As classes began for the fall semester on Monday, Aug. 15, LSU Law welcomed 211 first-year students to the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. The 1L class of students has a higher median average LSAT and undergraduate GPA when compared to last year's first-year class, and the overall population of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession rose to 25% this year, up from 19%.

“Our outstanding and dedicated team, including both our Office of Admissions staff and faculty members on the Admissions Committee, worked very hard this year to ensure we met our institutional goal of admitting a student body that is exceptionally qualified academically and broadly diverse, with a rich cross-section of backgrounds, talents, experiences, and perspectives from across our state, nation, and world,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Wheelis Lockridge.

Total enrollment at LSU Law as of the first day of the fall semester was at 615 students, down slightly from 624 students on the first day of classes last year. Enrollment figures will be made official following the fourteenth day of classes.

The first-year class includes 51% males and 49% females, with 67% being Louisiana residents and 33% being out-of-state residents. They came to LSU Law from more than 70 undergraduate colleges and universities, where they majored in more than 40 different fields of study. The top undergraduate major of the first-year students is political science, but others have backgrounds ranging from the humanities and social sciences to engineering and business.

The broad diversity of the first-year class is reflected in the students’ non-academic interests and achievements. Among the 211 students, at least one speaks Cajun French, while another speaks Swahili, and yet another is fluent in four languages. The class also includes student-athletes who competed in lacrosse, soccer, and fencing at the collegiate level, as well as a former math teacher, a small business owner, and a certified rescue diver. The list of countries the students have either lived or studied in includes Germany, Cuba, Ireland, Brazil, Iran, Argentina, South Korea, and India.

Owen L. Anderson, a Professor and Distinguished Oil and Gas Scholar at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, will discuss “Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage: Can it Save the Planet?” at LSU Law on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at the 2022 Liskow & Lewis Visiting Professor in Energy Law Lecture.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 5 p.m. in the Robinson Courtroom on the second floor of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. Parking will be available onsite, and a reception will follow the lecture, which is expected to last approximately one hour. RSVP to attend. One hour of CLE credit is available. There is no online option to participate. The Liskow & Lewis Visiting Professor in Energy Law Lecture is presented by LSU Law and the LSU Law John P. Laborde Energy Law Center.

“When I was still practicing law and thinking about entering academia, Owen Anderson was one of the nationally prominent oil and gas professors who inspired me. I greatly admired him then, and I still do. He is an amazing scholar who has done some very important work in this area, and now that I know him personally, I can also say that he is a wonderful person, too,” said LSU Law Professor and John P. Laborde Energy Law Center Director Keith Hall. “Carbon capture and storage is an extremely timely and important topic—especially here in Louisiana—and we are very excited to welcome Professor Anderson to LSU Law for what promises to be a very informative and engaging lecture.”

Judge Kelly Balfour of the 19th Judicial District court will conduct “rule day” hearings in the Robinson Courtroom at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Starting at 8:30 a.m., Judge Balfour will hear a series of oral arguments on motions pending in a single complex case. There will be more than 10 attorneys representing as many clients making their submissions to the court during the hearings, which are expected to last until noon.

Professor Jeff Brooks, who also serves as Director of Advocacy Programs at LSU Law, is excited about the opportunity the collaboration will provide for students at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

“We greatly appreciate Judge Balfour and the 19th Judicial District Court for bringing the courtroom to our students. Having ‘rule day’ at LSU Law gives our students the chance to see a day in the life of a litigator,” he said. “Students will experience a series of fast-paced arguments that are made to a judge, and not to a jury. The nature of a rule day requires courtroom advocates to think quickly and adapt. These are essential lawyering skills, and we are truly grateful to the court for making this unique opportunity available.”

LSU Law will host the 2022 Teaching Advocates Moot Court Conference at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center on Friday, Sept. 30. The conference will bring together dozens of top moot court program directors, faculty, coaches, and national competition organizers and administrators.

The moot court community faces many challenges as it transitions back to in-person appellate advocacy competitions. Attendees will address these challenges and more during the conference, which will feature representatives from approximately 30 U.S. law schools.

The conference is being organized by Preis PLC Director of Advocacy and Professional Practice Professor Jeff Brooks, who also serves as Director of Field Placements & Moot Court/Trial Advocacy Program.

