Charlton Ogden III carries his ancestry like a tailored suit: stitched with lineage, lined with resilience.
He is the thirteenth generation in a family of attorneys, stretching back to Robert Nash, the first governor of North Carolina. For centuries, the Ogdens practiced law in New Orleans; they were judges, speakers of the Louisiana House, men who etched their names into history.
And now, here on the Northshore, sits as the caboose of that legal train: Ogden himself, an attorney whose life has been less a straight line than a series of narrow escapes.
“I’ve had ten lives,” he tells me, grinning.
But behind the quip are moments when survival was anything but certain.
Narrow Escapes
Once, as a boy, lightning struck so close on a golf course that the air around him crackled and his arms bristled with static.
Another time, racing a sailboat through the Gulf, storms whipped the mast and rolled the vessel on its side, water rising into the cabin while a twelve-year-old Ogden prayed to see shore again.
As a young man, two cars flipped, leaving him dazed but alive.
Each brush with fate carried the same refrain: You’re still alive for a reason.
A Life of Saving
But Ogden’s story isn’t just about being spared. It’s about saving others.
At sixteen, on Lookout Mountain in Tennessee, he pulled a friend from a freezing river moments before the current could claim him.
Years later, in a crowded restaurant, Ogden wrapped his arms around a choking friend and performed the Heimlich.
And at a wedding, he met the woman who would, in a sense, save him. Lynne, his wife-to-be, took his hand on the dance floor and declared, “You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying with me.” Nearly four decades later, she remains the center of his life, proof that salvation sometimes comes with music and a smile.
Faith, Family, Friends
The words that define him now are simple: faith, family, and friends.
If you’re blessed enough to be called Ogden’s friend, you know that these three words are more than private comforts; they’re guiding principles.
As an usher at First Baptist Church in Covington, he greets hundreds each Sunday, sending them back out into the week with a blessing. As a father and grandfather, he speaks with tenderness about two daughters and four grandchildren, including five-year-old Nash, born with half a working heart and saved by surgery and prayer.
Where There’s a Will …
That rhythm—of being saved and saving—threads directly into Ogden’s law practice. Estate planning, he insists, is less about documents and more about rescue.
“People don’t understand the necessity,” he says. “Without a will in Louisiana, the law may hand part of your estate to children or siblings you never intended. A surviving spouse doesn’t automatically inherit. Families fracture. Court battles drag on. All of it is preventable.”
Louisiana’s civil code offers no automatic safety net. Here, if you pass without a will, your estate belongs not to your spouse, but to your children. The surviving spouse only has use, not ownership. If you have no children, your siblings will inherit your estate—even those you might never have chosen.
A single piece of paper could prevent years of grief and litigation.
The Gift of Relief
Ogden has seen it both ways: families torn apart, and families carried smoothly through succession because someone took the time to plan. The relief on their faces is what keeps Ogden practicing.
One widow wrote, “Ogden is not just a lawyer, he became a close friend when I needed one most.” Another reflected, “He guided me with compassion and made a painful time feel bearable. I was at peace knowing my family was protected.”
The thirteenth generation of Ogden lawyers may be the last, but his practice is less about legacy and more about service. Each client who walks through his Covington office is, in a sense, another soul pulled from rushing water and brought to safe harbor.
To connect with Charlton Ogden III, call (985) 892-8592, email cogden@ogdenlawllc.com, or drop by his office at 71206 Hendry Street, Covington, LA 70433.
Pull Quote on Page 3: “Estate planning is just another way of saving families, giving them peace when they need it most.”
Pull Quote on Page 4: “I should have been gone ten times over. Lightning, storms, accidents—you name it. But I believe God left me here for a reason: to serve, to save, to guide.”