Mrs. Laura Claverie Poche

Practice Details

• Languages
  English
• Firm Information
  Position

  Laura C. Poche Estate Planning Law, LLC

  Firm Name

  Poché Estate Planning Law Firm
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Cases

  Awards
  Recognition:

  · CHS Couhig Family Athletic Complex & Dale Weiner Field—recognized for her contributions of time, talent
  treasure to the completion of this project—January 2023
  

  · Catholic High School, Baton Rouge, LA—recognized as a Perpetual Founder of CHS—December 2022
  

  · Diocese of Baton Rouge’s Women’s Giving Circle—recognized as a founding member
  steering committee chairwoman—2022 to present
  

  · Moreau Society of the Congregation of Holy Cross—recognized as a new member of this society which supports the Congregation of Holy Cross, the Moreau Seminary
  the Old College undergraduate seminary in Notre Dame, IN—September 2022
  

  · Paul Harris Fellows—recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International—2021
  

  · Delta Gamma Fraternity—2018 recipient of the Oxford Award of the Delta Gamma Fraternity—nationally recognized for her community leadership
  activities to improve the quality of life around her which brings honor to Delta Gamma
  

  · City Year Baton Rouge—Chairwoman of the Board of Directors (2012 to 2022)
  recognized internationally as a Top Site for 5 consecutive years under her leadership as Advisory Board Chairwoman
  

  · Catholic High School--Lip Sync Battle With The Bears Champion Team--March 2017
  funds benefited the Catholic High School Endowment
  

  · Emerge Center formerly known as the Baton Rouge Speech
  Hearing Foundation—2013 Volunteer Activist Award
  

  · Mother Seton Award---2013 presented by the Diocese of Baton Rouge for her work with Catholic High School, Catholic High School Mothers’ Club
  St. Aloysius Catholic Church
  

  · Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University fka Our Lady of the Lake College--Mistress of Ceremonies at the Annual Fete des Fideles Luncheon-- 2014-2017
  

  · Catholic High School Mothers’ Club—President’s Award 2012-2013
  

  · InRegister Magazine, recognized Laura as “A Woman With A Cause” for her work with HOPE Ministries of Baton Rouge - December 2012
  

  · Junior League of Baton Rouge, Inc. --President’s Award 2009-2010
  
  

  · Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce Leadership Baton Rouge Class of 2009.

  Transactions

  Career Description and Accomplishments:

  Laura is a Board Certified Estate Planning and Administration Specialist with the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization; an Accredited Title Insurance Agent for the State of Louisiana and a title attorney; a Licensed Securities Representative/FINRA Series 7 and FINRA Series 63 (2010-2014) financial advisor; and is a long standing member of the following professional organizations: Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board, Phi Kappa Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Alpha Lambda Delta, Baton Rouge Association of Women Attorneys, Baton Rouge Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association (Trusts, Estates, Probate and Immovable Property Section—Secretary 1997 to 1998), Federal and American Bar Associations (Member, Trust and Probate Section and Corporate Law Section).

  Her vast experience and industry knowledge have allowed her to provide excellent service to her clients, and because of the high demand for her personalized approach, in May 2017 Laura opened her own law practice – Poche’ Estate Planning & Wealth Preservation Law Firm. Her lawfirm specializes in the areas of estate planning, successions and probate, wills, trusts, special needs planning, Medicaid long term care planning and retirement planning. She realizes she has a gift – taking the most complicated, intimidating concepts and simplifying them for people in need of clarity.

  Laura was an attorney with Crawford Lewis, LLC formerly known as the Preis & Crawford law firm (1987-2007) where she served on the management committee which involved business development, marketing efforts, human resource management, financial analysis, and conducting presentations throughout the community. Thereafter, Laura worked with Lukinovich Law, LLC (2008-2010) where her work allowed her the opportunity to work with successful family businesses and individuals of great wealth who were quite passionate about taking care of their families, incentivizing behavior with the use of trusts, benefitting their communities and “bringing their legacy to life”!