Columbia Journalism School Dean Emeritus and Professor Nicholas Lemann returned to his home state on Wednesday, Sept. 14, to deliver the 2022 Judge Alvin B. and Janice G. Rubin Visiting Professor Lecture at the Lod Cook Alumni Center, presented by LSU Law.

“I’m very happy to be here today—not just because it’s always great to have an occasion to come home to Louisiana, but also, and especially, because of being given an opportunity to honor the memory of Judge Alvin B. Rubin,” said Lemann at the opening of his lecture. “Alvin and Janice Rubin were good friends of my parents, and I saw a lot of them while I was growing up.”

In his lecture, “The Supreme Court and Civil Rights: the 1950s and 2020s,” Lemann discussed how the nation’s high court wrestled with and ruled on major Civil Rights cases in the past, and what is different about the current court at it issues decisions on related issues that are upending decades of established jurisprudence. Just months after the court issued its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that dramatically reversed its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, he noted, the court is now set to take up yet another polarizing issue that will have an immediate nationwide impact.

“This fall, the court will have another opportunity to overturn a half-century of jurisprudence on a different topic, affirmative action in admission to universities,” Lemann said, noting the key decision on the issue is the 1978 case of Bakke v. Regents of the University of California has been reaffirmed several times by the court. “That’s where the court ruled that it is impermissible to reserve admissions slots explicitly for members of minority groups, but permissible to consider minority race as a qualitative plus factor in making admissions decisions. The court’s justification was that affirmative action of this kind promoted diversity; if you think about all the times you encounter references to diversity in American life today, you should bear in mind that they originated with that one Supreme Court decision. Such is the influence of the court.”

Prior to his lecture, Lemann was the featured guest on the “Talk Louisiana” radio show with Jim Engster, where he spent more than a half hour discussing his upbringing in New Orleans and career, along with the current state of journalism and his lecture. Listen to Lemann’s interview with Engster. Following the radio appearance, Lemann had lunch with some LSU Law students at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

The LSU Law Student Bar Association Safety and Sustainability Committee is accepting donations of gently used professional clothing and suits for LSU Law students in need. Donations can be dropped off at the LSU Law Office of Career Services through December during their regular office hours.

Those who would like to contribute can donate gently used and laundered suits, ties, dresses, shirts, and blouses to help law students build their professional wardrobes. Briefcases, garment racks and tie hangers can also be donated. Additionally, donations of new shoes, socks, and hosiery are also appreciated.

To find the donation drop off point, enter the Office of Career Services on the first floor of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center (new building), go left down the hallway to the back room where incoming donations can be placed on the clothing rack. Those with questions can contact students Rubenie Stimphil at (504) 298-9679 or rstimp2@lsu.edu, or Braeden Smith at (225) 892-9164 or jsmi528@lsu.edu. In the spring semester, donations can be made by appointment only with Stimphil or Smith.

LSU Law students John Arboleta and Angelle Boudreaux won the Fall 2022 Ira S. Flory Mock Trial Competition on Monday, Sept. 26, in the Robinson Court Room at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

The month-long competition began with 37 teams in the preliminary round and ended with finalist teams of Boudreaux and Arboleta competing against fellow students Lauren Watson and Mitchell Williams. Students on each of the finalist teams will receive an automatic invitation to membership in the Board of Advocates.

“Winning Flory this semester felt really special because of how many talented teams were competing,” said Boudreaux. “But having so many passionate advocates and committed witnesses participating is what made it all so much fun.”

Named in honor of the late professor of the Law Center, the Ira S. Flory Mock Trial Competition is a mock trial competition open to all second-and third-year law students. A Flory Trial is held each semester; the fall Flory trial is traditionally a criminal case, while the spring Flory trial is a civil case.

Less than a week after Adreaynne Hutchison celebrated her graduation at the LSU Law Class of 2022 Commencement in late May, she was invited to the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans to be honored by the Louisiana State Bar Association as one of four recipients of its 2022 Law Student Pro Bono Award at the 37th annual Pro Bono Publico & Children’s Law Awards Ceremony.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know the award existed, it was all very surreal,” said Hutchison. “It felt like we were setting the stage to help others and it was a humbling experience.”

