Most & Associates

03/06/2026

Attorney William Most was extremely honored to represent Dr. Joy Banner in her First Amendment case at the Fifth Circuit!

Audio here: https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/OralArgRecordings/25/25-30381_03-04-2026.MP3

12/07/2025

Join us for a Know Your Rights training this Friday, Dec. 11, 2025.

10/06/2025

“This is a major victory for accountability — and we hope it is the beginning of the end of the state’s pattern of illegally imprisoning thousands of Louisianans at taxpayer expense,” William Most, one of the attorneys on the case, said in a statement.

The lawsuits allege Louisiana has routinely held inmates past their release dates for years.

09/23/2025

Victory at trial in a long-fought free speech case!

“In a moment in which the First Amendment is under siege, a victory like this shows every government official in Louisiana that they can be held personally accountable for violating any American’s freedom of speech,” Attorney William Most, who represented the plaintiffs, wrote in a statement.

A federal judge ruled Monday that Baton Rouge officials violated the first amendment after throwing people out of an East Baton Rouge Metro Council meeting in 2017. At the time, those removed were raising questions during public comment periods about the death of Alton Sterling.

08/09/2025

We are very proud to say that attorney William Most has won the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association's 2025 Public Service Award. Read more here: https://www.fbaneworleans.org/chapter-awards-25

08/02/2025

Thank you to Pro Publica for reporting on our fight to make Louisiana comply with the law and release inmates when their sentences are complete:

“I have seen no evidence suggesting the problem in Louisiana is fixed,” Most said. “And it seems unwise to dismiss any cases while that’s the situation.”

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division had brought lawsuits accusing Louisiana of confining prisoners longer than they should and South Carolina of keeping mentally ill people in unreasonably restrictive group homes. Both cases are now on hold.

07/20/2025

Extremely proud to receive the NOLA Federal Bar Association's Public Service Award! Our work is truly a team effort, and it is gratifying to have our work recognized!

06/18/2025

VICTORY ON APPEAL: Most & Associates attorneys Caroline Gabriel and William Most represented a New Orleans lawyer who was wrongfully convicted of contempt of court for First-Amendment-protected speech.

Given the range of serious procedural and substantive problems with the conviction, Most & Associates filed a writ to the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. Today, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit reversed the conviction and entirely vacated the finding of contempt, remanding the matter to the trial court.

We are proud to fight for our clients’ First Amendment freedoms.

06/13/2025

VICTORY AT TRIAL: This week Most & Associates attorneys William Most and Hope Phelps, working alongside attorneys from Jones Walker, won a federal jury trial involving the killing of a pet dog by a New Orleans Police Department officer.

The jury found that NOPD Officer Derrick Burmaster acted in an “objectively unreasonable manner” when he shot and killed a sixteen-week-old, eighteen inch tall puppy named Apollo during a 2021 call for service.

During the trial, the jury learned that Officer Burmaster had more than thirty uses of force and twenty rule violations in his time with NOPD, but was allowed to remain on the streets.

As a result, the jury determined that the City of New Orleans itself was liable for the constitutional violation because of the way it inadequately trained, supervised, or disciplined Officer Burmaster.

“We are so glad to have justice for Apollo,” said Attorney Most. “We hope that this trial will achieve lasting change in the way the New Orleans Police Department trains its officers to handle animals they meet in the field.”

Read more about the lawsuit here:

A New Orleans police officer who shot and killed a puppy is being sued by the dog’s owners in federal court. The jury trial began Monday.

05/23/2025

Read Attorney William Most's comment in today's New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/us/federal-oversight-police-departments-effects.html

02/18/2025

“Democracy only works if state officials are transparent with voters about what they are being asked to vote on. This proposed amendment flunks the basic honesty test,” said William Most, lead attorney on the case.

A group of Louisiana voters filed suit seeking to halt a vote on a state constitutional amendment to drastically change state tax law.