  Throughout her legal career of 35 years, Laura has worked in numerous areas: Estate Planning projects including wills, trusts, estates, successions, donations, charitable gifting, gifting programs and asset protection devices; Corporate Law; Real Estate Law; Public Finance Law including appearing before the Louisiana State Bond Commission and legislative delegations of various municipalities, and representation of political subdivisions regarding bond validation challenges and Capital Outlay acts of the state of Louisiana; and Corporate Litigation including representation of state regulators, representation of directors and officers of financial institutions as to duties and liabilities, indemnification and insurance.

  Because of her rating and high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement in the legal community, Laura has attained an AV-Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell which is the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards awarded to lawyers in the United States since 1887. She has been recognized several times by her peers as a Louisiana Super Lawyer, and Louisiana Life Magazine has designated Laura as a Top Estate Planning Attorney in Louisiana several times, most recently in its January 2022 edition. These designations include a process which includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

  Her wealth of business knowledge, combined with a broad understanding of her client’s needs position her as a trusted advisor and enable her to work with clients to obtain their goals, achieve financial success, and find peace of mind. Laura has written regularly for law and business publications. Some of her articles include, “Control Beyond the Grave: Why Do You Need a Will?”; “A Woman’s Perspective: Caught In the Middle of the “Generational Sandwich” - Taking Care of Parents, Themselves and Children All At The Same Time”; “Same Sex Couples in Louisiana”; “Farming Operations in Louisiana and Estate Planning”; “Rental Properties and Estate Planning in Louisiana”; “Estate Planning With Multiple Families and Blended Families in Louisiana”; and “Internal Controls in Louisiana Business.” Laura is a regular guest speaker at continuing legal education programs and general public seminars on estate planning and annual gifting techniques and use of charitable trusts. In addition to her public speaking events in Louisiana, she is a frequent guest on local radio stations where she educates the public on estate planning topics.

  In 2010, Laura received a surprising call from one of her corporate trustee clients. The call was not about her interest in taking on another legal estate planning case, but rather, her interest in changing her career path by becoming a Private Banker and Securities Representative/Financial Advisor for the bank. This required that Laura advance her education by studying and passing the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority “FINRA” Series 7 and 63 tests. Laura worked as a Private Banker and financial advisor with JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA, member of FINRA/SIPC, in Private Wealth Management for 4 years.

  Because she is passionate about both legal estate planning law and financial planning, Laura was very mindful when naming her own lawfirm the Poche’ Estate Planning & Wealth Preservation Law Firm. After all, estate planning attorneys help people who worry they don’t have a program in place to protect their loved ones and to preserve their hard-earned assets! Although she practices law now and only renders legal estate planning advice, Laura now offers her clients a very valuable perk: a personal introduction to and facilitation with a trusted, consultative, financial advisor who Laura personally knows will look out for her client’s best interest as opposed to the financial advisor’s personal paycheck. This service is a great relief to many of her clients, especially those transitioning into retirement.

  Further proving that she is passionate about her life’s work, Laura authored her first book in 2016 (*), “Estate Planning Advice By A Woman for Louisiana Women: A Guide For Women And Those They Care For About Wills, Trusts, Probate, Power of Attorney, Medicaid, Living Wills and Taxes”, a book which helps guide both women and men to plan for the most vulnerable and trying times in their lives. Laura cautions men not to be misled by the title of her book! After all, the law is the same for men and women. But because the statistics show that women outlive men, over 52% of the wealth in the United States is or will be controlled by women, and women must be ready to take charge. Hence, the title of her book which is a call to arms. In her book and in practice, Laura has combined her unparalleled experience with a degree of empathy which has truly transformed her practice from a profession to a ministry. (*) NOTE: The second edition of Laura’s book is in production and expected to launch in June 2023.

