A young attorney with experience ranging from the courtroom to transactional matters, John-Michael is firmly committed and singularly focused on working with clients to achieve their objectives. He is a creative thinker who develops solutions for complex legal problems.
After graduating cum laude from Tulane University Law School, John-Michael was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in 2020 and began private practice in Lake Charles that same year. In 2023, he joined the firm of Scofield, Gerard, Pohorelsky, Gallaugher & Landry. Since beginning his practice, a primary focus of his practice area has been assisting and advising clients in connection with the creation of wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, and working with families to assist in the administration of estates and trusts. He strives to be a compassionate advocate and advisor to his clients to help guide them for the efficient and orderly distribution in accordance with the loved one’s intent. He has also successfully litigated concerning contested estates and trusts issues, such as the interpretation of a Last Will and Testament and a Trustee’s failure to distribute trust assets in accordance with the trust instrument. For these matters, due to their often personal and difficult nature, he strives to guide his clients to a satisfactory and timely resolution.
John-Michael also routinely assists clients in a real estate and oil & gas related matters. From relatively straightforward matters such as the preparation of owner-financed instruments to voluntary partitions to more complex matters such as the creation of a Louisiana limited liability company to hold a foreign revocable trust’s interest in Louisiana mineral royalties, the creation of restrictive covenants of a newly created residential subdivision, to litigation involving the adverse possession of a client dating over 50+ years and the recognition of his ownership via acquisitive prescription, he cherishes any opportunity to work with clients to accomplish their real estate needs from its sale, acquisition, and development.
John-Michael is also able to work and assist with clients in a wide spectrum transactional related matters including the creation and dissolution of various types of business entities for small businesses or real estate holdings, creation of joint venture agreements, preparation of commercial and residential leases, and advisement to clients on employment related matters.
An active participant in the local bar, John-Michael has served as a board member of the Southwest Louisiana Bar Association - Young Lawyers Division and Co-Chair for the Southwest Louisiana Title Examiner’s Roundtable.
Originally a native of Bogalusa, Louisiana, John-Michael, along with his wife, Hailey, are glad to call Southwest Louisiana “home” for years to come. He respectfully requests a two-day “grace” period after his LSU Tigers lose any football game to Hailey’s alma mater, Texas A&M.
