Lesli S. Bolner

LESLI BOLNER enters her third decade of practice having counseled her clients’ real estate, business, and personal concerns during the ever evolving financial cycle – from the prosperous times of land development, financing expansion, and construction boom, through economic contractions resulting in business reorganization and foreclosures.

Bolner’s work involving real estate transactions and litigation range from sales and leases, to title curative work, to subdivision development and zoning, to resolution of boundary disputes, as well as condominium formation and conversion. This work often requires the formation and restructuring of business entities such as corporations and limited liability companies, which often includes estate and financial planning.

Bolner’s pragmatic approach to identifying and resolving real estate-related problems has also led to her retention by companies, banks, and other creditors seeking to resolve potential problems related to foreclosures, workouts, and title issues. Where litigation is required, she represents such clients in state and federal trial and appellate courts and bankruptcy courts tools when necessary.

When Bolner finds questionable title issues in title examinations for loan or lender collateral reviews, she draws upon the support of two the nation’s most secure title insurance companies—First American Title Insurance Company and Fidelity National Title Insurance Company--to underwrite problematic titles, thus enabling transactions to close quickly and often without protracted curative work or title litigation.

These fine tuned skills in negotiating resolutions have been applied to assist individuals to resolve family issues in successions and will contests, whether involving sale of business interests or division of property.

Baton Rouge was Bolner’s childhood home. After graduating from Louisiana State University in 1985, she attended Loyola Law School in New Orleans. In 1992, she earned her Juris Doctor and since then, has continually practiced full time. Roughly the first half of her career was spent practicing in the New Orleans metropolitan area, serving lenders, professionals, and small business owners. Since joining SEALE & ROSS in 2003, she has brought her pragmatic approach to transactional matters to the firm’s North Shore clients concerning real estate state wide.  Bolner became partner of SEALE & ROSS in 2006.

For several years she served on the Louisiana Land Title Association board, in 2020-2021 as President and for many years as Co-Chair of the Legislative Committee Tangipahoa Land Use Planning Committee, where she has draft legislation intended to protect landowner’s rights and titles. Her contribution was recognized in “2015 Title Person of the Year” awarded by the LLTA.  In that capacity, she participated with the Louisiana Law Institute’s Enclosed Utility Estate Committee and the Uniform Partition of Family Property Committee established by House Resolution. She has been a frequent speaker for continuing education classes. At the request of Senator Bill Cassidy, Bolner served in 2017-18 on an advisory committee to vet prospective Appellate and District Federal Judges in connection with Senate recommendations for Presidential appointment.  She also served on the Tangipahoa Parish Land Use Planning Committee responsible for critiquing the development of a land use code for currently unregulated areas of Tangipahoa Parish and redevelopment of subdivision regulations. She served as served as a board member of the Hammond Downtown Development District and on the City of Hammond’s Charter Review Committee, an advisory committee of the City Council to examine ways in which the City Charter might need revision.

Bolner lives in Hammond with her husband and two children. She volunteers as Chair of the Finance Council of Holy Ghost Catholic Church and the Hammond Tree Foundation. She spends her spare time gardening and boating.