27 www.lawyer-monthly.com Civic Leadership Leger has actively served the people of his community and Louisiana. He was appointed by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans and the Board of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad. He is a past Chairman of the Board of the New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce, Co-Chairman of the MetroVision Regional Economic Development Partnership and the St Bernard Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Louisiana Committee of 100 for Economic Development, the Southeast Louisiana Business Council Coalition, the New Orleans/Baton Rouge Super Region Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the Greater New Orleans Foundation and the Louisiana Cancer Research Center. He was Chairman of the St Bernard Economic Development Foundation/Commission. He was a Founding Director of GNO Inc. In addition to service as Vice-Chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, Chair of the Louisiana Land Trust and Co-Chair of the St Bernard Citizen’s Recovery Committee, he has served on the Boards of the World Trade Center, the New Orleans Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Foundation, the LSU Health Science Center Foundation, the Delgado Community College Foundation, Nunez Community College Foundation, Tulane Cancer Center, LSU Cancer Center, and the Louisiana Cancer Research Center. After Hurricane Katrina, Leger was appointed by Governor Kathleen Blanco to the Louisiana Recovery Authority where, according to the Governor, he travelled “to our nation’s capital to help fight for resources necessary to help our people rebuild. Walter developed an expertise in answering complicated questions in ways people could appreciate and understand.…” Governor Bobby Jindal re-appointed Leger and he served as Vice-Chairman. He was also appointed by both Governors to serve as Chairman of the Louisiana Land Trust and by Mayor Mitch Landrieu to the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA). Leger became well known as the co-host with Garland Robinette of a WWL radio show on hurricane recovery issues, prompting Robinette’s gratuitous comments quoted above. Leger also testified before the US Senate Sub-Committee on Disaster Recovery, whose participants included Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, Senator Joseph Lieberman, and Senator Barack Obama. Leger appeared on behalf of the homeowners of Louisiana before five Congressional and Senate committees and sub-committees and met numerous times with Senate and House of Representatives staff and committee staffs, and with US Senators, Congressmen, and editorial and news staff of the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press. He has also made appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, PBS, LPB and numerous local and national television and radio stations. Today he is often consulted by members of the media for his expertise on maritime and complex litigation issues. Leger is a former President and part-owner of the New Orleans Zephyrs Triple A Professional Baseball Team and the New Orleans Storm Professional Soccer team. Awards and Recognitions Leger was a finalist for the “National Lawyer of the Year” Award, has been named to Louisiana “SuperLawyers”, Citybusiness Newspaper’s “Leaders in Law Hall of Fame” and Best Lawyers in America (Admiralty and Maritime Law). He received the “President’s Awards” for leadership and public service from the New Orleans Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the Louisiana Association of Justice. The Louisiana State Bar Association has given him its “Citizen Lawyer Award”. BIZ Magazine recently named him as one of 35 lawyers in the list of “New Orleans 500”. He has been named "Volunteer of the Year" by both the Southern Economic Development Council and the Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society named him “Man of the Year”. A two-time cancer survivor, he was named one of the “Survivors of the Year” by the Cancer Crusaders. He and his younger son, now Captain Rhett Leger (today a Mississippi River Bar Pilot), received commendations from the US Coast Guard for “Rescue and Life Saving” for venturing out into rough seas to rescue three people whose boat had sunk. LAWYER MONTHLY LEGAL AWARDS 2021 USA
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