Claude F. Reynaud, Jr.

Claude F. Reynaud, Jr. is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P. He has been a partner since 1981. Mr. Reynaud was a member of the firm's Management Committee, from 1990 through 2023.

As a member of the firm, Mr. Reynaud serves as Chief General Counsel to the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association since 1998 and General Counsel for Baton Rouge New Car Dealers Association. Mr. Reynaud represents several General Motor’s Local Marketing Associations (LMA’s). Claude represents dealers in disputes with manufacturers, consumers and class actions and has also represented multiple dealers in the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies.

His principal areas of practice include litigation involving: antitrust; intellectual property; unfair competition; fiduciary duties of corporate officers, directors, and trustees; securities; contracts; automobile franchise law; lender liability; and health care. Mr. Reynaud has experience particularly in complex commercial litigation with its attendant discovery issues and motion practice. Mr. Reynaud also assists clients in the areas of antitrust, corporate governance, and prosecutes trademark and copyright applications.

Protecting businesses from unfair competition

• Antitrust

• Unfair trade practices

• Trade secrets, trademarks and copyright

• Business defamation

Shareholder and member disputes in closely-held companies

• Fiduciary duty litigation

• Disputes involving shareholder or operating agreements

• Corporate control disputes

• Derivative suits

• Corporate governance issues.

Commercial Litigation

• Business torts

• Breaches of contract

• Breaches of fiduciary duty

• Securities litigation

• Lender liability

• Representing healthcare providers in managed care suits

• Opioid litigation

Enforcing manufacturers’ compliance with state franchise law

• Disputes between manufacturers and dealers

• Disputes between co-owners of dealerships

• Trade association issues (antitrust)

• Representing large groups of dealers in common issues with manufacturers

Practice Areas

• Automotive
• Healthcare
• Commercial Litigation
• Intellectual Property
• Securities Litigation
• Alternative Dispute Resolution

Education

Tulane University School of Law, J.D., 1977

Louisiana State University, B.S., Corporate Finance, 1974

Admissions

Louisiana, 1977

Louisiana Supreme Court, 1977

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, 1977

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, 1978

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, 1981

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, 1981

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal, 1994

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal, 1981

U.S. Supreme Court, 1989

Various Federal district courts on an ad hoc basis in New York, West Virginia, Texas, Ohio and Mississippi.

Professional Associations

Louisiana Bar Association, Business and Antitrust Section, Intellectual Property Section

American Bar Association, Business and Antitrust Section, Intellectual Property Section

Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel

Member, National Association of Dealer Counsel

Past FINRA Arbitrator, and has served as Chairperson of numerous arbitration panels

General Counsel, Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association

General Counsel, Baton Rouge New Car Dealers Association

General Counsel, Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce

Trial Law Institute, Member

Order of Centurions, Barrister

Order of Certus, Advocate

Community Involvement

Past member of the Executive Committee and Board of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce

Current Member of the Board of Visit Baton Rouge and Chairman of the Board of Visit Baton Rouge, 2010, 2011, 2022 and 2023

Former Board Member, Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF), 1995-2001; Present member, BRAF Civic Initiatives Committee

Past Co-Chair, Plan Baton Rouge Steering Committee to revitalize downtown Baton Rouge

Past President, Board of Volunteer Baton Rouge

Graduate of 1989 Leadership Baton Rouge Graduate of 2002 CABL Louisiana Leadership

Past Chairman, Board of Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana

Honors and Awards

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America^® in the areas of Commercial Litigation; Litigation; Antitrust Litigation; and Intellectual Property (Since 2001)

Ranked by Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers for Louisiana in the area of Litigation: General Commercial (Since 2007)

Selected Lawyer of the Year, in Litigation - Intellectual Property in Baton Rouge by The Best Lawyers in America^® (2017)

AV^® Preeminent^TM Peer Review Rated.

Louisiana Super Lawyers (2010 & 2012)

American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow

Litigation Counsel of America, Senior Fellow

Publications

Representative Matters

Mr. Reynaud has experience in representing pharmaceutical distributors in opioid litigation brought by municipalities and counties and antitrust litigation brought by the AG in Louisiana.

Mr. Reynaud represented the City of Alexandria (City) in litigation against Cleco for alleged overcharges to the City’s Utility resulting in a 50.7 million dollar settlement for the City.

Mr. Reynaud represented the City in negotiations with MISO that involved the City becoming a member of MISO.

Mr. Reynaud represented the Louisiana Public Service Commission in its consideration of the application by Entergy, Inc. to merge with Florida Power and Light Company (Docket No. U-25354).

Mr. Reynaud has represented financial institutions in lender liability cases where the total exposure has exceeded $100 million.

Mr. Reynaud has represented defendants in antitrust cases where the total exposure has exceeded over $1 billion.

Mr. Reynaud has represented clients in adversary proceedings in bankruptcy courts where the total amount of the estate is over $1.65 billion.

Mr. Reynaud has appeared as lead counsel in litigation in all district courts in the State of Louisiana, Federal District Courts in Jackson, Mississippi; Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Charleston, West Virginia; and the Southern District of New York.