Attorney Tad Bartlett

Practice Focus

Appellate Group Class Actions/Mass Actions/MDLs Environmental

About

H.S. Bartlett III (“Tad”), who leads the firm’s Appellate Practice, focuses on appellate advocacy and brings deep experience across state and federal courts nationwide. An Appellate Practice Specialist certified by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization, he serves as a member of the LBLS Appellate Practice Advisory Commission.

“Tad is a recognized appellate specialist. His vast appellate experience includes expertly handling environmental and construction-related appeals.” —Chambers and Partners

Tad has built a nationally recognized appellate practice, representing clients in all Louisiana state courts, multiple federal circuit courts of appeal—including the Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits—and in certiorari proceedings before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tad first practiced under the Louisiana student practice rule in 1999 as a member of the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic before graduating magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from Tulane Law School in 2000. While at Tulane, Tad served for a year as a research assistant to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (U.S. Supreme Court) and Judge James L. Dennis (U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit) for a class on comparative human rights law. After graduating, he served as a judicial clerk for Judge Dennis, then developed his litigation and appellate practice at the law firms of Liskow & Lewis and Krebs, Farley & Pelleteri. In 2009, he joined the team of attorneys at Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison, where he led that firm’s appellate practice across both its commercial and environmental litigation areas, working closely with Fishman Haygood’s litigation group on environmental and complex commercial matters where the two firms were co-counsel.

Tad was an integral part of a multi-firm team that developed the coastal litigation practice regarding land-loss on behalf of both landowners and governmental entities. In addition, Tad has been deeply involved in numerous complex commercial cases, from preferential rights disputes to bet-the-company litigation, as well as construction litigation.

Since 2019, Tad has served on Tulane Law School’s faculty as an adjunct professor, teaching an advanced seminar on Coastal Law Litigation & Policy each spring. He also serves as an advisory board member of the Tulane Institute of Water Resources Law and Policy.

In addition, Tad runs the Take the Fifth blog, which digests all opinions released by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, summarizes all opinions designated for publication, and tracks statistics on opinion releases from the Circuit.

Tad lives in Metairie with his wife, Nicole, and their three children. Tad is also a writer, with short stories and essays published in the Oxford American, Bitter Southerner, Massachusetts Review, Carolina Quarterly, Stockholm Review of Literature, and many others, including a piece named as a “notable” essay by Best American Essays 2017.

Experience

Morgan City Land and Fur Co. v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., L.L.C., 325 So. 3d 1051 (La. 10/12/2021), affirming in part Morgan City Land and Fur Co. v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., L.L.C., 319 So. 3d 437 (La. App. 4 Cir. 4/21/2021): Successfully reversing district court summary judgment that pipeline companies did not have a duty to maintain canal widths.
Vintage Assets, Inc. v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., L.L.C., 20-0065, 20-0066 (La. App. 4 Cir. 3/19/2020) (unpub.): On competing writ applications, successfully had trial court summary judgment affirmed in part that held that pipeline companies had a duty to maintain canal widths where servitude agreements required pipeline canals not exceed a certain width, and successfully had trial court summary judgment ruling reversed in part on holding that this duty to maintain canal widths also applied to servitude agreements that did not state a specific canal width.
LeMon v. National Football League, 277 So. 3d 1166 (La. 2019): Successfully petitioned Louisiana Supreme Court for expedited writs to reverse appellate court and trial court and dismiss unfair trade practice, fraud, and conspiracy claims brought by ticket holders against major sports league and other defendants arising from officiating actions and policies.
Red Barn Motors, Inc. v. NextGear Capital, Inc., 915 F.3d 1098 (7th Cir. 2019): Successfully brought 23(f) appeal on behalf of plaintiff to vacate district court’s decertification of class of used car dealerships asserting breach of contract claims against automotive financing company.
Louisiana Oil and Gas Ass’n, Inc. v. Caldwell, 2016 WL 687144 (La. App. 1 Cir. 2/18/2016): Successfully defended appeal of judgment granting regional flood protection authority’s requested declaratory relief regarding its authority to retain outside counsel to represent it in claims arising from coastal land-loss issues.

Professional Activities & Community Involvement

American Association for Justice, Member
Federal Bar Association – New Orleans Chapter, Member
New Orleans Bar Association, Member
Tulane Institute of Water Resources Law and Policy, Advisory Board Member

Recognitions

Chambers USA: Up and Coming, Litigation: Appellate, 2025
Benchmark Litigation: "Litigation Star", 2026
The Best Lawyers in America®: Environmental Law and Appellate Practice, since 2018
Best Lawyers®: “Lawyer of the Year," Environmental Law, New Orleans, 2019
Super Lawyers: Appellate, Environmental Litigation, and Business Litigation, 2015-2026
Inside New Orleans: Readers' Favorite Elite Lawyers, Environmental Law, 2025
New Orleans CityBusiness: Leader in Law, 2017
Louisiana State Bar Association: Pro Bono Publico Award, 2007

Media

Author, “A Year of Transition at the Agenda-Setting 5th Circuit,” Law360.com, Dec. 20, 2023.
Author, Cases & Materials, 30 No. 1 PIABA B. J. 105 (2023).

Panelist, “Step by Step: U.S. Fifth Circuit Updates,” New Orleans Bar Association Bench Bar Conference, March 28, 2026.
Speaker, “Appellate Law: A 2024 Year-in-Review of the State of the U.S. Fifth Circuit,” New Orleans Bar Association Procrastinators’ Programs^smCLE, Dec. 27, 2024.
Panelist, “Winning on Paper: Motion and Brief Writing Tips,” Masters of the Courtroom CLE, Dec. 12, 2024.
Panelist, “Appeals: Winning Your Appeal at Trial,” Masters of the Courtroom CLE, Dec. 14, 2023.
Panelist, “Public Trust Doctrine: An Evolving Legal Theory for an Evolving Coastline,” State of the Coast Conference, June 2, 2023.
Moderator, “Legal Ramifications Surrounding the Latest Scientific Evidence in Pipeline Canals and Land Loss,” State of the Coast Conference, May 31, 2023.

Podcast guest, “Starting, Statistics, and Second Chances in Appellate Law,” Texas Appellate Law Podcast, Oct. 16, 2025.

Credentials

J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane Law School, 2000
- Managing Editor of the Tulane Law Review
- Order of the Coif
M.F.A. from University of New Orleans, 2015
B.A., magna cum laude, from Spring Hill College, 1994

The Honorable James L. Dennis of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2000-2001

Louisiana
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Tad Bartlett

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