Steve Hicks

Steve Hicks, Founder of Provident, serves as Provident’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hicks practiced law for 25 years. He served as Special Counsel with Jones Walker Waechter Pointevent Carrere & Denegre LLP, in the Baton Rouge office from 1996 until October 1998. Mr. Hicks was formerly a partner with the firms of McCollister McCleary Fazio Holliday & Hicks, Baton Rouge (1974-1982), Foley Judell Beck Bewley Martin & Hicks, Baton Rouge and New Orleans (1983-1988), Kutak Rock, a national firm with offices in 12 cities (1988-1994), and Gary Hicks Field Landry & Bradford, Baton Rouge (1992-1996), specializing at all times in the area of public finance.

Mr. Hicks received his Bachelor of Science (1970) from Louisiana State University and Juris Doctorate (1973) from Louisiana State University School of Law. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the National Association of Bond Lawyers, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the National Council of Public Private Partnerships. He is also a Fellow of the Louisiana State University Academy of Politics.

Mr. Hicks specialized in the area of public finance with additional concentration in the area of legislative law. He participated in many public finance issues over the past 25 years in a variety of roles including bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, and counsel to the issues. He played a major role in the formation of the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (“LPFA”), one of the nation’s largest issuer of debt securities for a wide range of public projects. He was the primary attorney for the largest tax-exempt financing undertaken in the history of the State of Louisiana and one of the ten largest in the United States – the LPFA’s $1,315,210,000 financing for the bailout of the State’s Unemployment Compensation Fund. While practicing public finance law, Mr. Hicks was the principal or supervisory partner on approximately $12 billion in project financings from 1973 until 1996 for acute care general hospitals, nursing facilities, affordable housing and numerous other health care and other essential state and local government projects.

Mr. Hicks served as General Counsel to the Louisiana Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs (1976-1980) where his primary responsibility was for bond and tax legislation referred to the Committee and the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority from 1974 – 1980.

Mr. Hicks served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross – Louisiana Capital Region Chapter (2000-2006).