Fishman Haygood, L.L.P.
headshot in black and white for Louis Y. Fishman

Louis Y. Fishman

Counsel to the Firm

Counsel to the Firm

Phone Icon 504.586.5255

Fax Icon 504.949.8116

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Practice Focus

Corporate Governance Corporate Law Mergers and Acquisitions Securities, Private Equity and Venture Capital

About

Fishman Haygood co-founding partner Louis Fishman is counsel to the firm. His transactional practice included corporation law, securities, and mergers and acquisitions. He also counseled clients on resolving disputes within family and other closely held businesses.

“Louis is highly esteemed for his strength in corporate and securities issues.” —Chambers and Partners

Louis has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in Corporate Law since that publication’s first edition in 1983. In 2009, he was named that publication’s first New Orleans Corporate Lawyer of the Year and its first New Orleans Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year in 2010. In 2011, Lawdragon named Louis to its “500 Leading Lawyers in America” guide, which represents far less than 1 percent of the legal profession, calling him “without question one of the very best corporate transactional attorneys in the South.” He is ranked as Senior Statespeople by Chambers and Partners in the Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions category of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

Experience

  • Assisted his 48-year client, Sanderson Farms, Inc., in a sale of the company.
  • First National Bank of Commerce’s issuance of $3.0 billion of bank notes.
  • First Commerce Corporation’s $3.1 billion acquisition by Bank One.
  • Doane Products Company’s $250 million sale to financial investors.
  • The Laitram Corporation’s sale of its Digicourse subsidiary.

Recognitions

Media

Louis has presented at many CLE programs over the years, on topics of legal ethics, professionalism, corporation law, mergers and acquisition law, and securities law.

  • Co-presenter, “CLE for the Transactional Lawyer,” Louisiana State Bar Association, May 5, 2023.
  • Co-presenter, “CLE for the Transactional Lawyer,” Louisiana State Bar Association, May 6, 2022.

Credentials

  • LL.M., Sterling Fellow, from Yale Law School, 1966
  • L.L.B. from Tulane Law School, 1965
    • Editor-in-Chief of the Tulane Law Review
    • Order of the Coif
  • B.B.A. from Tulane University, 1963
  • Louisiana

Notable Rankings

Louis Fishman 2025 Chambers BadgeLouis Y. Fishman Best Lawyers 2026 Badge