Overview
Named as one of the 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America with more than 30 years’ experience as a commercial litigator and 20 years’ experience as an arbitrator and mediator, Ashley Belleau successfully handles commercial, construction, estate and trust, fidelity and professional liability disputes.
A business owner since 1988, Ashley knows first-hand how a business operates from the inside. As the owner of a publishing company, and then an owner and managing partner of a law firm, she understands the need for efficient management, marketing and the employment and financial aspects of a business. This translates into sage client advice from one who’s been there.
Ashley works with business owners and entrepreneurs, assisting with every aspect of the business from inception, through growth and development, purchase and sales and, when necessary, dissolution including bankruptcy. She provides on-going business advice to clients, represents clients in business disputes, and counsels them through business divorces. Ashley also consults with individuals on protection of their personal assets through estate and trust vehicles. The wide diversity of Ashley’s practice is evidenced by these and other types of representation:
- Serves as arbitrator and mediator of commercial disputes for AAA, FINRA and the EDLA.
- Represents individuals in estate proceedings.
- Prosecutes commercial and estate claims on behalf of individuals and companies.
- Defends lawyers and law firms in connection with legal malpractice claims.
- Defends insurance professionals accused of selling unsuitable annuities.
- Represents fidelity and fiduciary insurance carriers in connection with employee fraud, embezzlement claims and third-party claims.
- Defends engineering companies in litigation arising from professional design and engineering services.
- Represents owners, contractors and subcontractors in contract negotiations and contract disputes.
Outside the Office:
Ashley loves hiking through the Appalachian and the Rocky Mountains and does so as often as she can. She also loves to travel, with a few favorite places being Scotland, France and Italy. She is also an avid fan of college and pro football. Saturday cheers are “Go Angry Wave” (Tulane) and “Roll Tide” (Alabama); and on Sundays it’s “Who Dat” for the New Orleans Saints.
- Defended a law firm in a class-action asserting violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
- Defended an internet-based company in a class action brought to contest a contract.
- Defended California wine producers in a class action alleging unsafe levels of arsenic.
- Defended a financial institution in a suit arising from commercial leases of properties in South Louisiana.
- Defended a manufacturer in a product dispute regarding the design and manufacture of equipment.
- Defended a securities brokerage house in a dispute between securities brokerage houses.
- Defended a corporate owner in a dispute with a contractor over breach of a construction contract relating to inadequate, defective and substandard performance.
- Defended a government entity in a constitutional taking of property action.
- Defended an electrical company in an anti-trust jury case alleging bid rigging of electrical contracts in a South Louisiana power plant.
- Served as a hearing examiner of property assessment tax appeals for the City of New Orleans and as a hearing officer of blighted properties for the City of New Orleans.
Professional Affiliations
- American Bar Association
- House of Delegates, 2015-2023
- Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Fidelity & Surety Law General Committee, Vice-Chair
- ABA/YLD, Fellow, 1995 – present
- American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow, 2007 – present
- American Counsel Association, President, 2022-2023
- American Inns of Court, Tulane Chapter, Barrister, 1987 – present
- Federal Bar Association
- National President, 2010-2011
- Federal Bar Building Corporation
- Director, 2012-2018
- Foundation of the Federal Bar Association
- President, 2023-2024
- Life Fellow, 2002 – present
- Judge Jerry A. Brown Louisiana Bankruptcy American Inn of Court
- Louisiana State Bar Association
- House of Delegates, 1997-present
- Vice-Chair, Bankruptcy Law Section, 2007-2018
- Young Lawyers Executive Council, Chair, 1994-1995
- Louisiana Bar Foundation
- Fellow, 1989-present
- The Louisiana United States District Court Newsletter, Editor, 1987-1999
- The International Society of Primerus Law Firms, 2009 – 2015 – Executive Committee of Construction Practice Group 2012
- 2015; PBLI Executive Committee, 2015
- 2005 Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference – Host Committee Member
- Judicial Law Clerk and Extern, THE HONORABLE HENRY A. MENTZ, JR. (Deceased), 1983-1986
Community Affiliations
- Mirabeau Family Learning Center, Inc., Director
- Junior League of New Orleans
- Tulane University Reunion Committee
- Munholland United Methodist Church
- 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America
- Benchmark Litigation 2025: United States (National); Louisiana Litigation Star
- Best Lawyers in America in Bankruptcy– Real Estate Litigation; Bankruptcy & Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2019-2025)
- Inside New Orleans Reader’s Favorite “Elite Lawyers” – Corporate Law & Construction Law (2022-2024)
- Louisiana Super Lawyers, Business Litigation (2007-2013; 2015-2024)
- Top 50 Louisiana Super Lawyers (2023)
- Top 25 Women Louisiana Super Lawyers (2018-2023)
- New Orleans Magazine’s “Top Lawyers” in Trusts and Estates (2019, 2023)
- New Orleans Magazine’s “Top Lawyers” in Alternate Dispute Resolution (2022)
- New Orleans Magazine’s “Top Lawyers” in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2017)
- New Orleans Magazine’s “Top Lawyers” (2013-2015)
- John R. “Jack” Martzell Professionalism Award of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2018)
- Chambers and Partners USA – Recognized Practitioner in Commercial Litigation (2017)
- CityBusiness ‘Leadership in Law’ Class (2016, 2020 and 2024)
- New Orleans CityBusiness ‘Women of the Year’ Class (2021 and 2012)
- Top Rated Lawyers® Guide to Alternative Dispute Resolution (2012)
- Selected for Fellowship in Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society (2012)
- Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers Inaugural Edition, (2011 and subsequent editions)
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Distinguished Service Award (1983-1986)
- “Effecting Recovery and Subrogation in Specialized Situations” – Fidelity Law Journal, September 2024, Philadelphia
- “Who Bears the Loss — Which Parties Should Be Held Responsible for Losses Ensuing from Emerging Cyber Threats?” – Fidelity Law Journal, October 2023, Boston
- “Aggressive Advocacy or Unethical Bullying – Where Is the Dividing Line and What Can Neutrals, Advocates and Clients Do When It Is Crossed?” – ABA TIPS Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Mid-Winter Program, August 2022, Nashville
- “Securities Claims: Coverage under Insuring Agreement E” – ABA TIPS Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Fall Conference, November 2021, New York
- Co-Editor, Arbitration and the Surety; American Bar Association, May 2020
- Louisiana Chapter, Editor, Business Torts: A Fifty State Guide, Wolters Kluwer Publishers, (annual)
- Louisiana Chapter, Co-Author, State-by-State Guide to Architect, Engineer, and Contractor Licensing; Second Edition, Aspen Publishers, (annual)
- Louisiana Chapter, Co-Author, Fifty State Construction Lien and Bond Law, Third Edition; Wolters Kluwer, (annual)
- “Use of Experts: Selection and Deployment of Experts” – ABA TIPS Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Mid-Winter Program, January 2019, San Diego
- “Effective Use of Arbitration” – ABA TIPS Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Mid-Winter Program, January 2018, Washington, D.C.
- “Pre-suit Mediation” – ABA TIPS Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Mid-Winter Program, January 2017, New Orleans
- “Effecting Recovery and Subrogation in Specialized Situations” – Fidelity Law Journal, 2012
- An Editor, Handbook on Louisiana Alternative Dispute Resolution Laws (Esquire Books, Inc., 2011).
