IN THE NEWS
Because Louisiana residents were under a mandatory evacuation order, they may be able to recover their evacuation expenses under their homeowner’s policy.
John Houghtaling was widely quoted in the media regarding the Louisiana Supreme Court’s ruling that a common homeowners flood exclusion does in fact exclude damage caused by a levee break.

Community Service

Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams contributes to our community in many different ways. Our attorneys participate in a wide array of civic and charitable programs.

The Good Shepard School - Following Hurricane Katrina, John Houghtaling personally endowed an $80,000 scholarship at The Good Shepard School, an all-donor-supported school that provides education to at-risk, inner-city children. The scholarship will fund the education of a child for eight years - the entire elementary education of one student.

PLAN!T NOW - The firm donated $50,000 to Plan!t Now, a non-profit organization founded by actor Morgan Freeman which provides assistance to communities at risk from the effects of storm and hurricane-related disasters. The group provides the information needed to protect families, homes, businesses, resources, and documents from the effects of any disaster as well as direct relief through grants and scholarships to hurricane-affected persons.

Loyola Law School - John Houghtaling and James Williams donated $50,000 to Loyola Law School for a new Career Services Office, which provides job placement for Loyola law students and graduates of the law school. The law school renamed the office the Gauthier, Houghtaling & Williams career services office, and it is located in the Ann and Wendell Gauthier Family Wing at the school.

The Gauthier Family Foundation donated $2.5 million to Loyola Law School for completion of its new Wendell H. and Anne B. Gauthier Family Wing. The four-story, 16,000-square-foot addition, located at the corner of Pine and Dominican Streets, is seamlessly connected to the main law building and will ensure that current and future law students will continue receiving the best legal education possible.

Louis A. Martinet Foundation - $35,000 donation to this non-profit organization dedicated to promoting social justice for our community and the legal profession.

$15,000 to the New Orleans Pro Bono Project, delivering no-cost legal services to needy citizens of our area. Its mission is to provide free, quality civil legal services to the poor by engaging volunteer attorneys to serve clients in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Washington parishes.

John Houghtaling is co-founder of the Annual French Quarter Classic, a national meeting of exotic car collectors which gather in New Orleans. In November, 2007, car collectors from around the U.S. traveled to New Orleans for their meeting which provided a needed economic boost for French Quarter businesses. The group delivered toys to patients at Children’s Hospital and raised $15,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams sponsored a toy giveaway for Destiny’s Children, a non-profit organization that helped over 100 inner-city kids.

New Orleans Archbishop Alfred Hughes called upon John Houghtaling to serve as fundraising chair for the Archbishop’s Community Appeal for 2007 which benefits Catholic Charities and other non-profit organizations.

The firm donates regularly to a long list of non-profits in town including the Louisiana Bar’s Pro Bono Project, Louisiana Trooper Association, Susan B. Komen Foundation, Louisiana SPCA, Louisiana Judicial Counsel, New Orleans Martinet Society, and Crimestoppers.