Livingston, LA

James P. Manasseh

James P. Manasseh, a 1988 graduate of the LSU Law Center, is the Managing Partner of Manasseh, Gill, Knipe & Bélanger, P.L.C. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Louisiana Supreme Court, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and various U.S. District Courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Manasseh has built one of the largest criminal defense practices in Louisiana and has achieved numerous acquittals and high-dollar personal injury settlements. He successfully argued a case at the United States Supreme Court in 1991 (Foucha vs. Louisiana) and was counsel of record in another U.S. Supreme Court case in 2022 (Edwards. V. Vanoy). He is an AV-rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell and recognized as a top 100 trial lawyer.

William Robert Gill

William Robert (“Robby”) Gill is an AV rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell and a 1990 graduate of the Southern University Law Center. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Louisiana Supreme Court, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Eastern and Middle District Circuit Courts of Louisiana, and the United States Army Court of Military Review. Gill served as a lawyer in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) and was a prosecutor and trial defense counsel. He then practiced with Reagan, Manasseh & Boshea before opening his own firm with James P. Manasseh, focusing on criminal defense and personal injury law.

André Bélanger

André Bélanger, a graduate of Loyola University, is a highly-respected criminal defense attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. With 23 years of practice, he has handled thousands of criminal cases, including approximately 200 trials, covering homicide defense, large drug conspiracies, and fraud cases. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Fifth Circuit and Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and handled federal prosecutions in Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Mr. Bélanger is a multi-year recipient of the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Lawyer’s Award and Louisiana’s Super Lawyers.

John Jewell Pace is the founder and principal attorney at the law office of John Jewell Pace, APLC, a Baton Rouge law firm serving individuals throughout southern Louisiana in the areas of personal injury and criminal defense. He has over 30 years of experience and has achieved numerous successes for his clients, including a $750 million class action settlement. He is a graduate of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College class of 2010 and was selected among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Louisiana by the National Trial Lawyers.

Yigal Bander

Yigal Bander, born in New York City and raised in Michigan, has a lifelong commitment to social justice. He studied at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a B.A. in humanities magna cum laude. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces and working for the Israel Ministry of Finance, he moved to Baton Rouge in 1985. He earned his MSW from Louisiana State University in 1989 and became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Yigal pursued his dream of becoming a lawyer, graduating from Louisiana State University Law School in 1997 in the top quarter of his class. He is admitted to practice in Louisiana, New York, and the District of Columbia, and before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Western, and Middle Districts of Louisiana. He is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell and 5.0 by AVVO.

James G. Knipe III

Jim Knipe is a 2001 graduate of LSU and a 2004 graduate of the Southern University Law School. He practices both personal injury and criminal defense. With over 18 years of experience in criminal defense trials, Mr. Knipe brings a unique skill set to civil injury cases. He has secured significant jury verdicts and settlements in personal injury cases and achieved 'not guilty' verdicts and resentencing in criminal cases.

Meredith H Wallace

Meredith Hamblen Wallace joined the firm after serving as a judicial law clerk at the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge. She previously represented clients in immigration matters and defended criminal cases in state and federal court. Meredith is admitted to practice in all Louisiana state courts and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. She earned Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from LSU and has been recognized as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in Civil Litigation and is a member of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.