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Much of Jeff Barbin’s practice focuses on helping clients in the gaming industry navigate the complex web of regulations imposed by the state.

“That’s one of those necessary evils,” Barbin says. “[The rules] have a reason to be there, and our clients have to respect that.”

For example, Louisiana is one of a few states that require casino operators to receive approval from the Gaming Control Board before receiving a loan or raising capital. The rule, which stems from the scandals of the early 1990s, seeks to stop someone who isn’t a vetted casino owner from controlling one by holding the purse strings. The law made sense at the time it was enacted, but it can be hard to explain to a publicly traded Fortune 500 company with properties in multiple states.

Barbin says casino business is starting to pick up a bit, but commercial real estate remains slow; most of the work in that area is coming from project owners trying to work out their debts. He says hopes are high that the credit markets will loosen up in the next six to nine months, although he has yet to see signs of a comeback.

“There is a lot of speculation, mostly outside of Louisiana, that the commercial real estate world still has another bad year ahead of it,” he says. “I’m not sure that we’ll be in the same boat in Louisiana, because we still have a lot of good things going on, so hopefully we’ll be insulated from the rest of the country.”

Barbin and his physician wife have been raising children since both were in graduate school. They now have four kids, and balancing work and home life is a daily challenge.

“You have to learn that you can’t do it all, and you need a lot of help,” he says. “You can’t try to attend everything. You have to sort of live in the moment and do the best job you can.”

Age: 39

What is your best business advice? “Know your customer. Know your client, 
and try to provide value to your client.”

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