William E. “Bill” Crawford, an LSU Law alumnus and professor who taught for 53 years before his retirement on Jan. 1, 2020, passed away on Jan. 2, 2021, at the age of 93.

“We are simultaneously saddened by the loss of Professor Crawford and deeply honored that he dedicated more than five decades of his incredible life — right up until just one year ago — to advancing LSU Law and helping so many students achieve their dreams,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Lockridge. “We will be forever grateful for Professor Crawford’s countless contributions to our school and to this state. Those of us still at the Law Center know we are joined by thousands of his former students in honoring his memory along with his family at this difficult time.”

Prior to earning his J.D. in 1955 at LSU Law, where he was editor-in-chief of Louisiana Law Review, Crawford earned his B.A. from LSU in 1951. After law school, Crawford joined the New Orleans law firm of Chaffe, McCall, and was elected to serve as secretary-treasurer of the Louisiana State Bar Association for two terms from 1960 to 1962.

After 10 years with Chaffe, McCall, Crawford was recruited back to his alma mater by Dean Paul M. Hebert and began his tenure at LSU Law in 1966 as assistant dean. He became an associate professor in 1969, professor in 1971, and in 1985 he was awarded the James J. Bailey Professorship in Law. Crawford also served as director of the Law Institute from 1978 to 2018, a 40-year period in which the institute rendered extraordinary service to the Louisiana Legislature and the public.

In 2003, Crawford’s students honored him as Distinguished Professor of the Year, and the Louisiana Bar Foundation bestowed him with the same honor that year. In 2020, he was honored by LSU Law as a Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, and was joined by his family at the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Celebration on March 6.

“If I had a single wish to be granted,” Crawford said while accepting his Distinguished Alumnus of the Year honor, “it would be to do it all over again.”

Gwendolyn Ferrell has been named LSU Law Director of Career Services, effective Feb. 1. She has been serving in the position as interim director since September 2019 and has been with the Office of Career Services at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center since 1999.

“Gwen has been a tremendous advocate for our students for more than 20 years and she has done an exemplary job as interim director over the past 16 months,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Lockridge. “I am thrilled that she will be serving in this critically important role on a permanent basis, and I am confident that she will continue to be a great leader in our Office of Career Services.”

Ferrell joined the Office of Career Services in October 1999 as Assistant Director of Career Counseling, with her work focused on individual student counseling and student-centered programming. In 2004, she was promoted to Associate Director of Career Services and took on additional responsibilities, including the management of diversity recruitment programs and shared departmental supervision.

“Nothing is more important to me than the success of our students at LSU Law, and doing everything I can to assist and support them in their professional development as they make the transition from law students to legal professionals,” said Ferrell. “I am extremely honored and humbled to continue serving as Director of Career Services, and I thank Dean Lockridge for placing her confidence in me to fulfill this role.”

Sixty-eight LSU Law students have been awarded the Paul M. Hebert Scholar honor for academic achievement in the Fall 2020 semester and 86 have been selected as Dean’s Scholars. Ryan Hebert and Brittany Stevens also completed their degree coursework during the semester and graduated.

The Paul M. Hebert Scholar was awarded to the top 10% of LSU Law students earning 12 or more hours of course credit in the Fall 2020 semester and the Dean’s Scholar was awarded to the top 25% of students who earned at least 12 hours of course credit during the semester.

After 34 years at LSU Law, Curry Family Professor of Law and Erick Vincent Anderson Professor of Law Wendell Holmes retired at the close of 2020.

“I’ll definitely miss the interaction with my students,” Holmes said in early December while on a short break from grading final exams for the last time. “At the end of the day, that’s why most of us go into teaching in the first place.”

Holmes spent four years at the University of Mississippi School of Law before joining the LSU Law faculty in 1987. He was already familiar with the Paul M. Hebert Law Center and Baton Rouge because he had spent the 1986 fall semester there as a visiting professor. Holmes’ wife, Dr. Ann Sumner Holmes, also joined the LSU faculty in 1987 and retired at the end of this year as associate dean of the Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College.

“For over 30 years, Professor Holmes has delivered to his students rigorous training in commercial law topics, always presented in a calm and steady fashion, just as he has given the faculty his steadfast presence as our colleague and often faculty leader across the same number of years,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Lockridge. “Attorneys in the state know him as a regular LSU CLE speaker and treatise author on Louisiana business organizations. He will be missed by all of us, and we wish Wendell and Ann all the best in their retirement.”

LSU Law proudly counts among its alumni scores of successful attorneys, elected officials, business leaders, and distinguished members of the judiciary — including federal district judges, state judges, Louisiana district attorneys, and six of the seven current judges on the Louisiana Supreme Court.

But three LSU Law alumni judges have a very unique claim to fame that might make you do a double-take.

Twins Ron and Don Johnson (’82) are the only brothers to simultaneously serve on the Baton Rouge-based 19th Judicial District Court, the only twin brothers to serve on any Louisiana district court, and just the second set of twins nationally to serve on a district court at the same time.

The others are identical twin sisters Shera Grant and Shanta Owens, who both graduated from LSU Law in 2002 and sit on the 10th Judicial Circuit in Jefferson County, Alabama.

We recently caught up with both sets of twins to talk about their paths to the bench and their experiences at LSU Law.

Three of LSU Law’s student-edited legal journals will host virtual symposia in the coming months, and the Liskow & Lewis Visiting Professorship Lecture in Energy Law will also be held online. The events will feature engaging topics with renowned scholars, attorneys, and LSU Law faculty, while also providing excellent opportunities to earn CLE credit hours.

The first symposium on the calendar will take place on Friday, Feb. 5, when the LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources will discuss the future of carbon capture and sequestration laws, as well as regulations as they relate to mineral extraction and environmental litigation. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can count for 5.5 CLE credit hours. Get complete details and register to attend.

On Friday, March 5, Louisiana Law Review will present its symposium titled “The Impact of the 15th and 19th Amendments on the 2020 Presidential Election: Voter Accessibility’s Battle Against Voter Suppression.” Complete details and CLE credit hours available, as well as registration, will be available on the LSU Law website in the coming weeks.

Additionally, the LSU Law Journal for Social Justice & Policy will host its inaugural symposium on Friday, March 19. The topic will be “Fighting White Supremacy in the 21st Century,” and CLE details and registration will also be forthcoming on the LSU Law website.

On Thursday, March 25, the LSU Law John P. Laborde Energy Law Center will present the 2021 Liskow & Lewis Visiting Professor in Energy Law Lecture, featuring James Van Nostrand of the West Virginia University College of Law. Professor Van Nostrand’s topic will be “The Impact of the Clean Energy Revolution on the Prospects for the Fossil Fuel Industry: Go Green or Go Home?” The lecture will take place at 5 p.m. (CST) and those attending can earn one CLE credit hour. Register to attend.

Growing up in Watson, Louisiana, Hannah Greer says she was always the kid who spoke up when she saw others being treated unfairly. As she grew older and began thinking about potential career paths, her passion for justice and advocacy led her to enroll at LSU Law.

“While I’m no longer a kid standing up to bullies, that same desire to advocate on behalf of other people has followed me into my legal education,” Greer says. “Except now, I am learning to be an advocate for my client no matter the legal issue they are involved in. As a lawyer, I want to be that bridge that helps my client navigate the complexities of the law.”

Read more about Greer — a recipient of The Class of 1988 Scholarship — and find out how you can support talented students like her through scholarships at LSU Law.

Find out about the latest news and accomplishments of your classmates.

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