Scott T. Whittaker

Scott Whittaker concentrates his practice on real estate development and financing, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate and business law. 

With more than 35 years of experience, Scott has counseled companies with operations across the world, including international restaurant chains and global commodity trading companies, in their business needs. In New Orleans, he has been a key player in developing many of the public-private partnerships that have revitalized the Crescent City, including the redevelopment of the former World Trade Center building into the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, and the redevelopment of the historic Saenger Theatre and the Harrah's New Orleans Casino.

Scott is also an integral part of Stone Pigman's CornerStone Program, which provides legal services to selected startups, entrepreneurs, and development stage companies.

• Represented New Orleans Building Corporation in connection with the redevelopment of the former World Trade Center building into the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, including helping to formulate and implement the process through which the developer was selected, negotiating the leases of the building and associated parking garage, and negotiating dozens of documents required by the lenders in connection with the over $460 million in financing that was provided by over a dozen different sources, including multiple U.S. equity investors, U.K. and Saudi lenders, and historic tax credit financing.
• Represented New Orleans Building Corporation in connection with the negotiation and execution of the Second Amended and Restated Lease for the Harrah's New Orleans Casino.  The Amended and Restated Lease provides for enhanced revenue to the City of New Orleans from the casino, including near-term payments totaling $40,500,000, and requires the construction of a $325,000,000 casino hotel and other amenities.  The transaction also involved the negotiation of documents and lease provisions to facilitate a sale-leaseback transaction involving the casino project between the tenant and VICI Properties, L.P., a publicly traded real estate investment trust.
• Represented the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company (CB&I) as Louisiana counsel in its acquisition of a Louisiana-based company in a transaction valued at over $3 billion.  The acquisition, which closed in February 2013, created one of the most complete energy-focused technology, engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, maintenance, and associated services companies in the world with a global workforce of nearly 50,000 employees and a backlog of over $28 billion.

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• Represented a major Louisiana supermarket company in connection with its joint acquisition of a chain of over 100 supermarkets and related facilities located in the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois.
• Represented a major Louisiana health care provider in connection with the split-up of Louisiana's first statewide health maintenance organization, which then had over 100,000 members.
• Represented a major shareholder in connection with the sale of an international restaurant chain, with owned and franchised locations in 28 states and foreign countries.
• Represented a global commodity trading company in connection with its acquisition of the second largest green coffee trading business in the world, with a presence in more than 20 countries.
• Represented a private-equity owned chemical company in a $26.5 million acquisition of a Louisiana-based manufacturer of water treatment chemicals. 

• American Bar Association's Mergers and Acquisitions Committee Past Chair.
• Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Louisiana Chapter Past President.
• ACG Louisiana Business Community Outreach Committee founder and former Chair.  This committee is working with a number of partner organizations, including NOLA Business Alliance, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business, and Go.Be., toward increasing growth and opportunities for minority-owned and other small business in the New Orleans community.
• Scott is a member of the SoLA Super-Region Committee, which is a joint Committee formed by GNO, Inc. (Greater New Orleans, Inc.) and BRAC (Baton Rouge Area Chamber) for the purpose of fostering cooperation for mutual benefit between the Baton Rouge and Greater New Orleans regions.
• GNO, Inc. Board and Finance Committee member.
• Louisiana State Bar Association's Section on Corporate and Business Law member and former Chairman.
• Scott is also a former Chairman of the Louisiana Supreme Court Committee on Bar Admissions, a committee on which he served in various capacities, including over 10 years as Examiner on the subject of Business Entities and Negotiable Instruments.

• Best Lawyers in America 2005 – 2025.
  • "Lawyer of the Year" New Orleans for Corporate Law 2017 and 2024.
  • "Lawyer of the Year" New Orleans for Mergers and Acquisitions Law 2013, 2022, and 2025.
  • "Lawyer of the Year" New Orleans for Venture Capital Law 2014 and 2020.
• Chambers and Partners 2003 – 2024.
• Louisiana Super Lawyers 2007 – 2024.
• New Orleans Magazine "Top Lawyer" 2012 – 2024.
• Louisiana State Bar Association's President's Award 2011 recipient for his work pertaining to the changes to the Louisiana Bar Examination.
• Louisiana State Bar Association's Stephen T. Victory Memorial Award 2014 recipient.
• New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law Hall of Fame inductee (2015).
• Who's Who Legal - The International Who's Who of Merger & Acquisitions Lawyers.

Co-Chair, American Bar Association's Annual National Institute on Negotiating Business Acquisitions.

Panelist, "Private Company Considerations," Tulane Corporate Law Institute, March 2022.

Panelist, "Corporate Successor Liability in M&A Transactions," Business Law Section Spring Meeting, April 2022.

Panelist, "Public-Private Partnerships Driving Equity and Business Growth," Association for Enterprise Opportunity National Conference, May 2014.

Panelist, "Tax and Other Incentives for Entrepreneurship in Louisiana," New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, March 2014.

Moderator, "Who Has the Capital and Where Do I Find It?," Association for Corporate Growth, October 2013.

• Co-Author, Annual Survey of Judicial Developments Pertaining to Mergers and Acquisitions, The Business Lawyer (February 2012).  Scott co-authored this annual survey since its inception in 2001 through 2015.
• Co-Author, "Negotiated Acquisitions; The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Corporate Practice Series", (Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 2014).
• Co-author, "Model Stock Purchase Agreement With Commentary", (American Bar Association 2010).