LSU Law held a commencement ceremony for Class of 2021 and Class of 2020 graduates on Saturday, May 15, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the LSU campus. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick of the United States District Court, Middle District of Louisiana, delivered the keynote address, and other speakers included Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Weimer, LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Wheelis Lockridge, and LSU President Tom Galligan.

See a gallery of photos from the May 15 commencement ceremony, watch the commencement ceremony, and see a full listing of Class of 2021 graduates.

LSU Law saw an increase in overall enrollment and the arrival of its largest class of first-year students in a decade when classes began for the fall semester.

The fall semester also marked a welcome return to the large majority of classes and events being held in person at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center as the pandemic continued to subside.

Overall enrollment rose to 633 students this fall, up from 598 students last fall. The Class of 2024 includes 233 students, 74% of which are Louisiana residents and the remainder of which have come to LSU Law from 22 states. Females make up 52% of the new class of students, while males comprise 48%, and 19% of the students identify as ethnic minorities.

Ten LSU Law students in the Class of 2021 have been selected for induction into The Order of the Barristers, a national honorary organization whose purpose is the encouragement of oral advocacy and brief writing skills through effective law school oral advocacy programs.

The 2021 inductees are (pictured left to right, top row to bottom) Jessica Dell Brewer, Hannah Michelle Dardar, Emiley Elizabeth Dillon, Kaylin Jolivette, Mary Katherine Loos, Kaitlyn Marie Mistretta, Morgan Taylor Sharp, Christopher Wagner, Stephanie Wartelle, and Jordan Paul Zeringue

LSU Law Professor Keith Hall was appointed the Nesser Family Chair in Energy Law in October, making him the first faculty member to hold the chair at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

“It’s an honor to be named the inaugural Nesser Family Chair in Energy Law,” said Professor Hall. “Being appointed to a chair is wonderful in itself, but it is a special privilege to be named to this particular chair and have my name associated with the Nessers because they are such wonderful people and have been so supportive of LSU Law in many ways.”

Hall joined the LSU Law faculty as an assistant professor in 2012, was promoted to associate professor in 2015, and was appointed to full professor and awarded tenure in 2018. He has served as Director of the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute since 2012, and in early 2020 he was named Director of the LSU John P. Laborde Energy Law Center.

LSU Law welcomed five new faculty and staff members to the Paul M. Hebert Law Center this year.

Professor Summer Chandler joined the full-time law faculty and taught Bankruptcy and Contracts this fall, while longtime Clinical Adjunct Professor Jack Harrison was appointed to a full-time teaching position in the clinical legal education program and taught the Juvenile Defense Clinic this fall. Andrew Whall joined the Office of Admissions as the Assistant Director of Admissions. At the LSU Law Library, Josh Freeman was appointed as the tenure-track Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Librarian, and Brett Blanchard was appointed as Collection Maintenance and Circulation Supervisor.

Professor Chris Tyson, who has served as Chief Executive Officer of Build Baton Rouge for the past four years, is wrapping up his tenure with the city-parish redevelopment authority at the end of the year and rejoining the LSU Law faculty full time in January.

Tyson has continued to teach Local and State Government law at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center each spring since he took academic leave in December 2017 to serve as CEO of Build Baton Rouge, and he has also taught during Apprenticeship Week. Tyson holds the Newman Trowbridge Distinguished Professorship in Louisiana Property Rights 1, teaching and writing in the areas of property, real estate development, local government law and urban land use and development. He joined the LSU Law faculty in 2010 as an Assistant Professor.

After 30 years at LSU Law, Professor N. Gregory Smith retired on Aug. 11. To honor Smith’s extensive contributions to LSU Law and the university at large, LSU has bestowed upon him the title of Professor Emeritus, effective on his retirement date. Smith said he had been considering retiring for the past few years and decided the time was right after he recently reached the “shockingly old” age of 70.

“I thought that perhaps I should retire before I lost all mental capabilities,” Smith jokingly said.

Smith’s witty sense of humor, warm personality, and engaging teaching style have made him a favorite professor among his students and a beloved colleague among the LSU Law faculty and staff over the past three decades.

“All of us at LSU Law are tremendously grateful for all that Professor Smith has done for the Paul M. Hebert Law Center and our students,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Wheelis Lockridge. “It was an absolute joy to work alongside Professor Smith, and I know I’m not alone in already missing his good humor and dry wit, which he deployed not only in the classroom and in meetings, but also on the continuing legal education circuit. We all wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement.”

The LSU Law family honored the life and legacy of the longest serving faculty member in LSU history, William E. “Bill” Crawford, following his passing on Jan. 2, 2021, at the age of 93. Crawford, who was also an LSU Law alumnus, taught for 53 years before his retirement on Jan. 1, 2020.

“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.”

After serving as Director of Communications and External Relations at LSU Law for 17 years, Karen Soniat embarked on a new journey in her career at The National World War II Museum in New Orleans in August.

“Karen really put the ‘relations’ back in alumni relations for our institution during her time here. Along the way, she helped raise millions of dollars for professorships, scholarships, building programs, and more,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Lockridge at a farewell gathering for Soniat held in early August. “But most of all, I think all of us recognize her unflagging enthusiasm, passion, loyalty, hard work, and dedication that she has put into her job and everything she does.”

Soniat helped usher in a new era of communications and alumni relations at LSU Law, including the launch of a magazine and newsletter, and an extensive overhaul of the law school’s website. She was also instrumental in raising funds for major initiatives at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, including the Centennial Celebration and Plaza renovation, the Classroom to Courtroom Campaign, and the establishment of the LSU John P. Laborde Energy Law Center, among others.