The LSBA annually awards the Law Student Pro Bono Award to those who demonstrate dedication to providing legal services to the impoverished by initiating a new program at their law school, being a model for other volunteers, becoming involved in one or more pro bono programs, providing leadership, or participating in other pro bono activities while earning a law degree.

Hutchison was recognized for her work with the LSU Law Parole and Re-entry Clinic, which included assisting clients of Parole Project, a Baton Rouge-based nonprofit dedicated to enhancing public safety through advocacy, programming, and services for persons who have served long prison sentences so that they may reach their full potential. Specifically, Hutchison worked with Parole Project clients known as “10-6 lifers,” most of whom accepted plea agreements in the early 1970s that carried life sentences but allowed for parole eligibility after 10 years and six months—eligibility requirements that were were subsequently raised to 40 years before being eliminated entirely by 1979.

On Saturday, Aug. 27, more than 100 LSU Law students contributed nearly 300 hours of volunteer work as part of the annual Fall Day of Service organized by the Public Interest Law Society and Student Bar Association.

“I am grateful to every law student who showed up and volunteered for the annual Fall Day of Service,” said 3L and PILS President Madeline Meyer. “Each of them represented the law school well, exhibiting professionalism and positivity while giving back to the Baton Rouge community. After the pandemic put a damper on many events over the past several years, the fact that over 100 students volunteered nearly 300 hours of community service was inspiring to see.”

Law students volunteered at several sites and for multiple nonprofit groups in the Baton Rouge area throughout the Fall Day of Service, including the USS KIDD Veterans Museum, Cat Haven, Keep Tiger Town Beautiful, Friends of the Animals, Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, and OLOL Children’s Health Children’s Developmental Center at McMains.

“It was our largest number of volunteers ever!” said Jennifer Richardson, founder of Keep Tiger Town Beautiful. “These law students were fierce litter warriors, and we were extremely proud of their dedication to our community, picking up 78 contractor bags of garbage, tires, and car parts. Please come back!”

The Wex Malone Inn of Court has nominated 18 LSU Law students for membership following their successes in the Law Center’s 2022 Vinson & Elkins Trial Advocacy Program.

Faculty members of the Trial Advocacy Program nominate a limited number of students from their respective sections for the honor of membership. The Wex Malone Inn of Court is one of 175 chapters of the American Inns of Court, a national organization of attorneys dedicated to improving civility, professionalism and ethics among the bench and bar.

Many distinguished judges and attorneys in the Baton Rouge area maintain membership in local chapter, and nominated students are provided with networking opportunities, access to professional skills workshops, and the possibility of being matched with attorney mentors. The Wex Malone Inn of Court meets once a month to hold programs and discussions on matters of skills and professionalism. Congratulations to the following students on being nominated for membership:

Bobbi Zaunbrecher, who has been an integral member of the Alumni Relations team at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center for nine years over two periods of service, has been promoted to LSU Law Director of External Relations. Since 2015, Zaunbrecher has served as Senior Associate Director of Development, and she served as Associate Director of Alumni Relations between 2007 and 2009.

In her new position, Zaunbrecher succeeds Karen Soniat, who directed LSU Law alumni relations and communications for 17 years before departing in August 2021 to serve as Vice President of Annual Giving and Membership at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

“Karen’s first job was as a teacher. Throughout her game-changing tenure at LSU Law, she never stopped being a teacher and the members of her team learned valuable lessons daily. I am honored to have been selected to follow her. Due in no small part to Karen’s influence, I am prepared,” said Zaunbrecher.

Zaunbrecher has extensive experience directing management, donor relations, and communications within higher education, nonprofit organizations, state government, and the legal community. Between her two periods of service at LSU Law, she held various executive positions with the American Red Cross at its Baton Rouge office, including Regional CEO, Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Development Officer during her six years with the organization.

“Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be shoring up our communications and alumni relations team with two new members and engaging alumni volunteers to elevate our profile,” said Zaunbrecher, who began in her new role at the start of July. “We’ll also be working with the LSU Foundation to advance our fundraising capacity, which was diminished through the pandemic. We have a legacy on which to build and a future to secure. It’s an exciting time at LSU Law!”

