Louisiana Blue Chief Legal Officer Lou Patalano Named to National Judicial College Board of Trustees

Baton Rouge, LA – The National Judicial College (NJC), the national leader in judicial education based in Reno, Nevada, appointed Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (Louisiana Blue) Chief Legal Officer Lou Patalano to serve on its Board of Trustees. By offering an average of 100 programs annually with more than 8,000 judges attending from all 50 states, U.S. territories and more than 150 countries, the NJC seeks to further its mission of making the world a more just place by educating and inspiring its judiciary.

Patalano, who oversees Louisiana Blue’s legal, compliance, ethics, privacy, audit, enterprise risk, cybersecurity and government relations functions, will work with other NJC board members to set policy and promote the development of judicial education programs nationwide.

Patalano is an attorney and executive with more than 20 years of deep experience in the healthcare industry in many settings, including in private practice, on the payer side, on the provider side and for the government. He joined Louisiana Blue in 2023 and is a member of the company’s senior leadership team.

Prior to Louisiana Blue, he was of counsel in the healthcare practice group at K&L Gates, a fully integrated global law firm that employs close to 2,000 lawyers across five continents. 

Patalano also has held roles as chief legal officer, senior vice president and corporate secretary for Sentara Healthcare, a large integrated delivery network, and as deputy general counsel and vice president for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, leading the day-to-day legal functions for the plan. He also was general counsel and senior vice president for Cape Fear Valley Health System, a large regional health system in North Carolina. 

Patalano began his career as a healthcare fraud prosecutor for the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office and United States Attorney’s Offices in North Carolina.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law.

“I am honored to join the NJC Board of Trustees and work with NJC’s leadership and Board to help advance legal education for the judiciary across the country,” Patalano said. “Together, we can share best practices and develop skills that make the system better for everyone.” 

About Louisiana Blue 
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, or Louisiana Blue, is committed to our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. Founded in New Orleans in 1934, we are a taxpaying, not-for-profit health insurer with offices in every major region of Louisiana to serve our customers. We have been recognized for the past seven years as an honoree of The Civic 50, named by Points of Light as one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States. J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Satisfaction Study ranked us #1 in member satisfaction among commercial health plans in the East South Central Region. Louisiana Blue also was nationally recognized for exceptional customer service by USA Today’s America’s Best Customer Service 2025.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. We invite all Louisianians to visit our website at lablue.com or talk to us on social media @MyLouisianaBlue.