Paul M. Haygood (1942-2015)

We are deeply saddened by the death of our co-founding partner and friend Paul Haygood this weekend. Paul was a very smart and meticulous lawyer whose wise counsel will be greatly missed by his many clients and friends. He had a long and distinguished career both in our firm and in his many civic engagements.

Paul, 72, was a graduate of Louisiana State University and Harvard Law School. He served as law clerk to Judge Alvin B. Rubin and also as Senior Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston before moving to New Orleans and beginning his 50-year legal career.

Paul was very active in statewide legal organizations, holding many distinguished posts. For the Louisiana State Bar Association, he served as Chairman of the Section on Corporation and Business Law and the first Chairman of the Corporate Laws Committee. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors and Louisiana Bar Admissions Committee, chairing for many years the subcommittee that prepares and administers the corporation law portion of the Louisiana Bar Examination. He was on the planning committee of the Tulane Corporate Law Institute for ten years, and was a member of the Council of the Louisiana State Law Institute.

Paul also dedicated himself to his community, playing an active role in the civic affairs of both the city and state he lovingly called home. He served as President of the Council for a Better Louisiana, as President of the New Orleans Bureau of Governmental Research, as a member of the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation. He was an active board member of a number of philanthropic organizations, including The Beauregard-Keyes House, served on the Board of Advisors of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and was a former Governor of the Society of Colonial Wars in Louisiana. He also served on the Board of Directors of City National Bank of Baton Rouge, and also founded and served as Chairman of The Classical Institute of the South, Inc., a 501(c )(3) charity that catalogs Southern furnishings and other fine arts.

Paul’s contributions both inside and outside of the firm were many. Above all, he loved his family and our thoughts and prayers are with them.