LSU Law Center graduates Caroline Darwin (left) and Leah Canaday Cook (right) have joined Taylor Porter as Associates.

Taylor Porter is pleased to welcome its newest Associates Leah Canaday Cook and Caroline Darwin, both graduates of Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Class of 2017. Cook and Darwin were both sworn in Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Louisiana Supreme Court Committee on Bar Admissions Admit Ceremony, held at the Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center in Kenner. 

Leah Canaday Cook practices in various areas of general commercial litigation, and she is admitted to practice in all Louisiana state courts, and in the United States District Courts for the Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of Louisiana. She was a former law clerk at Taylor Porter and several other law firms in Baton Rouge and Houston, where she gained experience in several practice areas including construction, oil and gas, health care litigation, employment law, and corporate transactions. Prior to attending law school, Cook was a deputy clerk at the Calcasieu Parish Clerk of Court.

At LSU Law Center, Cook was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and she was a member of the Louisiana Law Review, serving as Articles Editor on the editorial board of Volume 77. She earned CALI awards in Legal Research & Writing II, Civil Law of Property, Criminal Law, Legal Traditions & Systems, and Employment Law. She also served as a member of the Ethics Committee.

In addition to receiving her J.D., Cook earned her Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) from LSU in 2017, graduating from the Flores MBA Program. She was a member of both the Master’s of Business Administration Association and the National Association of Women MBAs. Cook graduated summa cum laude from LSU in 2012, with a Bachelor’s Degree in French Studies and minors in Biological Sciences and Chemistry.

Caroline Darwin practices in various areas of general commercial litigation, and she is admitted to practice in all Louisiana state courts, and in the United States District Courts for the Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of Louisiana. Darwin was a former law clerk at Taylor Porter, both in 2016 and 2017. She also served as a judicial extern for Judge Jewel E. “Duke” Welch at the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals. She has clerked for other law firms in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where she gained experience in several practice areas including insurance, maritime, civil litigation, health, and tax law.

At LSU Law Center, Darwin was a Chancellor’s Scholar and earned the CALI Excellence Award in Legal Professions. She served as a member of the LSU Law Center Moot Court Board and Class Representative on the Student Bar Association. She competed in the Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition as a member of LSU Law’s Admiralty Moot Court team, which won the national championship and award for best respondent brief in San Francisco in 2016, and award for second best respondent brief in New Orleans in 2017. Darwin also received an award for best oral advocate in the Robert Lee Tullis Moot Court Competition.

Darwin graduated from LSU in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication. At LSU, she served as Vice President of Tri Delta and President of the Greek Board of Directors.