For 31 years, Joe Macaluso (’79), a Hammond, La., native and current New Orleans resident, traveled the world throughout his legal career, from South America to Europe to the Middle East. Exploring his broad options for giving, he was impressed by the LSU Law Clinic program and its dual purpose of serving those in need of legal defense while preparing students for practice.

The Joseph P. Macaluso LSU Law Clinic Support Fund will provide students the experience of real-life representation of clients and make a positive impact on the community.

The LSU Law Clinical Legal Education Program offers many options—including juvenile defense, immigration, parole and reentry, prosecution, and wrongful conviction—for students to practice law and represent indigent clients in the Baton Rouge community, or act as mediators in the Baton Rouge City Court. Similar to a residency in medical school, students practice under special authority of the Louisiana Supreme Court and with close faculty supervision as they represent real clients with important legal issues or serve as mediators in real cases of controversy.

The late Louis Douglas Curet (Humanities & Social Sciences, ‘47, Law, ‘50) embodied the lively spirit of a “true Francophile.” He completely embraced his French heritage while building a successful career practicing law in Baton Rouge. Through his many travels abroad, he developed a wonderful network of dear friends throughout France.

To honor the legacy of his great love of all things French as well as his lifelong support of LSU, his daughter and son-in-law, Jeanne (Agriculture, ‘79) and David (Engineering, ‘78) James, created the Louis Douglas Curet Comparative Law Scholarship at LSU Law. This new scholarship benefits French-speaking students in the LSU Law Master of Laws (LL.M.) program.

“Louis‘ ancestors arrived in Louisiana from France in 1719, and he loved sharing his passion for French culture with his family and friends. He took weekly French classes and spoke nearly fluent French. He was the ultimate lawyer, highly respected with an impeccable reputation. In addition, he was a tireless community volunteer associated with many charitable organizations. After he passed away and we considered how we could give back in his memory, this program seemed the natural place for us to make a tribute to him,” said David.

John P. Laborde, one of LSU Law's most accomplished alumni and strongest supporters, passed away on Oct. 21 at the age of 97.

“Mr. Laborde’s impact on the Paul M. Hebert Law Center and our LSU Law family cannot be overstated. His deep connections to LSU Law span more than seven decades, beginning in 1946 when he enrolled as a law student after serving in the U.S. Army in the Pacific under General Douglas MacArthur,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Lockridge. “His many years of support to his alma mater have included volunteering to assist in an array of leadership roles as well as making transformational gifts to the institution, including those establishing the John P. Laborde Energy Law Center, creating four professorships in energy law, and funding ten endowed scholarships.”

Laborde graduated from LSU Law in 1949, having been inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa honorary fraternity and serving as its President. He then began practicing law in Marksville, where he had grown up, ultimately moving to New Orleans in 1950 to enter the emerging energy sector as District Land Manager with Richardson & Bass. Along with two of his brothers, Alden and C.E. Laborde, he founded Tidewater Inc. in 1956. He served as Chairman and CEO of the publicly owned company for 38 years, during which he helped Tidewater grow into the largest oil and gas marine owner and operator of vessels in the world. Upon his retirement in 1994, Tidewater established an academic chair at LSU in his name.

Through the years, Laborde was an active supporter of LSU and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He was a longtime member of the LSU Law Chancellor’s Council, he served on the Law Center’s Board of Trustees and its Forever LSU Campaign Steering Committee, and he was chair of the LSU Law Annual Fund Campaign from 1999 to 2003. In 2012, he and his family made a $2 million gift to LSU Law to establish the John P. Laborde Energy Center. It remains the largest donation to the Law Center in its history.

Lawyer and entrepreneur Juanita Powell Baranco, an LSU graduate who earned her J.D. from LSU Law in 1977, was inducted by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Historical Society as a Georgia Trustee on June 5. Being inducted as a Georgia Trustee is the highest honor conferred by the State of Georgia.

Baranco, who grew up in Shreveport, is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Baranco Automotive Group in Atlanta. She founded the company with her husband, Gregory Baranco, in 1978. It was one of the first African American-owned car dealerships in the metropolitan Atlanta area, and the couple also owns several other car dealerships in Georgia and Louisiana. Along with her career in business, Baranco has also had a successful law career, including having served as assistant attorney general for the State of Georgia.

Ten LSU Law alumni practicing in the public sector were selected as recipients of the 2021 Loan Repayment Assistance Program and each received $5,000 to help repay their law school student loan debt.

LSU Law launched the Loan Repayment Assistance Program in 2020 with support from the Kendall Vick Public Law Foundation and awarded $5,000 each to five alumni. Thanks to increased funding from the Louisiana Bar Foundation Kendall Vick Public Law Fund, LSU Law was able to make twice as many grant awards this year. The Loan Repayment Assistant Program aims to help remove barriers to public interest practice faced by recent graduates who have incurred significant debt to finance their legal education. To be eligible, LSU Law alumni must have graduated within the past five years and be employed full time in eligible public service positions in Louisiana, including 501(c)(3) charitable organizations engaged in pro bono legal services or public defender services, and federal, state, or local judicial clerks.

This year’s LRAP recipients are ReAzalia Allen (’15), Catherine Ashy (’19), Brittney Esie (’20), Kiara Heath (’19), Fahreta Muminovic (’15), Vincent Nguyen (’20), Mallory Richard (’16), Aislyn Taylor (’17), Torrie Thibodeaux (’17), and Marcus Wilson (’20).

LSU Law graduates working in eligible public service positions can apply now for two separate loan repayment assistance programs being administered in the coming year, each of which provide for upwards of $5,000 in student loan forgiveness. Get complete details.

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