Phelps Dunbar Attorney Recognized as the 2009 Legislator of the Year
December 14, 2009
Phelps Dunbar LLP is pleased to announce that Neil C. Abramson, counsel in the tort litigation practice group in the New Orleans office, has been selected by the Alliance for Good Government for its 2009 Legislator of the Year award. Mr. Abramson, who currently serves as the State Representative for 98th District of Louisiana, was presented with the award at the 2009 Alliance for Good Government Gala on December 12 in New Orleans.
Mr. Abramson has served as a State Representative since 2008, and in that short period of time, he has taken steps to improve and protect the lives of the city's people, from the children to the elderly. A few of his initiatives include:
- working as an advocate within the city's delegation to ensure that the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital was funded when the legislature passed its budget (funding vetoed by governor after session);
- protecting the future operation of the John Hainkel Home and Rehabilitation Center by defeating legislation this past session;
- passing legislation which creates harsh penalties for the crime of sexual trafficking of children;
- passing legislation which gives neighbors the power to shut down properties which are repeated havens for drugs, prostitution and gun crimes;
- passing legislation which eliminates the number of times violent offenders can jump bail and still be let out on the street to commit more crimes; and
- passing legislation which requires that all elected officials disclose when they give political appointments and jobs to campaign contributors (bill vetoed by governor after session).
Mr. Abramson practices in the area of toxic tort exposure, class actions, products liability, tort and maritime personal injuries, property damage, and insurance coverage litigation. He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, New Orleans Bar Association, American Bar Association (vice-chair of Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee of the Trial Insurance Practice section), New Orleans Inn of Court, Louisiana State Law Institute, Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel and the Bar Association of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Abramson also serves on the board of directors of New Orleans Outreach, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of public education by linking volunteers with staff and students through programs that respond to the particular needs of each school, and is a past board member of Junior Achievement and the Contemporary Arts Center.
The Alliance for Good Government is a non-profit organization that works to foster, protect and promote the welfare and interest of all the citizens of the State of Louisiana by bringing together thinking citizens into an organization which promotes public policies to benefit the New Orleans Metropolitan area, the State of Louisiana and the United States of America.
Phelps Dunbar is a regional law firm of approximately 250 attorneys, with offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jackson, Tupelo, and Gulfport, Mississippi; Houston, Texas; Tampa, Florida; and London, England.
###
