Mary Katherine Shoenfelt, who goes by "Katie", is a Baton Rouge native. She graduated high school from St. Joseph's Academy in 2002, and that year accepted an academic scholarship to Ole Miss in forensic chemistry.  Missing home, she eventually transferred to LSU, and in 2006 graduated cum laude with a B.S. in biological sciences and a minor in communication studies. She graduated from LSU Law School in 2009 and passed the Louisiana Bar Exam 2 months later.

 

After law school graduation Katie worked with her father Oscar Shoenfelt, III, who has been a local trial attorney in Baton Rouge for over 40 years. She focused on personal injury cases, car accidents, medical malpractice, and later family law when working with her father. Since then she has practiced at the Rowe Law Firm, Sternberg, Naccari & White, LLC, and been a managing partner at Carleton, Hebert & Shoenfelt, LLC, and Carleton, Shoenfelt & Chapman, LLC, until deciding to open a solo practice in 2024 (Shoenfelt Law Firm, LLC). 

 

In her 16 years of law practice, Mrs. Shoenfelt has handled countless bench trials, multiple jury trials, and has been successful in litigating cases in the First and Fifth Circuit Appellate Courts.  She is presently on the counsel for the Louisiana State Bar Association's Family Law Section and served as the Chair of the section from 2022-2024, the Vice President from 2019-2022, and the Secretary from 2017-2019.  She served on the Legislative Child Support Review Committee in 2023 and 2024 for the 2024 legislative session.  With the committee she worked on proposed changes to the child support statutes, which were approved by the legislature in 2024.

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Her main areas of practice are family law cases and auto accidents. Her family law practice focuses on the following areas: divorces, child custody, child support, spousal support (alimony), judicial separations, partitioning of community property, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, restraining orders, paternity issues, and other related issues.  Ms. Shoenfelt is currently accepting new family law and personal injury clients. 

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