About T. Jay Seale, III
T. JAY SEALE, III was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1947, and has made his life in Hammond for most of his adult years. Seale obtained his Juris Doctor degree from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law School in 1973 and began his practice in Hammond in October of that year. Seale practiced as a solo practitioner for two years before beginning to build the present firm, now with offices in Hammond, Baton Rouge and Madisonville.
Seale’s career includes both litigation and business experience. As a litigator, Seale has represented casualty insurers like Travelers, State Farm, Insured Lloyds through Marinco, Tycor, Phoenix Aviation Underwriters, and has served as lead or local associate counsel in medical, dental, and architectural E&O Litigation. He has represented many public entities in litigation, including state agencies, university clients, and parish and municipal government clients. He is a member of SuperLawyers® in Commercial Litigation and holds the AV/Preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed by Best Lawyers as a member of Best Attorneys in Louisiana.
As a business lawyer, Seale has served as legal counsel or executive counsel for banks and commercial entities, developers, contractors, medical practices, and political subdivisions. For larger clients this work has included managing legal matters, including litigation in other jurisdictions, and coordinating claims handling procedures with the client’s insurance carriers. He is experienced in mergers and acquisitions and generational transfers within family businesses.
Seale is a member of state and local bar associations and is a Past President of the Florida Parishes Inn of Court (an organization dedicated to civility, professionalism and ethics in the legal profession). He also serves as a member of the Bank Counsel Section of the Louisiana Banker’s Association.
Seale has also served as Chairman of the Louisiana State Mineral Board where he supervised the Board’s major litigation against Fortune 500 defendants, involving hundreds of millions of dollars in dispute. He has served as legal counsel to the Tangipahoa Parish Council, Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No. 1, Water Works District No. 1, and has represented public bodies including the Cities of Hammond, Amite, and Covington, as well as Southeastern Louisiana University, and the State’s Division of Administration and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. He currently serves as general counsel and Management Committee Member for Sheriff Daniel Edwards, Sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish.
In January, 2017, Governor John Bel Edwards appointed Seale to a six year term on the Board of Regents of the State of Louisiana, the policy-making board that sets standards for and oversees the performance of the state’s 33 degree-granting public institutions of higher education.
Economic Development has been an interest of Seale; he is a former Chair of the Northshore Business Council, an invitation-only organization of Presidents and CEOs of Northshore businesses which actively pursues business interests in coordination with regional business councils and Chambers of Commerce. Seale is a Director of GNO, Inc., a regional economic development alliance covering a 10-parish region of the state, and is a member of the Executive Committee and the Public Policy Committee. Seale also serves as legal counsel to the Hammond Area Economic and Industrial Development District (“HAEIDD”), which has economic development responsibilities in Hammond. In that role, Seale has worked in the area of public finance law to facilitate recruitment of businesses to the area.
Seale has long held an interest in banking, serving as a Director of Parish National Bank and its holding company for a dozen years, until its merger with Whitney National Bank in 2008. While a Director of the bank, he served as Vice Chair of the Board of Regents, Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.
Seale is a Member of First Presbyterian Church in Hammond and leads a theological study group within the local church and beyond. He was married to the late Judy Milburn Seale and has a son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons who reside in Austin. Seale’s recreational activities have included flying, scuba diving and photography. As a pilot, Seale holds multi-engine, instrument and seaplane ratings. As a photographer, Seale maintains his own digital darkroom and his works have been displayed in gallery showings in Maine and Louisiana. A collection of his photography hangs in the Hammond office of the firm.