Legacy of Leadership: Remembering Former Managing Partner Harry Redmon

With great sadness, Phelps announces the passing of Harry S. Redmon Jr. on April 23. An accomplished trial lawyer and pioneer in firm governance and inclusion, Harry was widely respected for his collegial leadership and focus on forward-thinking.

Harry played a powerful role in shaping Phelps into the firm it is today. He joined the firm’s admiralty group as an associate in 1962 and was named partner in 1966. In 1972, he left the admiralty section to establish the firm’s non-marine litigation practice. Over the next 25 years, Harry was instrumental in forming and building various practice areas at Phelps, including aviation, commercial litigation, casualty litigation, and domestic and London-based insurance coverage and litigation. He was a first-class litigator, respected in the courtroom and by his peers. The American College of Trial Lawyers named him a fellow in 1978, an honor reserved for the top 1% of the bar.

While maintaining an active litigation practice, Harry’s primary interest was law firm governance and administration. First named to the Phelps Management Committee in 1968, the firm made him one of three permanent members when he founded the non-marine litigation practice. In 1982, the firm asked Harry to evaluate and reconstruct its management structure. He created an elected seven-member Policy and Planning Committee that’s still in place today. He served as a member and was chosen to lead the committee as managing partner in 1984, a position he held until 1994.

Judge Reuben V. Anderson, a 30-year Phelps veteran and Of Counsel in the firm’s Jackson, Mississippi, office, described Harry as a “man of integrity” and “the kind of leader everybody lined up behind.”

During his ten-year term as managing partner, the firm embarked on an aggressive practice and geographic expansion, opening offices in Jackson and Tupelo, Mississippi, Houston, Texas, and London.

New Orleans Senior Partner Nan Alessandra, who joined the firm while Harry was managing partner, praised him as “a five-star general with a masterful battle plan who convinced me he was going to succeed.” She described his mission to diversify one of the oldest law firms in the South as “ahead of its time.”

In 1994, Mr. Redmon retired from the Policy and Planning Committee. He retired from the partnership in 1998 and was named Of Counsel to the firm.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Harry earned his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University in 1957 and his LLB from LSU Law School in 1959. In 1996, the LSU Board of Supervisors established the Harry S. Redmon Jr. Professorship to recognize his contributions to the legal community and to Louisiana. After law school, Harry entered the U.S. Air Force as a Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, serving as a prosecutor until his discharge as a Captain in 1962.

Phelps continues to thrive because of Harry’s vision for the firm and his commitment to inspiring others to embrace it. Our condolences go out to his family and loved ones. Read Harry’s obituary here.