Gordon McKernan buys Metairie building for over $6 million | Business News

Gordon McKernan, the Baton Rouge-based personal injury attorney that announced his entry into the New Orleans legal market a year ago with a high-profile ad campaign, is continuing his local expansion with the purchase of a 30,000-square-foot office building in Metairie.

McKernan said he paid a little more than $6 million for the three-story building at 3900 Veterans Memorial Blvd., which is a few blocks from the temporary offices he currently leases.  

“I want bricks-and-mortar and boots on the ground. I want to be a part of that community,” said McKernan by phone Wednesday. “There are some other attorneys that don’t do that. They might just have a receptionist in one of those executive offices, and all the attorneys and staff are housed in one central city.”

Now one year into a five-year plan to compete in Louisiana’s largest market, McKernan expressed confidence his firm can continue to grow its local client list.

“New Orleans has a lot of attorneys, and some may say it’s saturated,” he said. “But I think giving people another viable choice is always a good thing.”

Swag room and studio

The lawyer’s long-term investment in East Jefferson follows feedback from clients and colleagues who favored setting up shop in a convenient suburban location, he said.

The law firm will inhabit the third floor of the Neoclassical building at the corner of Veterans and Cleary Avenue, which was formerly occupied by Jefferson Financial Credit Union and currently consists of three large executive offices with wood paneling, fireplaces and a private shower, McKernan said. 

The credit union — now operating as Keesler Federal Credit Union on the building’s first floor — and medical offices on the second floor, will remain in place as McKernan’s tenants.

With its latest purchase, McKernan’s firm will own the buildings housing 13 of its 14 offices, with Alexandria its only leased space. McKernan also has various other commercial real estate investment properties owned separately from his law firm, he said.

Remodeling of the new Metairie offices is set to begin soon and take four to six months. McKernan, whose slogan is “Get Gordon. Get it Done,” said the buildout will include a “swag room” with gifts for clients, a recording studio available for public use and a mock courtroom for trial preparation.

Once in use by his staff of about a dozen, half of whom will be attorneys, the new Metairie office will also host the firm’s annual bike giveaway and Mardi Gras parties.

“We’re certainly going to take market share from other attorneys,” he added. “It’s a finite number of cases, and if we’re getting them, it just means we’re taking them from other attorneys that used to get them.”