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Phyllis G. Cancienne

Shareholder
Baton Rouge
T: 225.381.7008
F: 225.382.0208
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Phyllis G. Cancienne, former managing shareholder of the Firm's Baton Rouge office, represents employers in all aspects of employment litigation, including class actions, before state and federal courts throughout the country, as well as governmental agencies including the EEOC and the Department of Labor.

Professional Biography

Ms. Cancienne has also handled numerous employment–related arbitrations and mediations. Ms. Cancienne has extensive experience drafting employee handbooks, employment contracts, confidentiality/trade secret agreements, and covenants not to compete, as well as rendering advice to employers on all federal and state employment laws, including Title VII, ADA, FMLA, GINA, ADEA, NLRA and the FLSA, just to name a few.

Ms. Cancienne's experience also includes representation of hospitals and other health care providers in False Claims Act litigation medical staff governance issues, drafting physician contracts, and peer review and credentialing matters.

  • Serves as primary L&E counsel to a large, multi-state construction and industrial maintenance company employing more than 25,000 individuals.

  • Served as lead counsel on a Title VII mass action by more than 250 employees alleging systemic work place bias and harassment. Successfully resolved through motion practice and nominal settlements.

  • Served as lead counsel for several Louisiana-based hospitals in disruptive physician and medical staff peer review hearings, as well as extensive experience regarding HCQIA immunity.

  • AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Named the Best Lawyers® 2023 Employment Law - Management "Lawyer of the Year" in Baton Rouge 
  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Employment Law - Management since 2013 and Litigation - Labor and Employment since 2016
  • Listed in Chambers USA as a leading Labor & Employment lawyer in Louisiana since 2010
  • Listed in Louisiana Super Lawyers in the area of labor and employment since 2010; listed among the top 25 female attorneys in the state (2011, 2015, 2017 – 2020, 2022) 
  • Recognized by Who's Who Legal in Labor and Employment (2019)
  • Managing Shareholder, Baker Donelson's Baton Rouge Office (2015 – 2023)
  • Member – American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section; ABA/EEO Liaison Committee)
  • Member – Federal Bar Association (New Orleans Chapter)
  • Member – Louisiana State Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section)
  • Member – Baton Rouge Bar Association
  • Member – New Orleans Bar Association
  • Member – American Health Law Association
  • Member – Employment Law Alliance, Louisiana Representative
  • Member – Louisiana Hospital Association
  • Member – Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance
  • Appointed – Louisiana Bar Foundation's Kids' Chance Committee (2015 – 2017)
  • Vice Chair – Louisiana State University Law Center 2015 – 2016 Annual Fund
  • Recipient – Female Mentor of the Year Award, Postlethwaite & Netterville (2010) 
  • Committee Member – "Taste of the Tournament," Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (2010) and Co-chair of Sponsorship Committee (2011) 
  • Recipient – Louisiana Appleseed's "Good Apple" Award (2009) 
  • Volunteer – Appleseed Project, Louisiana Bar Foundation 
  • Fellow – Louisiana Bar Foundation
  • "The Great Workplace Transformation: New Thoughts on Policies, Pay, and Prevention" (November 2022)
  • Panelist – "Coping with the New Normal in the Workplace - What Louisiana Employers Need to Know Now," Baton Rouge Bar Association In-House Lawyer CLE (October 2020)
  • "The Impact of the #MeToo Movement," client CLE presentation, Washington, D.C. (June 2018)
  • "Social Media - Friend or Foe of the HR Professional?," Central Louisiana Society for Human Resource Management, Alexandria, Louisiana (June 2011)

Practices

Industries

Education

  • Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, J.D., 1989
    • Member – Moot Court Board
    • Tullis Moot Court Competition, Semi-Finalist
  • Louisiana State University, B.A., 1985

Admissions

  • Louisiana, 1989
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal
  • U.S. District Courts, Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, pro hac vice
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, pro hac vice
  • U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, pro hac vice

Featured Media

Baker Donelson Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 Listing
Press Release / August 15, 2024
Chambers USA Ranks 88 Baker Donelson Attorneys in 2024 Edition
Press Release / June 6, 2024
27 Baker Donelson Attorneys Named to 2024 Louisiana Super Lawyers List
Press Release / December 19, 2023

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