  Demonstrates Vision And Is Mission-Focused:

  Laura is a natural born leader and a team builder. She is a visionary who is constantly exploring and researching more efficient methodologies to plan for future development and growth. Laura strives to rise to even greater heights than in the past. Her vision for this encompasses all that she does within her professional and civic associations. Laura demonstrates on a daily basis to her staff that she is committed to leading the firm to a higher level. She personally meets with each of her employees throughout the year to share her vision for the firm and get their input. By sharing innovative ideas and cutting-edge processes with her employees and implementing many of their suggestions, she instills enthusiasm, and insures that employees feel that they have a vested interest in the success of the firm. This collaborative approach is extremely empowering.

  One example of how Laura demonstrates vision is exemplified by her former position as Sustaining Advisor to the Training and Organizational Development Council (TOD) of the Junior League of Baton Rouge, Inc. (JLBR). While she was an active member of the JLBR, Laura was passionate about the Mission of the organization to develop the potential of women and improve communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. And she recognized that most, if not all, of the women of the JLBR are “movers and shakers” in Baton Rouge and those you call on whenever you need a job well done or a problem solved thoughtfully. However, she recognized there were many other worthy organizations and groups which sought the time, talent and treasure of the JLBR’s members. In order to retain and grow the JLBR’s membership, Laura wondered what made the JLBR relevant to its members and why women should choose the JLBR to give of her time, talent and treasure. Laura concluded that what set the JLBR apart from all the other worthy organizations was that the JLBR trained and developed its members in life skills such as: conflict resolution, leadership development, servant leadership, public speaking, effective communication to specific audiences, diversity and cultural inclusion, etc.

  Laura’s vision was to create a training continuum for the life of an active member of the JLBR which exposes each member to an organized set of training modules which develops the potential of each woman in the JLBR, thereby accomplishing its Mission. In September 2009, Laura presented this training continuum to the Board of Directors for implementation throughout the entire organization. Ultimately, in 2018, the JLBR formally embraced Laura’s training continuum and created the Training and Organizational Development Council of the JLBR to implement Laura’s vision for every member. In recognition of her vision, Laura was honored to be designated as the Sustaining Advisor to this brand-new TOD, and she passionately served in that capacity from 2018 to 2021. Currently, Laura serves as the Sustaining Advisor to the Research & Development committee for the JLBR which is integrally involved in the community programming of the JLBR.

  Another example of how Laura demonstrated vision was in her work with HOPE Ministries of Baton Rouge. When Hurricane Katrina funding (from various sources) to our area nonprofit organizations significantly decreased in 2007 and 2008, the identification of new funding sources became critical for an organization’s survival. Because Laura was so passionate about HOPE’s Mission of “preventing homelessness and promoting self-sufficiency and dignity in Baton Rouge”, Laura self-educated herself on “social enterprise” and “social entrepreneurship” by attending several conferences and reading several books in the hope of helping the beloved organization accomplish its Mission with new identified funding sources.

  HOPE’s board of directors conducted a special six-hour retreat to identify potential earned income ventures which stood true to the organization’s Mission. Three Baton Rouge area enterprises were identified and described as HOPE’s targeted long-term goal (5+ yrs); mid-range term goal (1-3 yrs); and immediate implementation. The mid-range goal social enterprise that was suggested by Laura was to create and implement training and development programs in our community that are Mission-focused on poverty and self-sufficiency, including, but not limited to, teaching soft skills needed by those in poverty to rise out of poverty; educating those not in poverty about cultural biases that may be barriers to helping the poverty stricken in our community; and creating a focus on the dignity of every person and how self-sufficiency reflects that dignity and is a tremendous help for people in generational poverty to begin a transformation into a productive life. After much discussion, the immediate implementation option was chosen because HOPE saw the immediate benefit to our community and beyond. In 2009, HOPE launched the first Understanding the Dynamics of Poverty professional development workshop. And in 2015, HOPE introduced Understanding Your Workforce professional development workshop targeting companies experiencing high turnover with their low-to-moderate income employees. Since 2009, 2,678 individuals from 338 companies have been trained. Because the Board decided to implement the mid-range goal that Laura had suggested, almost 10 years later, HOPE’s “The Way to Work” Sustainable Workforce SOLUTIONS© (TWTW) division, including copyrighted training materials, are used all throughout our community and state and serve as “best practices” in workforce development by giving companies and individuals sustainable employment opportunities. This model is being duplicated throughout the United States by Worklab Innovations. Laura’s VISION and her perseverance gave hope to so many in desperate need of self-sufficiency and gave HOPE Ministries of Baton Rouge the much-needed diversified funding source it needed! HOPE’s TWTW division now forms the basis for HOPE Ministries of Baton Rouge being THE premier nonprofit organization invited to work with companies like Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, BREC, Angelle Materials, Stupp Coatings and many more to help increase retention and productivity among their low-to moderate income employees.

