Annette Fontana: Attorney believes in serving others

Annette Fontana has a deep appreciation for education and working to improve the lives of others, beliefs exercised through her legal career, educational ties and community involvement.

Her path to becoming an attorney was a little circuitous, having first obtained a business then an education degree. She’d been teaching gifted and talented students in Houma and was about to sign a teaching contract in the summer of 2000 when she received an acceptance letter from Southern University Law Center. It was a career idea she’d entertained and seized the opportunity to pursue.

In 2004, Fontana joined the law firm of Morvant & Cavelle, a full-service practice, where she handles family law cases and contract work, among other tasks. She also is part of a group of attorneys doing civil defense work. When the opportunity to work for the Lafourche District Attorney’s Office presented itself in 2008, Fontana seized it n and now it’s her leading responsibility.

“I didn’t feel like I could turn it down,” Fontana said, because it offered opportunity to obtain courtroom experience. She handles misdemeanors in Division A, crimes against children in Division C and screens felony cases for the agency. “I feel like I should be serving the public,” she said.

But all this doesn’t mean she’s abandoned teaching; it’s near to her heart.

“In criminal court, we see a lot of negative things going on in our community. We see a lot of folks … that if they’d have had some guidance … they may have had a different path,” Fontana said.

Teachers have a chance to provide such guidance. And Fontana’s role as adjunct professor at Nicholls State University, teaching Family Law, is a way to influence students in helping to serve as guides along that path. Most are working toward careers in social services, so she helps explain some of the dynamics of the legal system and brings her real-life court experiences into the classroom.

Working as an assistant district attorney and teaching keeps her in tune to what’s going on in the community, helping to broaden her view from the private practice world to other people’s situations. But having three professional jobs isn’t enough. Fontana is known for being active in the community beyond her professional responsibilities.

“Community service is kind of revolving,” she said. “When you’re willing to do service, you will find that organizations will scoop you up.”

She just last week finished her year-long term as chairman of the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce, an organization in which she’s been active for three years, and has donated her time to the American Red Cross. Fontana still sits on the Louisiana State Bar Association’s House of Delegates, which is a governing body for the organization, and is an advisory board member of the Bayou Country Children’s Museum.

Her service has often fallen into the business-end of volunteerism n often reviewing contracts and other documents for the organizations. But now she’s ready to get her hands dirty and is looking at volunteer opportunities that work more directly with people and helping individuals.

Community service work is something of a family trait; Fontana’s grandparents are her role models. Charles Joseph and Theresa Fontana were very active in Raceland, helping to start the food bank there and volunteering in their church. While her grandfather is deceased, her grandmother still visits nursing homes, an activity the couple enjoyed together.

“They gave to others their whole lives,” she said. “I (also) think it’s part of my professional responsibility to do this.” The attorney with whom she primarily works in private practice, Danny Cavelle, is very active in the community.

“I’ve just been very fortunate and thankful that my path has led me to where I am,” Fontana said. “But I wouldn’t be able to do all the things I do without the staff” at both Morvant & Cavelle and the District Attorney’s Office.

NAME: Annette Fontana

TITLE: Assistant District Attorney and adjunct professor

COMPANY: Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office; Morvant & Cavelle law firm; and Nicholls State University (since 2008, 2003 and 2009, respectively)

LAW FIRM ADDRESS: 402 W. 4th

St. in Thibodaux

TELEPHONE: (985) 449-7500

AGE: 35

EDUCATION: Juris Doctorate from South University Law Center (cum laude), Bachelor of Science in Education (dual track including special education) and Associate Degree in Business Management from Delgado Community College.

FAMILY: Joe P. Daigle, mother, and Charles Jude Fontana, father

FIRST JOB: Serving daiquiris.

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:

“That’s hard to answer.”

ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE SELF:

Self-critical

ADVICE TO OTHERS: “You have to worry about what you’re doing so you can make yourself better.”

WOMAN IN BUSINESS YOU ADMIRE: A colleague, Kristine Russell, who helped Fontana become involved in the American Red Cross and the Louisiana Bar Association and has risen to First Assistant in the Lafourche District Attorney’s Office.