Nancy Degan

Nancy Scott Degan office managing shareholder in the New Orleans and Mandeville offices, is a member of the Business Litigation Group and recently served on Baker Donelson’s Board of Directors.

Ms. Degan has extensive experience helping businesses and business people resolve their disputes through negotiations, trials, arbitrations and appeals. She handles breach of contract matters, bank litigation, oil and gas disputes, shareholder actions and other securities litigation, as well as a variety of business torts.

Ms. Degan served as chair of the 60,000 member American Bar Association Section of Litigation in 2015, and in 2017, as chair of the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which reviews qualifications for presidential nominations to the Federal bench. She is the author of numerous articles and scholarly works regarding commercial litigation, mineral law and evidence.

Ms. Degan is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI), the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly works to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law. She speaks regularly at ABA, Louisiana and New Orleans Bar Association meetings, and the LSU Mineral Law Institute on substantive and procedural topics, trial practice and leadership skills.

EDUCATION:

• Loyola University, J.D., 1983, magna cum laude
• University of New Orleans, B.A., 1979, cum laude, with honors in English

ADMISSIONS:

• Louisiana, 1983 (all federal and state courts)
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1993

Representative Matters:

• Regularly represents banks in a variety of breach of contract and lender liability claims.
• Successfully defended numerous companies in disputes with their shareholders.
• Prevailed at trial in breach of contract suit between members of limited liability company.
• Successfully defended the international manufacturer of products supplied to energy companies.
• Regularly represents hotel owners and operators on various issues.
• Won judgment for national bank sued for recession of $40 million interest rate swap.
• Represents directors and officers of corporations sued for breach of fiduciary duty.

Professional Honors & Activities:

• Named a Benchmark Litigation “Local Litigation Star” for Louisiana (2014 – 2017)
• Recognized as a “Top Lawyer” by New Orleans Magazine (2010 – 2017)
• Named to New Orleans CityBusiness Women of the Year (2008 and 2014)
• Recipient of the Firm-wide Pro Bono Award (2015)
• Fellow – American Bar Foundation, Louisiana Bar Foundation