Biography

PROFILE

Reneé Chabert Crasto is a Harvard-trained neutral whose pragmatic, settlement-focused style has earned the confidence of counsel across Louisiana. After completing the Harvard Mediation Intensive at the Program on Negotiation in 2023, she was tapped by the U.S. District Courts for both the Eastern and Middle Districts to serve as a court appointed mediator for the Hurricane Ida claims—a testament to her ability to master voluminous records quickly and guide adversaries to durable resolutions.

Ms. Crasto currently practices at Walters Thomas Cullens, LLC where her practice focuses on large and complex wrongful death and catastrophic burn cases, as well as other personal injury cases. Ms. Crasto has extensive experience in all areas of personal injury law including products liability, catastrophic 18-wheeler, and other highway and interstate death and serious injury cases, as well as petrochemical and other industrial cases involving fires, explosions, electrocutions, burns, asbestos exposure and mesothelioma.

Her work assisting the firm’s former senior partner as Special Master—and serving as assistant Special Master herself—gives her an uncommon appreciation of a neutral’s duty to balance efficiency with procedural fairness.

Counsel value her meticulous preparation and talent for translating complex technical evidence into plain-language reasoning. Ms. Crasto upholds the highest ethical standards and is known for impartiality, thoroughness, and respect for counsel and parties alike.

Having started her legal career at Adams & Reese, a leading defense firm, and now as counsel in a plaintiff firm, Ms. Crasto has the unique ability to speak the language of insurers, corporations, and injured individuals alike. Having advocated on both sides of the “v.”, she brings balance, credibility, and business-savvy risk analysis to the mediation table, an asset that fosters credibility with every stakeholder.

While at Adams & Reese, Ms. Crasto advocated in legislative and regulatory arenas, drafting bills, testifying before committees, and representing Fortune 500 clients before the Louisiana Public Service Commission—perspective that enriches her understanding of statutory intent and public policy when sitting as a neutral.

Licensed in all Louisiana state and federal courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Ms. Crasto remains active in bar governance as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and member of the Louisiana State Bar Association House of Delegates. She earned her JD/BCL from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 2008 and a BS in Business Administration, cum laude, from LSU’s E.J. Ourso College in 2005.

Ms. Crasto and her husband—fellow attorney Matthew Mann—are raising four children, a role that deepens her appreciation for resolutions that let litigants move forward with their lives and businesses.

Ms. Crasto is available for mediations and arbitrations in person throughout Louisiana or via confidential video conference nationwide. When outcomes matter and relationships must endure, counsel trust Ms. Crasto to guide the path to settlement.