Lantz Savage , Esq.

Biography

As a lifelong resident of South Louisiana, Lantz understands the onslaught and catastrophic damage that hurricanes cause — not only the direct damage inflicted by the wrath of the storm but also the indirect emotional and psychological torment attributed to the challenges of returning to normalcy. These challenges are exponentially complicated when insurance companies refuse to pay, or pay only a pittance, for legitimate storm damage claims.

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Lantz worked in the Disaster Recovery Center in Central City New Orleans for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, accepting applications for the Small Business Association’s Disaster Loan Program. In the Disaster Recovery Center, Lantz personally met one-on-one with hundreds of New Orleanians, listened to their horrific recount of their experience during the peak of the hurricane, the difficulties of overcoming oppressive heat and meeting basic needs in storm-ravaged New Orleans, and the desperation after the levees broke and flooded the city. There was nothing more personally fulfilling to Lantz than assisting storm victims in taking that first step on the road to recovery. Helping clients get the money owed to them, wrongfully withheld by their insurance company, gives Lantz unparalleled satisfaction, just as it did when helping storm victims after Hurricane Katrina almost twenty years ago.

For more than twenty years, Lantz dedicated himself to public service. He had the extraordinary honor of representing the citizens of Louisiana in multiple capacities. During his third year of law school, Lantz was admitted to a limited practice with a Rule XX license as a Student Attorney in the Criminal Defense Clinic at Loyola. Prior to graduating, he tried three criminal cases to verdict in front of a jury. The most significant of these jury trials included reversing a wrongful conviction of an innocent man, wrongfully imprisoned for more than three years for armed robbery due to a mistaken identification. After graduating and being admitted to the bar, Lantz started his career handling cases through the Private Bar Involvement Program administered by New Orleans Legal Assistance and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services. He ensured that low-income clients’ fundamental constitutional rights were protected in family law cases. For seven years, Lantz served as a felony public defender in St. John Parish.

For more than a decade, Lantz served the public as Assistant Special Counsel to the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana. During his tenure with the Commission, he investigated and prosecuted Louisiana judges accused of unethical and criminal conduct before the Louisiana Supreme Court. As a Felony Prosecutor in Orleans Parish, Lantz prosecuted the most serious offenders on behalf of the citizens of the State of Louisiana. Most significantly, he secured a double-life-plus-40-year sentence in a double murder and obstruction of justice case in New Orleans East; one of the victims had just graduated from high school.