Brent B. Barriere

Practice Focus

Bankruptcy and Restructuring, Class Actions/Mass Actions/MDLs, Environmental, Fraudulent Transfer and Specialized Bankruptcy Litigation, Insurance Coverage, Lender Liability, Ponzi/Banking Schemes, Real Estate Litigation

Brent Barriere is a partner in our Litigation Section. He has over 40 years of experience litigating commercial cases, both at Fishman Haygood and at Phelps Dunbar, his former firm. He represents clients in a wide variety of commercial disputes, including bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, securities litigation, breach of contract, business valuation disputes, director and officer claims, error and omission claims, and class actions.

Brent has developed a national practice niche representing trustees and receivers in varied litigation. He is currently Receiver’s counsel in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Arthur Lamar Adams and Madison Timber Properties, LLC, which arises from a $100 million Ponzi scheme (possibly the largest Ponzi scheme in Mississippi’s history) that defrauded hundreds of investors. He is also litigation counsel for the Trustee in Jalbert v. Raymond James & Associates et al., which arises from a failed $395 million bond issuance to build a wood pellets factory, believed to be the largest failed bond issuance in the history of Louisiana.

Brent has been named one of Louisiana’s Top 10 Litigators by The National Law Journal. In 2024 and 2023, he was recognized by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Litigators in America. He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and Super Lawyers®.

Brent also is among a select group of lawyers recognized as top litigators listed in a nationwide client survey published in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Chambers & Partners calls Brent “really top-notch” and “very creative” and says he is a “‘polished’ and ‘tenacious’ advocate with excellent instincts and an industrious work ethic.”

Brent is an active member of both the New Orleans Bar Association and the Louisiana State Bar Association, having served on the latter’s various bankruptcy committees, as well as the organization’s House of Delegates and Budget Committee. He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow in the International Society of Barristers.

Brent frequently lectures on litigation techniques, fiduciary duty litigation, evidence, and other litigation related topics.

Education

J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane University School of Law, 1981
- Articles Editor of the Tulane Law Review
- Order of the Coif
B.A., with honors, from Hamilton College, 1977

Publications / Presentations

“Professionalism: Looking Back,” Louisiana State Bar Association Ethics & Professionalism: Watch Your P’s and Q’s CLE program, December 6, 2024.
“The Intersection of ‘Mass Torts’ and Bankruptcy,” Louisiana State Bar Association Complex Litigation Symposium, November 8, 2024.
“The Intersection of Multidistrict Litigation and Bankruptcy,” American Association of Justice Annual Convention mass torts program CLE, July 19, 2024.
“The Defendant Filed for Bankruptcy: So Now What Do You Do?” Injury Board webinar, May 16, 2024.
“The Opening Statement,” Pretoria Society of Advocates and the American College of Trial Lawyers trial advocacy workshop, April 8, 2024.

Representative Matters

Chief Counsel to the Receiver in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Arthur Lamar Adams and Madison Timber Properties, LLC, No. 3:18-cv-00252 (S.D. Miss), in which the S.E.C. charged the defendants with operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme.
Represents Chapter 11 unsecured creditors’ committee in action to recover against New York senior living facility’s directors and officers for their mismanagement and breaches of fiduciary duty.
Represents Texas bankruptcy trustee in action to recover prepayment penalties assessed by lenders to insolvent corporation and in related action against corporation’s directors and officers for mismanagement and breaches of fiduciary duty.
Represents New York creditor trustee in action to recover against directors of global watch manufacturer for breaches of fiduciary duty.
Represents Chapter 11 debtor in action to recover against Louisiana debtor’s directors and officers for mismanagement and breach of fiduciary duty.
Represents Louisiana bankruptcy trustee in fraudulent transfer actions and an action to recover from directors and officers for their mismanagement and breaches of fiduciary duty.
Represents Mississippi bankruptcy trustee in action to recover from a Mississippi public hospital’s directors and officers damages for their mismanagement and breaches of fiduciary duties; obtained favorable rulings in the Mississippi Supreme Court and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, see Lefoldt v. Rentfro, No. 2017-FC-00486-SCT, 2017 WL 6379448 (Miss. Dec. 14, 2017) and Lefoldt v. Rentfro, 709 Fed. App’x 291 (5th Cir. Jan. 16, 2018); continues to pursue claims against the public hospital’s auditor for professional malpractice.
Represented Alabama liquidating trustee in action to recover against directors and officers for breaches of fiduciary duty and in actions to recover fraudulent transfers and pierce the corporate veil of related entities.
Represented Chapter 7 trustee in action to recover against Alabama debtor’s directors and officers for breaches of fiduciary duty and in actions to recover fraudulent transfers.
Served as Special Litigation Counsel for purposes of prosecuting action against Louisiana debtor’s directors and officers.
Represented Chapter 7 trustee in actions, arising from an Alabama Ponzi scheme, against directors for breach of fiduciary duty and gross mismanagement and against suppliers and vendors to recover fraudulent transfers.
Represented Louisiana Chapter 11 trustee in action to recover oil and gas properties.
Represented Louisiana bankruptcy trustee in action against Ingalls Shipbuilding arising from destruction of debtor’s property.
Represented bankruptcy trustee in action against Mississippi debtor grocery chain’s directors and officers, legal counsel, lenders, and control persons.