Rick Shelby’s primary practice areas include Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, commercial litigation and corporate governance.  He has successfully represented debtors, debtors in possession, creditors, and trustees in bankruptcy under Chapters 7, 11, and 13.  Rick’s practice has encompassed motions for relief from stay, disputes regarding lease agreements, confirmation of plans of reorganization, obtaining adequate protection orders, negotiating § 363 asset sales, and a wide variety of adversary proceedings from fraudulent transfers, ranking disputes, classification of estate assets, and pursuing discharge and dischargeability objections. Some of the Chapter 11 proceedings where he has acted as counsel in various capacities include Pel-Tex Oil Company, LLC; FEC Lafayette, LLC; Advocate Financial, LLC; New Orleans Paddlewheels and Virgin Offshore USA.

Prior to practicing law, Rick worked for 15 years as an engineer and technical sales representative for the largest producer of crushed aggregates in the United States. In 2008, he earned his J.D. summa cum laude from Loyola University where he was a member of Loyola Law Review and the Moot Court staff.  He was honored as a William Crowe Scholar and was a recipient of the Joseph V. Bologna Award for First Year Excellence. Additionally, he was awarded Law Excellence Awards in Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy, Civil Law Property, Torts, Community Property, and Agency and Partnerships. In 2007, Rick was honored with the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Medal of Excellence in Bankruptcy.

• “McGee v. A C & S, Inc: Loss of Enjoyment of Life as a Compensable Category of General Damages” (Loyola Law Review, Spring 2008)
• Field Evaluation of Passive Capillary Samplers for Estimating Groundwater Recharge, Water Resources Research Journal, 2000.
• Contributing author for LSU Law Center 15^th, 16^th and 17^th Annual Bankruptcy Law Seminar

Professional Affiliations:

• American Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• Louisiana State Bar Association
• New Orleans Bar Association
• Turnaround Management Association