Hudson, Potts & Bernstein is one of Louisiana’s oldest law firms. The firm is the outgrowth of a partnership formed between F.G. Hudson and W. N. Potts in 1875 to practice law in Monroe, Louisiana and the surrounding area. Henry Bernstein joined the firm in 1897, and there was a Hudson, Potts or a Bernstein in the firm until Henry Bernstein, Jr. retired in 1978. Always known for high quality legal work and outstanding lawyers, the firm, for many years, maintained one of the finest law libraries in Louisiana and made it available to the local bar without charge.

The original partners were, perhaps, best known for their representation of railroad and banking interests. F.G. Hudson represented Jay Gould in the acquisition of the railroad right of way through Louisiana, which, today, is utilized by the Union Pacific Railroad. Members of the firm were instrumental, as well, in organizing financial institutions and reorganizing them again during the great depression. In 1959, the firm suffered what appeared to be an irreplaceable loss when F. G. Hudson, Jr., a brilliant trial lawyer and legal scholar, died. His brother, Murray Hudson, was determined to expand the firm’s prosperity and began recruiting outstanding law school graduates and young practitioners, who were committed to maintaining the firm’s excellence. From this, the modern HP&B was built.

Today, HP&B regularly engages in the practice of a wide range of civil law matters, representing individual, business and corporate clients in a variety of civil matters in both state and federal courts. The scope of the firm’s practice includes the traditional areas of law such as real estate, business transactions, wills, estate planning, personal injury cases, employer liability and worker’s compensation, as well as areas such as insurance defense, transportation, taxation, products liability, medical malpractice and media law. Over the past 125 years and more, Hudson, Potts & Bernstein has grown to become the largest law firm in northeast Louisiana, using the latest technology to meet the ever-changing needs of clients and the demands of the legal environment of the twenty-first century.