Heim, Patricia M.

Alanah Odoms Hebert comes to Gauthier, Houghtaling and Williams with a stellar academic record and experience that includes a 100% conviction rate in all felony cases while serving as Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office. She has also worked closely with the Ford Foundation to promote the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Her fields of interest include the promotion of diversity and exploring the barriers lower income neighborhoods face.

Ms. Hebert earned a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers College, The State University of New Jersey, in 2002, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Her undergraduate honors include membership in Phi Beta Kappa and the New Jersey Governor's Leadership Award. She was one of two female students selected university-wide to receive a prestigious investment banking fellowship with Citigroup in New York.

In 2008, Ms. Hebert received a Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law-Newark in New Jersey, where she assisted in editing "After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina." She spent fall 2007 as a visiting scholar at Tulane University Law School.

She served as a clerk for the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, Newark, for The Hon. Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. and law clerk for the Hon. Lynda Van Davis in Criminal District Court, Parish of New Orleans.

During her tenure as a Senior Assistant District Attorney for Orleans Parish, Ms. Hebert successfully prosecuted fifteen jury trials on violations of state criminal statutes, involving drug possession, burglary, battery, aggravated rape/aggravated incest, and homicide.

Ms. Hebert has conducted educational seminars for high school students and was tapped to provide introductory remarks for the District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Leon Cannizzaro Jr., during his state of the city address in January 2010. She is proficient in Spanish and is currently teaching a course at ITT Technical College on politics in state and local governments.