  Demonstrates Servant Leadership:

  Laura is an accomplished advisor to individuals of all walks of life and a variety of businesses, particularly financial institutions and law practices. Laura has become a leader in the field of estate planning and is well respected by her clients, peers and regulators. Her technical expertise is respected by her clients as well as her peers, and it enables her to perform at the highest level of her profession. Throughout her professional career, she has become a trusted advisor to many of the largest and most successful companies in the Baton Rouge area, and she takes a personal interest in the success of her clients and has a drive to assist her clients in reaching their maximum potential.

  Throughout the community and with each and every organization she works, Laura takes a personal interest in the accomplishment of the organization’s Mission and the satisfaction of its members or clients and drives all with whom she comes in contact to achieve their maximum potential. Regardless of whether she acts in her professional or volunteer capacity, it seems that Laura eventually becomes President or a member with significant responsibility. And, if she isn’t President, it’s likely she has been asked and gracefully declined. What is it in Laura that makes her a born leader? The answer, we submit, is: LAURA IS A “SERVANT LEADER” IN EVERY WAY!

  Demonstrates Positive Influence Within the Business and Non-Profit Community:

  Laura is a people person and never goes anywhere without knowing someone! She is also very perceptive and can read people and their intentions pretty quickly. Finally, her networking ability is one of her strongest skills. When you combine all these characteristics, you get someone who loves to learn more about things that truly matter and be a part of businesses or organizations that are making a positive impact in the lives of others. And if she becomes passionate about a certain issue or cause, you won’t have a better advocate or team member than Laura! As City Year Inc. Trustee and Co-Founder Jennifer Eplett Reilly shared, “Laura has been an extraordinarily relentless and positive force in building City Year Baton Rouge to be an excellent and effective business sector/education sector partnership. She has strategically engaged Baton Rouge business and civic leadership to advance City Year’s impact with students across our community in innovative ways including through Executives in Education partnerships. She’s been a magnet for business engagement as our Chair.”

  Laura has excelled in her career through hard work, long hours and an enthusiastic attitude. She is a positive influence on all those around her-- whether it is making firm decisions, facilitating a discussion and vote of a community organization’s board, supervision of a project, or mentoring others. Laura has a keen knack for seeing good in all people, and as she mentors her peers and other staff at her firm, she inspires all to a higher level of achievement. She is open-minded and willing to listen to all staff ideas. Laura’s calm demeanor makes her the perfect individual to take intense situations and turn them around so that all are able to perform in positive ways. This allows her to utilize those around her much more effectively and produce beneficial results for clients and the firm. When asked how Laura is influential in her efforts there, Gerald E. Tullier, President of Catholic High School, says, “In any organization, it is a few “doers” who transform excellence from an ideal into a reality, and by motivating others, these doers multiply their efforts many times over. A tireless, innovative, and persistent leader, Laura Poche’ is one of these doers for Catholic High School and for our community! Her leadership in the CHS Mothers’ Club, in fundraising, and in event planning, among other things, has indeed made excellence a reality for Catholic High School.”

  Along with her professional accomplishments, community service, being a loving wife, raising three sons, and mentoring many young professionals, Laura is a true example of work/life balance. She has inspired countless young professionals, and her generosity, work ethic, passion and drive make her a terrific role model.