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Taylor Porter Partner and Diversity Committee Chair Katia Bowman is featured in the May issue of “Around The Bar” – the Baton Rouge Bar Association’s monthly magazine, in a three-page, color article detailing her journey to earning American citizenship!

For nearly 10 years, Bowman held permanent resident status in the United States through a permanent resident card – commonly called a “Green Card.” As a permanent resident, Bowman was entitled to reside and work in the United States permanently, but she was not able to vote. But now she has the ability to vote and has access to all the rights and privileges of a United States citizen.

A few interesting tidbits from the article –

• In law school at Southern, Bowman received a law clerk offer from Kean Miller, but had to turn it down because her International student status did not allow her to work off campus. She eventually clerked at Taylor Porter after receiving her green card.
• The story of Bowman’s journey to citizenship began in 1997 when her uncle and United States citizen, Joel Desrouleaux, father of songwriter and national recording artist Jason Derulo (“Desrouleaux,” spelled phonetically), submitted a “petition for alien relative” through the USCIS to sponsor Katia’s father and his dependents for permanent residence in the United States.

At Taylor Porter, Bowman practices primarily civil and appellate litigation. She has defended the interests of public and private clients in personal injury, insurance defense, contract disputes, public utilities, unfair trade practice, civil rights, education, retaliation, defamation, wrongful termination, discrimination, and general tort matters. She is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Baton Rouge Bar Association, and the Defense Research Institute (DRI), and has served on the Planning Committee for the DRI Annual Diversity for Success Seminar and Expo. Within Taylor Porter, Bowman serves as Chair of the Diversity Committee and as Vice Chair of the Recruiting Committee.

Bowman received her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the Southern University Law Center in 2008. She was an editor of the Southern University Law Review and a member of the Business and Entrepreneur Leadership Association. She also received CALI Excellence Awards in Legal Writing, Legal Research, Corporations, and Admiralty Law. Following law school, Bowman volunteered as a writing fellow through Southern University Law Center’s Supplemental Bar Review Program for students preparing to take the Louisiana Bar Exam.

Bowman graduated summa cum laude from Southern University and A&M College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2005. 

In the community, Bowman is a board member of IDEA Public Schools Louisiana, Inc.