Court. He previously served for over twenty years on the Board of the Federal Bar Association, New Orleans Chapter. Judge Barbier is a past president of the Louisiana Association for Justice (formerly Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association), a past member of the House of Delegates of the Louisiana State Bar Association, and a fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
Judge Barbier has served on the board of the Loyola Law Alumni Association for the past twenty years. Judge Barbier has served as an adjunct faculty member for Loyola’s law school, teaching for several years a course in Trial Advocacy in his courtroom. More recently, he taught courses in Comparative Maritime Law for Loyola’s summer law school programs. In addition, Judge Barbier has taught hundreds of legal educational programs, including skills courses at the law school.
In 2010, Judge Barbier was appointed to handle the multi-district litigation arising out of the BP-Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It has been described as the largest accidental oil spill in history and the largest environmental multi-district litigation, ultimately involving hundreds of thousands of claims for damages by individuals and businesses, as well as federal, state and local governments.
Kim M. Boyle, Phelps Dunbar LLP
Kim is the Managing Partner of the New Orleans office of Phelps Dunbar. She practices in the areas of labor and employment, civil rights, constitutional law, commercial, tort and general litigation. She frequently speaks on employment-related topics, litigation and issues of procedure, as well as diversity, ethics and professionalism. Kim has been recognized by many of the leading peer review publications in the country including Benchmark Litigation as one of the Top 250 Women in US Litigation, and is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. She has been very active in local, state and national bar associations, as well as community organizations and initiatives. Kim served as the first female African-American President of the Louisiana State Bar Association (2009-2010) as well as the first African-American President of the New Orleans Bar Association (2002- 2003). She currently serves as Chair of GNO, Inc., and served on the executive committee of Tulane University and serves on the Executive Committee of Dillard University. She also serves as Chairman of the Board for the Amistad Research Center as well as Immediate Past Chairman of the Board for Touro Infirmary. Kim formerly served as Judge Pro Tempore for Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, as well as an Assistant Professor of Law at Loyola University College of Law and a member of Princeton University’s Board of Trustees (2010-2014). Kim received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1987 and her A.B. from Princeton University in 1984.
William Most, Most & Associates
William Most is the lead attorney of Most & Associates, a full-service law firm based in New Orleans. He focuses on vindicating the rights of people, families, businesses, and non-profit organizations, particularly in civil rights, environmental, and employment cases. He has a law degree from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Harvard College.