About Mary Roper

Mary E. Roper was the Parish Attorney for the City of Baton Rouge and the Parish of East Baton Rouge from 2008-2014, where she served as the chief legal advisor to the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge. She was the first female Parish Attorney and was the first employee to rise through the ranks to this position.

From 1993 to 1994, Mary was an Assistant City Prosecutor. She then moved to the Litigation Section where she handled wrongful death, premises liability, road defect, and personal injury defense, as well as 42 USC Section 1983 civil rights cases (excessive force, false arrest, and false imprisonment defense). Mary was soon promoted to the position of Legislative Section Chief, where she was the head of the legislative section for the office and responsible for drafting legislation and advising the Mayor-President, the Metropolitan Council and the City-Parish department heads on the legality and constitutionality of proposed legislation. Additionally, Mary continued to maintain a litigation caseload. After serving in that capacity for many years, spanning three mayors and four different Metropolitan Councils, Mary was tapped by E. Wade Shows as his First Assistant, making her the second in command of the office. Mary served as the First Assistant Parish Attorney from 2005 to 2008 until E. Wade Shows resigned. Upon Shows departure, Mary was appointed by the Metropolitan Council to assume the role.

In her role as Parish Attorney, Mary supervised all Divisions of the office (Administrative – Property, Personnel, Code Enforcement, Legislation; Litigation; Collections; Risk Management; Alcohol Beverage Control Board; and City Prosecutor’s Office). Her career in local government exposed her to the intricacies of local and state agencies, boards, and commissions and provides her with an inside perspective in representing clients before such entities. In addition to providing legal advice to the Mayor-President and the Metropolitan Council, Mary represented the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, the Mosquito and Rodent Control Board, the Animal Control Board, the City-Parish Employees Retirement Board, and the Planning and Zoning Board in various capacities. She also worked closely with the Downtown Development District, the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and the Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority on certain endeavors. Further, as Parish Attorney, Mary was a member of the Mortgage Finance Authority Board where she served throughout her term.

Mary brings a wealth of experience to the practice of ROPER LIGH. She has an AV preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell from both her peers and the judiciary, which is the highest attorney rating in terms of professional ability and expertise, as well as adherence to the professional standards of conduct and ethics.