Kean Miller Continues to Grow in New Orleans

Kean Miller’s growth curve continues as the 214-attorney, full-service law firm announces the addition of three attorneys in its full-service New Orleans office. Brent C. Wyatt, Nick S. Wise, and Monica J. Manzella, CIPP/US, join as Senior Counsel. “We are fortunate to have these talented attorneys join our team as we continue to expand our litigation services across our regional footprint. We strive to provide our clients with the brightest legal talent, and these lawyers are no exception,” said Linda Perez Clark, Managing Partner.

Brent C. Wyatt joins the firm as Senior Counsel practicing with the bankruptcy and business reorganization and commercial litigation groups. He has more than 25 years of litigation experience, including depositions, trials, appeals, discovery, and arguing before state and federal courts. Brent’s practice is primarily focused on corporate litigation with an emphasis on debtor/creditor and bankruptcy and reorganization laws. He has significant experience counseling a wide array of clients on large Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 cases and matters involving debtor/creditor relations, workouts, security rights, foreclosures, lender liability, lien claims, lease/contract disputes, and other commercial issues. Brent has experience working with special assets officers at local financial institutions. He has also worked with teams representing clients in class actions and cases involving, among other things, trademark infringement and product liability.

Brent earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane University Law School in 1997, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He earned his B.S., magna cum laude, from Louisiana State University in 1994.

Nick S. Wise joins the firm as Senior Counsel practicing with the energy and environmental litigation group. His practice is primarily focused on the representation of energy companies in litigation concerning alleged contamination and wetlands loss associated with historical oil and gas operations. His practice also involves a wide variety of oil and gas matters including mineral lease and servitude disputes and contractual disputes arising under joint operating agreements and other contractual relationships. Nick also has experience in the areas of natural resources and maritime transportation.

Nick earned his J.D., cum laude, from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 2011. He earned his B.S. in Information Systems and Decisions Sciences from Louisiana State University in 2006. Nick worked as a systems analyst for the Louisiana Division of Administration for two years prior to attending law school. During law school, he was a quarterfinalist in the Ruby R. Vale Interschool Corporate Moot Court Competition and served as a judicial extern to the Honorable John L. Weimer, Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Following law school, Nick served as a law clerk to the Honorable Tom E. Stagg of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Monica J. Manzella, CIPP/US, joins the firm as Senior Counsel practicing with the business and corporate, labor and employment, insurance, construction, intellectual property, data privacy, healthcare, and commercial litigation groups. She has practiced law for more than 18 years and has extensive litigation and transactional experience in corporate and commercial law, contract law, healthcare, privacy, data security, governmental standards of conduct and ethics law, acquisition and procurement law, construction law, labor and employment law, and personal injury, casualty, and insurance law. A resourceful problem solver, Monica also has extensive policy and compliance experience and strategic planning acumen.

Monica earned her M.A. in Security Studies and Homeland Defense & Security from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2016. She earned her J.D. from the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2005 and her B.A. in English and Philosophy from Spring Hill College in 2002. Monica is an ANSI-accredited Certified Information Privacy Professional for the U.S. Private Sector (CIPP/US), designated by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

Kean Miller is one of the largest and best recognized law firms in the Gulf South region. For more than 40 years, the Firm has been innovating and growing, revolutionizing the standards for excellence in client service, and earning numerous awards for its market-leading practices and thoughtful and creative legal representation. Consistently named to the National Law Journal’s NLJ 500 and the Law360 Top 400 lists, Kean Miller is Mansfield 6.0 certified, an honor bestowed for a select group of law firms which demonstrate a genuine commitment to diversity in the legal profession. The Firm’s collaborative culture, people-first approach, and devotion to quality are foundational to the Firm’s continued success, reflecting its reputation in the market. From the Firm’s eight offices in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Houston, and The Woodlands, and more than 200 attorneys, Kean Miller delivers sophisticated and meaningful counsel to Fortune 500 leaders, national businesses, and local companies.