New Orleans
Justin Swaim was promoted to member Stone piggery after working as an associate since joining the company in 2015.
Swaim is a commercial litigation attorney specializing in energy and utility regulation as well as appellate law.
He received his undergraduate degree from Southeastern Louisiana and graduated magna cum laude from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans. Swaim has served as a member of the Loyola Law Review Board and has been recognized for numerous achievements, including the Warren E. Mouledoux Editor-in-Chief Award and the Loyola Law Review Professional Responsibility Award.
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Matthew S. Chester was elected as a member Baker Donelsonboard of directors.
Chester is a shareholder in the firm’s New Orleans office and chair of the government enforcement and investigations group.
He has more than 20 years of experience as a lawyer in the private sector and in the US Department of Justice. Prior to joining the firm, Chester worked at the Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General in New Orleans.
He graduated with honors from Tulane University School of Law.
Baton Rouge
Blaine Briggs withdrew from Louisiana Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co . after 36 years.
Briggs has served as executive vice president and state manager since March 2010. Under his leadership, Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance saw its AM Best rating increase from B+ to A. That improvement came despite severe hurricanes that caused billions of dollars in property damage in Louisiana. . Biggs was also instrumental in finding a site for the new Louisiana Farm Bureau state office. He was heavily involved in the design and construction of the building, which opened in August.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance from what was then the University of Southwestern Louisiana.
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Brian Badinger was promoted to vice president, technical programs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.
Badinger joined Blue Cross in 2001. He will be responsible for developing, overseeing and ensuring the successful completion of large, strategic cross-company programs.
He most recently served as director of corporate strategic programs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.
He graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University.
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J. Christopher Dippel Jr. he joined Kean Miller as a special counsel in the firm’s downtown Baton Rouge office.
Dippel focuses his practice on white-collar criminal defense, government investigations, internal investigations for companies and organizations, and litigation. His experience includes 10 years as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana, including serving as Deputy Chief of Criminal Procedure.
He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his law degree from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center. Dippel served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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Evan Scroggs will lead a new office in Baton Rouge for Lee & Associates.
Lee & Associates is the largest broker-owned commercial real estate firm in North America.
The Baton Rouge office will specialize in industrial, office, land and retail brokerage and plans to build a team to grow its capabilities throughout South Louisiana.
Scroggs has more than 13 years of experience in office and industrial sales. Previously, he was senior counsel for NAI/Latter & Blum.
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Emergent methoda business consulting company, has appointed three new managing directors.
Nikki Godfrey has been with the company since 2020, serving as a strategic consultant for various high-profile clients. He has more than 20 years of experience in higher education, communication and leadership development.
Robyn Stiles has been with the company since 2018. He has extensive experience in public policy, research, data analysis and organizational assessment. She manages the firm’s qualitative and quantitative research initiatives and has been integral to the implementation of several large, multi-year organizational assessments and strategic planning efforts for clients such as North Carolina State University, Kansas State University, and the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.
Theresa Walker he has been with the company since 2018, he is a multifaceted consultant. She has developed public relations, crisis communication and outreach strategies for some of the company’s most complex projects. In addition, Walker manages Emergent Method’s creative and web development service lines.
Emergent Method also announced the following staff promotions:
Dwayne Judice to the manager
Annie Landry to the manager
Curtis McGinty to the manager
Sonya Murray-Wade to the manager
Twila Arrington senior adviser
Keesler Morrison senior adviser
Taylor Stirling senior adviser
Clarissa Walton senior adviser
Shannon McNemar senior associate.
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Dr. Aaron DeWitt was appointed chief medical officer in Baton Rouge General’s Mid City Campus.
DeWitt has worked for BRG since 2017 as a paramedic. He has assumed various leadership roles, including faculty member for BRG’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, medical director for BRG’s skilled nursing unit, and medical director for local assisted living facilities and nursing homes.
He earned a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from Mississippi College and a medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean. DeWitt completed his internal medicine residency at Baton Rouge General.
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Lou Patalano was named senior vice president and chief legal officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.
Patalano succeeds Michele Calandro, who announced her retirement after more than 30 years with Blue Cross. Calandro will continue to serve as executive vice president and special advisor to the CEO until her retirement on March 31.
Patalano has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry in a variety of settings, including private practice, payer side, provider side and for government. Patalano was most recently of counsel in the healthcare practice group at K&L Gates, a fully integrated global law firm employing close to 2,000 lawyers on five continents.
He also served as Chief Legal Officer, Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary for Sentara Healthcare and Optima Health, a large integrated delivery network based in Virginia, and Deputy General Counsel and Vice President for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.