R. Patrick Vance began his legal career at the Jones Walker LLP firm upon graduation from law school in 1975. The firm has grown to 17 offices in eight states and the District of Columbia and has over 390 lawyers. Mr. Vance served as the chairman of the firm for a number of years and is currently the Practice Group Leader for the Business Litigation practice, a position he has held for over twenty years.
Mr. Vance is one of only two active lawyers in the United States in both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Bankruptcy. He has more than 90 reported decisions in which he was usually the lead counsel at trial and in the appellate courts. He has tried cases in the state and federal courts throughout Louisiana and argued appellate cases in all of the state circuit courts and in the Louisiana Supreme Court. He has argued more than 20 appeals in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and has participated in writ practice before the United States Supreme Court.
In 2013 Mr. Vance commenced serving a four year term as the Vice President of the National Bankruptcy Conference. He has served on the NBC’s Executive Committee and as its treasurer for twelve years. He is a long time member of the Board of Directors of the American College of Bankruptcy and is the former President of the Board of Directors of the College’s Foundation. He is a past Chairman of the Board of the Southeast Louisiana Legal Services Corporation which provides civil legal services to the indigent in 22 parishes in Southeast Louisiana. Mr. Vance is a life member of the American Law Institute. He is a past president of the New Orleans Bar Association (2012), served in every officer position of that organization, and is on the Foundation’s Board. Mr. Vance received the New Orleans Bar Association’s highest award – The President’s Award – in 2016.
Mr. Vance has been recognized in virtually every peer review publication as a leading practitioner including being listed as one of the top ten lawyers in Louisiana by Super Lawyers since its inception; Best Lawyers in America for over 25 years; Chambers USA; Who’s Who Legal; The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers; Euromoney’s Guide to World’s Leading Insolvency Lawyers; Lawdragon’s Leading Lawyers; Benchmark Litigation and others. He has been listed in the categories for bankruptcy, commercial litigation and bet-the-company litigation.
Mr. Vance has held leadership positions in the American Bar Association, the Louisiana Bar Association and the New Orleans Bar Association and has chaired significant committees in each organization. He served as President of the Louisiana Bankers Association, Bank Counsel Committee and chaired every subcommittee of the organization.
Business Bankruptcy
Mr. Vance has litigated and negotiated complex transactions involving distressed or insolvent debtors, creditors and purchasers through out-of-court arrangements and Chapter 11 cases in scores of matters throughout the United States.
As attorney for debtors and trustees, Mr. Vance has represented real estate developers, hotels, partnerships, construction companies, health spas, maritime, oil and gas related industries, a tree farm, casinos, a utility company, a cafeteria chain and the largest alligator farm in North America.
Mr. Vance also regularly represents secured and unsecured creditors in all types of business bankruptcy cases. He has been retained by scores of banks, bondholders, telecommunication companies, international manufacturers, utilities, health care providers, maritime, oil and gas related industries, the music industry, and insurance companies. He has also represented creditors’ committees and served as trustee in Chapter 11 cases.
Commercial Litigation
Mr. Vance is a prolific trial lawyer who has handled over three hundred commercial disputes in a wide variety of practice areas: antitrust, RICO, copyright infringement, Lanham Act, securities litigation, defense of class actions, MDLs, foreclosures, fraud, lender liability, banking litigation, ERISA, dealer-distributor disputes, successions, legal malpractice, expropriation, contract interpretation, partnership, utility regulation, tax, and general commercial disputes.
Publications and Seminars
Mr. Vance has served on the faculty of more than a hundred Continuing Legal Education programs, including those presented by the American College of Bankruptcy, ALI-ABA, the ABA Litigation Section, the ABA Business Law Section, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Practicing Law Institute, the law schools of Tulane University, Louisiana State University and Loyola University, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, Inc., and the Executive Office of the United States Trustees. Mr. Vance taught the Advanced Bankruptcy Seminar at Tulane Law School and has been a frequent contributor to legal publications in the areas of bankruptcy and commercial litigation.
Expert Witness
Mr. Vance has been qualified as an expert witness in federal and state courts in the areas of bankruptcy and attorney’s fee disputes, including on behalf of the United States in a case in which the number two ranked policeman in New Orleans was convicted of bankruptcy crimes.
Education
Mr. Vance graduated with highest College Honors from Louisiana State University in 1970 where he received the Phi Beta Kappa Faculty Group Award among other distinctions. He has served on the Advisory Board of the LSU Honors College since its formation.
Mr. Vance graduated from Louisiana State University Law School in 1975 where he served on the Louisiana Law Review. He serves on the Advisory Board to the Chancellor of the Law School. He was recently recognized by the Law School with its Distinguished Achievement Alumni Award in 2012.
Personal
Mr. Vance was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1948 and is married to Sarah Savoia Vance, a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Vances have one son who is a lawyer in Los Angeles.