Our Firm

Gordon Arata

At Gordon Arata, we thoroughly understand our clients’ business and are skilled problem solvers. With offices in Louisiana and Texas, we represent savvy clients across a wide array of industries. Prominent among these are banking & finance, chemical & industrial, construction, energy, real estate, telecommunications and utilities.

The firm’s energy expertise has taken it from Louisiana and Texas to the Outer Continental Shelf to the North Slope of Alaska to the Tilodiran and Boral oil fields in Colombia to the Bass Straits of Australia. Government regulators for the energy industry in Louisiana have repeatedly looked to us for industry perspective in drafting and revising regulations and agreement forms. Ever on the forefront, the firm has obtained “first-ever” relief in numerous contexts—from suspensions of production on the Outer Continental Shelf to summary judgment in take-or-pay litigation to tariff relief for existing pipeline services regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, to cite just a few examples. With energy at the forefront of our development, our firm has also expanded to service the ever-increasing demands of our clients in other areas such as commercial litigation, insurance coverage and defense, bankruptcy, construction and real estate.

Our tried and true reputation of excellence is continuously recognized by our peers and demonstrated by outstanding ratings and rankings. Repeatedly, our attorneys are recognized locally, nationally, and internationally by Chambers, Benchmark Litigation, Best Lawyers, and Super Lawyers, to name a few. We are a proud member of Alliott Global Alliance, a leading international alliance of independent professional services firms, including law, accounting, tax, and advisory practices.

Gordon Arata delivers comprehensive legal services seamlessly to protect and advance our clients’ interests through creative and strategic approaches. The firm’s culture—we do serious work well, but don’t take ourselves too seriously—is a point of pride. It sets the firm apart and underlies what has been and always will be our most important product: our clients’ trust.

Firm History

Gordon Arata was established in 1970 by Jack Gordon, Blake Arata, and John McCollam representing clients in the energy and petrochemical industries and soon added to the firm’s portfolio high stakes work on energy regulatory issues and bet-the-company litigation.

View our Practice Areas

Diversity

Gordon Arata is dedicated to advancing and maintaining a diverse workplace and building an environment of inclusion that reflects the communities and clients that we serve. We believe that the diversity of our attorneys and staff results in the best available service to our clients. Our Diversity Committee, one of our firm’s longest standing committees, strives to develop in-firm practices and policies that help us meet and exceed our goals for diversity, equity and inclusion. Our firm has an established record of female leadership, with members serving on both the management and compensation committees for decades.

We understand that our firm is stronger with a diverse workforce. We have expanded our resources, partnerships and network to ensure that we are proactively seeking a diverse group of candidates when there is a career opportunity at Gordon Arata. Our firm is committed to our 1L summer clerkship program that provides a diverse array of law students with first-hand exposure to the private practice of law. During the four-week program, our clerks attend hearings, depositions, settlement meetings and discovery conferences and work on challenging legal assignments. We use this program to identify outstanding individuals early in their law school career and establish a relationship with these 1L summer clerks throughout their law school experience and beyond. Many are invited to return as 2L clerks, and some have been extended associate offers to join the firm.

We are proud of our continuing support of and participation in numerous organizations and events that promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal field, the industries we serve and our communities. Our attorneys serve in leadership roles in organizations such as the Women’s Energy Network, Louis A. Martinet Legal Society and the Human Rights Campaign. We have sponsored the Anti-Defamation League, the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights and the Women, Diversity & Change Summit.

Giving Back

Gordon Arata, both as a firm and through individual efforts, is committed to giving back to our communities in Louisiana and Texas. We actively support non-profit organizations across a wide spectrum of areas, including education, healthcare, disaster relief, homelessness, children’s programming, conservation, and the arts, among others. Many of our team members sit on boards and committees of these community organizations, donating their time and expertise.

We are also proud of our volunteer service for legal profession.  The Louisiana Supreme Court has appointed multiple firm attorneys to volunteer leadership positions with the Louisiana Committee on Bar Admissions, including its Director of Testing, who oversees the entire Louisiana bar exam twice a year, and various Graders, who draft portions of the nine-part Louisiana bar exam.  Many other firm attorneys serve as voluntary Assistant Graders of the Louisiana bar exam.

Additionally, our firm is dedicated to supporting organizations that provide legal services to underserved communities. We maintain a strong relationship with the New Orleans-based Pro Bono Project to provide pro-bono legal services for those in need of legal representation. Several of our attorneys and paralegals have received the Pro Bono Project’s Distinguished Services Award for providing more than 100 pro bono hours during a calendar year.

Gordon Arata also participates in and supports:

 

Alliott Global Alliance

Gordon Arata is a proud member of Alliott Global Alliance (AGA), a Chambers-ranked worldwide alliance of independent professional services firms. Through AGA, we provide clients with seamless access to trusted legal, tax, accounting, and specialty advisors in key markets around the globe while continuing to deliver the responsiveness and personal attention of a Gulf South-based firm.

With 236 member firms spanning 259 cities across 105 countries and six continents, AGA enables us to assemble coordinated teams to support clients’ national and international transactions, regulatory compliance, tax structuring, dispute resolution, strategic expansion, and a broad range of business objectives. Clients benefit from experienced local advisors in each jurisdiction across the United States and around the world, working together to deliver practical, business-focused solutions.