Ian F. Hipwell joined our firm in early 2011, having retired in 2010 from the United States Department of Justice, where he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Louisiana for over 31 years. Hipwell served as the Senior Litigation Counsel to the office between 2007 and 2010. Previous duties included Deputy Criminal Chief and Interim Criminal Chief between 1994 and 2001. He also held collateral duties as Corporate Crimes and Bankruptcy Fraud coordinators.

Serving under six presidentially appointed US Attorneys during his Federal career (three Democrats and three Republicans), Hipwell was entrusted with many of the major political corruption and white collar prosecutions in the US Attorney’s Office. Corruption cases involved the successful prosecutions, in separate cases of a Louisiana State Commissioner of Agriculture, a state senator, a state representative, a parish sheriff, and a state district judge.

Successful white collar crime prosecutions included that of a research scientist of a national chemical company, convicted of conspiring to sell trade secrets to China; a steel company executive, convicted of conspiring to sell defective steel used in interstate highway construction in Louisiana; several major Hurricane Katrina disaster fraud cases; an Army reservist convicted of creating a fake contract to sell tactical eyewear to troops in Iraq; a general manager of a local automobile dealership for embezzling $1 million in dealership funds; a former assistant registrar of a local university for accepting bribes to change grades and transcripts; a "small scale" Madoff and Stanford-type fraudster, who stole several million dollars from local African Americans, and a West Palm Beach, Florida contractor, who made false representations on $3 million in loans obtained from a failing savings and loan institution.

Other major prosecutions throughout Hipwell’s career include bank and savings and loan frauds, employer pension and healthcare fraud, insurance fraud, HUD "equity skimming", computer fraud, theft of cable and satellite television services, illegal wiretapping, tax fraud, immigration violations, and gun and drug cases. He also convicted the head of a local Teamsters union for embezzlement of union funds; four people who fire-bombed three local abortion clinics; two individuals for Federal civil rights murder in a "Dixie Mafia" gangland slaying trial; and a former Heisman trophy winning football player, convicted of conspiring to produce $6 million in counterfeit US currency.

Hipwell received four separate letters of commendation from current and former directors of the FBI for his successful prosecutions; two similar citations from the Inspectors General of Department of Homeland Security and the United Sates Department of Education, and individual commendations from the directors of the United States Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Marshals Service.

Hipwell and the law firm believe his rich and varied experience as a Federal prosecutor will prove to be of great value in assisting clients of the law firm who face Federal criminal charges.

Prior to working for the United State Department of Justice, Hipwell was a Judge Advocate General officer in the United States Air Force, serving tours of duty in Utah and on Guam. He received the Air Force Commendation Medal for outstanding service at both posts. While serving in the Air Force, Hipwell also served on President Gerald Ford’s Presidential Clemency Board, charged with administering Executive clemency to Vietnam era people accused and suspected of dodging military service.

Hipwell is a 1973 graduate of Tulane Law School and a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association. He is admitted to practice law before the Federal Middle and Western district courts, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Court of Military Appeals, and the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Hipwell, a naturalized citizen who moved from Ireland as a child, is married to the former Linda Anzelmo of New Orleans. They have three married daughters and four grandchildren. The family is active in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic church in Baton Rouge.