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Forrest Ren Wilkes
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Overview

Ren Wilkes is a partner in the New Orleans office. Since 1989, he has defended numerous clients in mass tort cases, as local counsel, national trial counsel, and national coordinating counsel in state and federal courts throughout the United States. He has tried cases to verdict in Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas and Washington. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of Mass Tort Litigation and by New Orleans Magazine as a “Top Lawyer” in the fields of Mass Tort Litigation and Bet-the-Company Litigation.

Practice Areas

Education

  • University of Mississippi School of Law, Mississippi
    • J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence – 1988
    • Law Journal, Mississippi Law Journal, Associate Editor, 1987, 1988
  • Princeton University
    • A.B. – 1985

Admissions

  • Mississippi, 1988
  • Texas, 2001
  • Louisiana, 1994
  • United States District Court Northern District of Mississippi, 1988
  • United States District Court Southern District of Mississippi, 1988
  • United States Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1988

Experience

Publications & Presentations

  • “Bounced Verdicts – Brown v. Union Carbide and ConocoPhillips and Litigation Update – Key Rulings From Hot Jurisdictions” 2013 Defense Research Institute Asbestos Medicine Seminar
  • “Voir Dire in Complex/Multi-Party Toxic Tort Litigation: The Defense Perspective” 2013 American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section 22nd Annual Spring CLE Program: Fuel, Food, Fibers and More: Blazing New Trails in the Desert Sun”
  • The Evolution of Machinery and Equipment Cases, HB Litigation’s 15th Annual National Asbestos Litigation Conference
  • HarrisMartin’s Louisiana Asbestos Litigation Conference, 2011
  • “Third Party Liability Under Louisiana Law”, HarrisMartin’s Louisiana Asbestos Litigation, 2010
  • Co-Chair, HarrisMartin’s Louisiana Asbestos Litigation Conference, 2010
  • “Equipment, Pump and Valve Cases” , HarrisMartin Asbestos Litigation Conference: Peripheral No More, Part II, 2008
  • “Consumer Product Cases”, HarrisMartin Asbestos Litigation Conference: Peripheral No More, Part II, 2007
  • 1987 Mississippi Supreme Court Review: Civil Procedure, 57 Mississippi Law Journal 443, August, 1987

Distinctions

  • Martindale-Hubbell® Distinguished AV™ Peer Review Rated
  • New Orleans Magazine “Top Lawyers” 2009-2016 Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions
  • New Orleans Magazine “Top Lawyers” 2012 Bet-the-Company Litigation
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2012 – Present

Associations

  • Louisiana State Bar
  • American Bar Association
  • Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel
  • Defense Research Institute
  • The Mississippi Bar
  • Louisiana Bar Association
  • New Orleans Bar Association
  • State Bar of Texas

Civic Involvement

Outside the Office