Constitutional Challenges to Municipal Short-Term Rental Bans

Graham Williams, Partner | Sternberg, Naccari & White

Graham Williams is a partner at Sternberg, Naccari & White in New Orleans, where he leads a general business and litigation practice focused on complex commercial conflicts, real estate disputes, partnership disputes, and director and officer issues. A significant portion of Graham’s practice involves handling enforcement actions and compliance issues for owners and operators of short-term rentals in New Orleans, where STR owners and operators face a complex regulatory landscape. Graham joined the firm in 2020 and was named partner in 2023 after five years at a large New Orleans firm.

• Education & Credentials

A New Orleans native, Graham received his B.A. from the University of Virginia before returning home to pursue his J.D. from Tulane University Law School, where he served as Executive President of the Student Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in Louisiana, including all state and federal courts.

• Recognition & Leadership

Upon graduation from Tulane, the president of Tulane recognized Graham with the prestigious Tulane 34 Award. In 2023, Graham was recognized as one of the Top 40 Young Lawyers by the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Division. Graham was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers in 2024.

• Professional Involvement

Graham serves as General Counsel of the Young Leadership Council and is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the New Orleans Bar Association. He is a Junior Board Member of Shuck Cancer with the American Cancer Society and serves on the Livability Committee of the French Quarter Management District, as well as the New Orleans Community Leadership Board of the American Diabetes Association. Graham frequently publishes updates and guidance on STR legislation.

• Experience

Graham represents a wide array of clients in various industries and stages of growth, frequently handling cases involving allegations of racketeering, breach of contract, unfair trade practices, misappropriation, and fraud. His litigation experience has taken him across the state, litigating business and joint venture issues in state and federal court, including appeals courts and bankruptcy adversarial proceedings. A significant portion of his practice assists STR owners and operators with complicated compliance and land use issues in New Orleans.

Matthew R. Slaughter, Counsel | Flanagan Partners LLP

Matthew Slaughter is a commercial litigator and trusted outside counsel at Flanagan Partners LLP in New Orleans, where he embeds himself in his clients’ operations to spot risk, tighten contracts, and resolve problems before they escalate—and tries them when they do. Licensed in both Louisiana and Alabama, Matt represents a growing portfolio of regional and national companies, startups, and high-net-worth individuals, serving as the first call for legal issues ranging from contract interpretation and employment matters to intellectual property, data privacy, and regulatory compliance.

• Education & Credentials

Matt earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2015 and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Alabama in 2011. He is admitted to practice in Louisiana, Alabama, the U.S. Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Western, and Middle Districts of Louisiana, as well as the Northern, Southern, and Middle Districts of Alabama.

• Recognition & Leadership

Matt has been recognized with the Louisiana State Bar Association Young Lawyer Division’s Top 40 Award (2023), Leadership in Law from New Orleans CityBusiness (2023), and the Pro Bono Publico Award from the Louisiana State Bar Association (2020). He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Construction (2021–2025), and on the Louisiana Super Lawyers Rising Stars list (2023–2026).

• Professional Involvement

Matt serves on the Board of Directors of the Pro Bono Project, where he is Secretary and an Executive Committee member. He is a Young Lawyers Section Executive Council Member and Bench Bar Committee Chair for the New Orleans Bar Association, a Board of Directors member of the New Orleans Bar Foundation, and a Justice Camp Instructor with the Federal Bar Association. Before private practice, Matt clerked for the Honorable Robert G. James and Karen L. Hayes of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

• Experience

Matt’s litigation practice spans complex commercial disputes, including trade-secret and trademark claims, breach-of-fiduciary-duty actions, shareholder and partnership disputes, construction litigation, and insurance-coverage matters. He has served as trial counsel in a multi-day federal jury trial involving trademark infringement and trade-secret misappropriation, secured a seven-figure federal settlement on trade-secret and unfair-trade-practices claims arising from a $1.19 billion government project, defeated ad valorem tax assessments in excess of $3 million for a publicly traded company, and maintains an active pro bono practice including representing petitioners under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Chance Weldon, Director of Litigation | Texas Public Policy Foundation, Center for the American Future

Chance Weldon is a Senior Attorney and the Director of Litigation for the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Chance was one of the first attorneys hired by former litigation director Rob Henneke in 2015, and since joining the Foundation he has worked on some of its most important cases—from protecting the rights of property owners along the Red River in North Texas in Aderholt v. BLM, to striking down the City of Austin’s onerous short-term rental regulations in Zaatari v. City of Austin, to reinvigorating the Commerce Clause in TPPF’s litigation against the federal government’s Eviction Moratorium and Vaccine Mandate.

• Education & Credentials

A Houston native, Chance earned his J.D. from the University of Houston, where he was awarded the Dean’s Merit Scholarship for all three years. Prior to law school, he received a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Houston. He is licensed to practice law in Texas, California (inactive status), the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Circuits.

• Recognition & Leadership

Chance serves as Director of Litigation for the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, where he leads constitutional and property-rights litigation on behalf of clients across the country. He has been at the forefront of protecting constitutional rights in Texas and across the country through high-impact cases on property, economic liberty, and the Commerce Clause.

• Professional Involvement

Before joining the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Chance served as a fellow at the Pacific Legal Foundation in Sacramento, California, and at the Institute for Justice in Austin, Texas. As a fellow, he worked on a wide breadth of litigation involving economic liberty, free speech, school choice, and private property rights.

• Experience

Chance’s litigation experience includes Zaatari v. City of Austin, striking down the City of Austin’s short-term rental regulations; Aderholt v. BLM, protecting the rights of property owners along the Red River in North Texas; F.P. Development, LLC v. Canton, defending property owners against ruinous penalties; and TPPF’s litigation against the federal government’s Eviction Moratorium and Vaccine Mandate, reinvigorating the Commerce Clause. His prior fellowships at Pacific Legal Foundation and the Institute for Justice covered economic liberty, free speech, school choice, and private property rights.

SESSION 1 – Takings, Retroactivity, and Preemption in STR Defense | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

This session provides a practitioner-level analysis of the active Fifth/Ninth Circuit split between Hignell-Stark I & II and Rosenblatt v. City of Santa Monica on whether primary-residence and owner-occupancy requirements violate the Dormant Commerce Clause.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Dormant Commerce Clause Strategy in STR Litigation | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session addresses the companion constitutional and state-law theories STR litigators must deploy or defend alongside Dormant Commerce Clause challenges, covering Nekrilov takings analysis, Zaatari retroactivity, Idaho Code § 67-6539 preemption, and the municipal-defense evidentiary record.