LSBA Young Lawyers Division’s 2026-27 Officers, Council Installed
NEW ORLEANS— The Louisiana State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division’s (LSBA YLD) 2026-27 officers and Council were installed June 4 at the LSBA Annual Meeting in Destin, Fla. Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Weimer administered the oath of office.
Christopher J. (Chris) Sellers Jr., assistant vice president and associate general counsel for Ochsner Health in New Orleans, was installed as 2026-27 YLD chair.
Other officers sworn in include:
• Chair-Elect Rachal Cox Cassagne, an assistant United States attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana, in New Orleans.
• Secretary Christina K. (Cristy) Chazan, an associate attorney in the New Orleans office of the law firm Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith.
• Immediate Past Chair Collin R. Melancon, a partner and owner at Mansfield Melancon – Injury Lawyers in Baton Rouge.
Installed as members of the 2026-27 YLD Council were:
District 1: Margaret L. Manning, an associate attorney with Stanley Reuter Alford Owen Munson & Paul, LLC, in New Orleans; and Jennifer Gordon Lampton, research attorney for Judge Nakisha Ervin-Knott, Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, Division A, in New Orleans.
District 2: Lauren T. Kirichkow, legal director at the Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana in New Orleans; and Andrew A. (Andy) Maberry, an attorney with Winston Bergeron, LLP, in New Orleans.
District 3: Jared E. Nelson, an associate attorney in the Lafayette office of Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith, LLP.
District 4: Micah O. Clemons, an associate attorney with Todd Clemons & Associates, APLC, in Lake Charles.
District 5: Manning P. Greene, an associate with Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea LLC in Baton Rouge; and Mary Catherine Joiner, an associate with Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea LLC in Baton Rouge.
District 6: Ashley U. Firven, a partner with Hammonds, Sills, Adkins, Guice, Noah & Perkins, LLP, in Baton Rouge.
District 7: Jana L. Robinson Tuma, senior legal counsel of U.S. Operations at Drax, based in Monroe.
District 8: Jasmine C. Cooper, an assistant district attorney for the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office in Shreveport.
At-Large Representatives:
• Taylor B. Ashworth, an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller, LLP.
• Malika L. Howard, judicial law clerk for Hon. Robin D. Pittman, Section F, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, in New Orleans.
• Joseph T.D. Tran, associate general counsel for LAMMICO in Metairie.
• Josef P. Ventulan, a staff attorney with the Louisiana State Law Institute in Baton Rouge.