Laura Settlemyer
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​Laura Settlemyer is the In-House Counsel for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, where she leads the Legal Department and advises the organization on matters relating to land use, title, and real estate. Laura recently moved back to New Orleans after working in Hartford, Connecticut, and Detroit and Flint, Michigan. In Hartford, Laura served as the founding Chairperson and Executive Director of the Hartford Land Bank and the City’s Director of Blight Remediation & Housing Code Enforcement. Laura’s efforts there included overhauling the city’s anti-blight ordinance and drafting and passing statewide land bank and receivership legislation. She also served as Vice Chairperson of the Housing Authority for the City of Hartford. In Michigan, Laura worked as Assistant General Counsel for Michigan Initiatives for the Center for Community Progress, advising land banks across the state on governance and operations strategies to work with communities to tackle their challenges related to vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties. She started her career in private practice in New Orleans, focusing on government contracts litigation, and from 2011-2014 worked in the New Orleans City Attorney’s Office, specializing in government contracts and code enforcement. Laura holds a law degree from Emory University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University.