Natalie Palermo has been appointed Interim Director of the Law Library and Information Technology Services at LSU Law. Prior to joining the Law Library as an Assistant Librarian in 2011, Palermo served as a General Librarian at LSU Libraries for nearly 16 years.

In the role, Palermo will be responsible for overseeing the public service, instructional technology, and resource management activities of the Law Library in addition to technology support for the Law Center. She previously served as Interim Co-Director of the Law Library and Information Technology Services from 2016 to 2018. Prior to her most recent appointment, Palermo served as Assistant Director of Resource Management. She was promoted to Associate Librarian in October 2015 and was awarded tenure in July 2017.

“I am honored to serve in an interim capacity again. The experience I gained as an interim co-director from 2016 to 2018 has enabled me to hit the ground running,” Palermo said. “I am very fortunate to work with the awesome staff in the Library and ITS. Together, we will do our best to meet the needs of the Law Center community.”

Hayley Westphal has joined the LSU Law staff as Associate Director of Alumni Relations. In her new role, Westphal is a key member of the External Relations team, responsible for the Reunion Weekend and All-Alumni Tailgate program, donor stewardship, and engagement of young alumni.

Westphal is not exactly a stranger to LSU Law. She comes to the Paul M. Hebert Law Center from the LSU Foundation, where she previously supported development efforts in the Magnolia Cohort, of which LSU Law was a part.

Westphal brings a wealth of experience in event planning to her new role at LSU Law. Prior to her time with the LSU Foundation, she served as Special Events Coordinator for Manship Theatre and as Public Relations Manager for the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum. She began her career with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where her she was named Special Events Assistant for the Washington National Opera after successful completion of an internship.

Michael Lane has joined LSU Law as Assistant Director of Continuing Legal Education, where he will be responsible for the coordination and successful implementation of CLE events.

As an LSU doctoral candidate with over 10 years of experience in instruction and curriculum design, Lane has become well acquainted with the classroom setting both as a student and a teacher. Lane hopes to use his editorial and event management experience to bridge the gap between reliable, dynamic products and the classroom experience.

“After ten years in education, I’m excited to experience new challenges and opportunities at the Law Center,” Lane said. “The Law Center community has given a warm welcome and proven an enjoyable work environment. I’m thrilled about this opportunity to help (LSU Law Continuing Professional Development Director) Scott Harrington to improve and expand our CLE offerings.”

Prior to joining LSU Law, Lane served as a history professor at St. Joseph’s Abbey and Seminary College and later taught theology and English at the high school level. Most recently, he served on the executive board of the Men of Immaculata as the Executive Administrative Assistant. Lane earned his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Baylor University, his master’s degree in history from LSU, and he is currently completing his doctorate in history at LSU.

Newly appointed LSU Law Advocacy Fellow Charles Watkins is excited to return to the Paul M. Hebert Law Center to help direct the Advocacy Programs that shaped him as a law student and litigator.

“My goal in this role is to teach student advocates so that when they leave LSU Law, they can try a case from start to finish as if they’ve been doing it for 10 years,” said Watkins, a 2012 LSU Law graduate.

In his new role, Watkins will work closely with Professor Jeff Brooks, who also serves as Director of Field Placements & Moot Court/Trial Advocacy Program, to coach and prepare students for moot court, mock trial, and alternative dispute resolution competitions.

As a student at LSU Law, Watkins competed in multiple national trial competitions, including a second-place finish at the National Pretrial Competition, and earning a national berth at the National Black Law Students Association Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition. In the Fall 2010 semester, he won the prestigious Ira S. Flory Mock Trial Competition. He was also a member of the Board of Advocates and the Black Law Student Association, and he served as an LSU Law Student Ambassador.

Chris Cummings was just 17 years old when his 43-year-old mother, Barbara, developed early onset dementia as she battled Multiple Sclerosis. Struggling to help secure affordable treatments for his mother and preserve her memories had a profound impact on Cummings’ education and career path, leading him first to law school and later to entrepreneurship, and ultimately to a 2022 United Nations World Summit Award for his company’s latest product.

