Jerry Reso

Professor Joseph Taverna

Brother Frederick S.C.

Jerome J. Reso, Jr., 1955

• His father, Jerome Sr., graduated from St. Aloysius in 1929.
• Among the teachers Jerry remembers fondly are Brothers Foster, Patrick, Colin, Leander, and Reginald. He singles out one of his math teachers, Brother Patrick.

He was wonderful in the classroom. It was the closest thing to a high school student being in a classroom with someone approaching it like a college professor.

• A vast majority of his teachers were brothers, but coaches Andy Douglass and Carl Lavie also taught him.
• The teacher he spent the most time with was Joseph Taverna, the band director.

I played the French horn, which was a challenge to play with Professor Taverna because that was his instrument.

• Like most of the grads from that era, Jerry also remembers Brother Frederick, the librarian.

We always joked about Brother Fred who maintained such tight control on the library that I'm not sure anyone ever took a book out of it. I'm pretty sure there was never a missing book from that library. He was certainly interesting, someone you wouldn't forget.

Jerry started thinking about a law career midway through high school.

• He had no lawyers in his family. However, a lawyer who lived near him in Lakeview took Jerry to his office and the courthouse in the French Quarter.

I'm not really sure why, but the law appealed to me.

• Like so many lawyers, Jerry really liked geometry and its logical proofs. He also enjoy speaking and writing - communicating ideas.

After graduation from 1137 Esplanade Avenue, Jerry enrolled in a new program at Loyola.

• The curriculum called for him to complete a degree in business administration in three years, then spend another three years getting a law degree.
• He received a partial academic scholarship and a partial grant for playing in the university band. He also worked part time.
• Jerry joined the National Guard out of high school and played in the division band for six years.
• However, he played in the Loyola band only one year because he could not keep up with that activity along with all the other demands on his time.
• The six-year dual-degree program provided the solid foundation upon which Jerry has built a highly successful legal career.

Upon receiving his law degree in 1961, Jerry accepted a position as a trial attorney with the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

• After several years in Washington, Jerry and four others opened a field office in Fort Worth to handle cases in Texas and four adjacent states, including Louisiana.
• These first years of his career provided valuable experience.

I considered it a substitute for graduate school. I was getting experience in tax law as well as trial experience.

Jerry returned to New Orleans in 1964 to become an associate at Baldwin & Haspel (now Baldwin, Haspel, Burke & Mayer), for whom he still works 48 years later.

• He was hired to develop a tax practice for the firm. Eventually, B&H enjoyed one of the largest tax practices in the state with eight of 30 lawyers currently working in that field.
• However, all areas of law are intertwined.

I did a lot of general business work and still do. You may start off in one area and become more general as you function more as a counselor than a practitioner in one area.

• Like all professionals, Jerry spends a significant amount of time updating his knowledge base.

We receive daily tax reports - court decisions, rulings from the IRS Commissioner. Any time there's new state or federal legislation, we must go into it in depth. Also, some clients' businesses take them across state lines and out of the country. You spend a great deal of time trying to stay current and apply the law of a particular jurisdiction.