BOARD MEMBERS

Chairman Lobrano

Chairman Francis J. "Jay" Lobrano has served as Chairman since March 2022, he was first appointed to the Board in April 2016. He was reappointed by Governor Landry in January 2024. His current term expires January 1, 2028.

Since 2001, Chairman Lobrano has been certified as a Board Certified Specialist in Tax Law by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. He received his L.L.M in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1993, where he was one of six recipients of the New York University Tax Law Review scholarship and served as a graduate editor of the New York University Tax Review in the Fall 1992/Spring of 1993.

Chairman Lobrano is a 1991 graduate of the Tulane School of Law, having received his J.D. magna cum laude, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served as an associate editor of the Tulane Law Review.  During his time at Tulane Law School, he obtained the award for the highest performance in Constitutional Law and Civil Law Property. He is also a graduate of Tulane's A.B. Freeman School of Business, receiving a B.S.M with a concentration in accounting in 1988, where he was a member of the Beta Alpa Psi accounting honor society. 

After graduating law school, Chairman Lobrano served as a Law Clerk to Justice Walter Marcus of the Louisiana Supreme Court for the 1991-1992 year before entering the private practice.  He and his wife, the Honorable Joy Lobrano, Judge on the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit, maintained the firm of Lobrano & Lobrano for over 20 years until Judge Lobrano’s election to the bench in 2008, at which point he continued his practice through the firm of the Law Office of Francis J. Lobrano.  In 2016, Chairman Lobrano joined the firm of Carver Darden in New Orleans as a partner and heads the firm’s tax section, and currently practices in the Carver Darden Belle Chasse and New Orleans offices.  

Jay and his wife Judge Joy Lobrano have a son and a daughter and reside in Belle Chasse.


Vice-Chairman Cole

Judge Cade R. Cole was appointed by the Governor to be a member of the Board of Tax Appeals in January 2013. His current term expires January 1, 2026. He coordinated the effort to bring historic reforms to the Board, including the expansion of its jurisdiction to local sales tax cases. In June 2014, Cade was unanimously selected as the first Local Tax Judge by the Local Tax Division nominating committee.

Vice-Chairman Cole is a Board Certified Specialist in Tax Law by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. He has served as  Chair of the Board of Legal Specialization's Tax Law Certification Advisory Commission.

Cade serves on the executive committee of the National Conference of State Tax Judges, and has been Judicial Liason to the the American Bar Association State and Local Tax Committee.  He also serves as a member of the vetting committee for Federal Judicial Nominations in Louisiana.

He also serves as a member of the House of Delegates of the Louisiana State Bar Association. He is an active member and Vice Chair of the Tax Section of the Louisiana State Bar Association.  In 2013, Judge Cole received the Southwest Louisiana Bar Association's Outstanding Service Award for work increasing indigent defense funding. 

He has served as Magistrate Judge of the DeQuincy City Court, Vinton Town Attorney, Sulphur City Attorney Assistant District Attorney in the 14th JDC and 38th JDC, and Special Counsel to the Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives.  He is also a former member of the Louisiana Serve Commission, having been appointed by Governor Mike Foster.

He is a graduate of the Tulane School of Law, where he obtained the award for highest performance in Obligations II, Income Tax, and Energy Regulation.

After law school, Judge Cole served as a Law Clerk to Justice Jeannette Knoll of the Louisiana Supreme Court before entering private practice in Lake Charles. He also served Judge Patricia H. Minaldi of the United States District Court for Western Lousiaiana. He is admitted to the bar in Louisiana and Florida, and has practiced in state and federal courts in Louisiana, federal courts in Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Tax Court.

He and his wife, Rebekah, have two sons and two daughters, and reside in Lake Charles. Mrs. Cole is a Chemical Engineer in Lake Charles, is active in community causes and is a member of the Louisiana Judicial Compensation Commission.


Board Member Woodruff-White

Judge Lisa Woodruff-White (retired), was appointed to the Board of Tax Appeals on March 2, 2022. Her current term expires January 1, 2026. Judge Woodruff-White was previously elected to the East Baton Rouge Parish Family Court in 2008, where she served as a District Court Judge in Division B of the Court until she retired in January 2022. Judge Woodruff-White also previously served as chief judge of the Family Court.

Judge Woodruff-White (ret.) is a Senior Officer of the Louisiana State Law Institute and serves on the faculty of the National Judicial College.

In furtherance of her passion for ensuing access to the courts to all citizens, she serves on the Louisiana Access to Justice Commission and is the chairperson of the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Access to Justice Committee.

Judge Woodruff-White (ret.) is a past-president of the Louisiana District Judges Association, for which she was also prior chairperson of the Strategic Planning, Self-Represented Litigant, and Professional Liability Insurance committees. She previously served on the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Self-Represented Litigant’s Committee and the Pro Bono Committee of the Baton Rouge Bar Association. Judge Woodruff-White (ret.) is a prior recipient of the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Presidents Award for her exemplary work toward equal access to justice for self-represented litigants.

Prior to being elected as a District Court Judge, Lisa Woodruff-White was appointed by Governor Kathleen Blanco to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Social Services in 2004, where she led legislation and supervised the bureaus of General Counsel, Appeals, and Civil Rights until 2008. She also served as statewide Director of the Louisiana Child Support Program from 2001-2004.

During her service in Louisiana government, Lisa Woodruff-White served as chairperson of the Child Support Committee of the Louisiana State Law Institute from 2004 to 2010; and chair of the Louisiana Child Support Guidelines Review Committee in 1999 and 2004.

She is also a former commissioner on the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (LHFA) Board of Directors, former vice president of the National Child Support Enforcement Association, former executive board member of the National Council of Child Support, and former president of the Southwest Regional Child Support Association. 

 

Past Board Members

 

WHO WE ARE

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The Board is an independent entity that comprises three attorney members who are tax law experts appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. It serves as Louisiana's Tax Court and has concurrent jurisdiction with district courts.

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OUR GOAL

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It is our top priority to provide taxpayers with an equitable, expeditious, and cost effective forum for the review of their appeals.

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WHAT WE DO

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The Board hears and decides appeals concerning State and Local taxes.

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