“I was inspired to go to law school after I had to battle to get my mom covered by Social Security and Medicaid,” Cummings recalled. “The system automatically denied her coverage three times and I remember the elderly woman working the front desk of the Social Security office pulling me lightly aside and whispering, ‘Honey, we automatically turn down everyone. You are going to have to hire an attorney to get your mom the care she needs.’ Within two weeks of hiring an attorney, my mom’s case was approved. I decided then that I would go to law school someday.”

Cummings began his legal education at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in the fall of 2010. During his time at LSU Law, Cummings successfully competed in many trial advocacy and moot court competitions. He and his best friend won the Robert Lee Tullis Moot Court Competition during his second year of law school, and a year later he was crowned the Chancellor’s Cup Senior Appellate Challenge Champion. He was also a member of the LSU Law ABA National Appellate Advocacy that finished in the top 16 teams nationally in 2012, and a member of the Peter James Johnson National Civil Rights Trial Advocacy team. He was an LSU Law Moot Court Board member, a Junior Graduate Editor of the Journal of Civil Law Studies, and a legal research assistant for Professor John Trahan.

“The thing I value most in life are relationships and friendships, and I have plenty from my time at LSU Law,” he said. “There is no better way to bond than being thrown into a boiler room with 200 people. I immediately fell in love with criminal law, particularly federal criminal law, and also motion and appellate work after clerking for the Federal Public Defender’s office.”

Upon graduation, Cummings clerked for the Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson (’69) as well as Judge Ralph Tureau of the Louisiana 23rd Judicial District Court and Judge Guy Holdridge (’78) of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, First District, Division C. After clerking, Cummings became a panelist for the Federal Public Defender’s Office, where he spent two years representing persons accused of serious felony offenses in the U.S. District Courts of the Eastern and Middle Districts of Louisiana, both at the trial and appellate level. It was during this time that Cummings’ life took a surprising turn.

“While practicing law, I had a little voice in the back of my head pulling me in this direction to help families dealing with memory loss due to my mom,” said Cummings, who also earned his undergraduate degree at LSU in 2010 with a double major in Political Science and International Relations. “I trusted my gut and listened to that little voice because I didn’t want to have any regrets, and I knew I could come back to law.”

In 2016, Cummings launched Pass It Down, a company focused on helping preserve and present the stories of their loved ones’ lives on a digital platform.

When LSU Law alumna and international law attorney Mana Yegani arrives at her Houston firm each morning, her eyes meet with a recent addition to her office décor—a small tiger figurine formerly owned by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—that reinforces her dedication to fighting for justice on behalf of her clients.

“Seeing it brightens my day. It gives me motivational power, reminding me who Ruth Bader Ginsburg was and her connection to LSU Law,” said Yegani, a 2010 LSU Law grad who earned her undergraduate degree at North Carolina State University in 2006.

The journey of the tiger figurine from Ginsburg’s office to Yegani’s began in 1996, when Ginsburg served as the LSU Law Judge Alvin B. Rubin Visiting Professor and visited the Paul M. Hebert Law Center to deliver the 24th John H. Tucker Jr. Lecture in Civil Law. Ginsburg was very gracious with her time during her visit, meeting with faculty, students, and staff, and participating in the annual Hats ‘n Canes celebration. As a small token of its appreciation, LSU Law gifted Gingsburg the tiger figurine, which has a small brass plaque on it that reads, “1996 Rubin visiting Professor, LSU Law Center.”

In April, Yegani came upon a story by LSU Law that highlighted an auction of Ginsburg’s personal collection of modern art and memorabilia, which included the tiger figurine. Determined to own the unique piece history, Yegani implemented a strategy to win the auction. Rather than bidding early on, she waited until the last five minutes of the auction to place her bid. After getting outbid three times and with her window of opportunity rapidly closing, Yegani submitted a final bid one minute before the auction closed. Her timing was perfect and the tiger was hers, with the proceeds of the auction benefitting the Washington National Opera, a foundation close to Ginsburg’s heart.

“I couldn’t believe it, I was in shock,” Yegani said after learning she won the bid. “I wondered how many conversations the tiger heard in Ruth Bader’s chambers.”

In the 50 years since the landmark Title IX civil rights law was passed, there has arguably never been a greater focus on preventing, properly responding to, and eliminating gender-based discrimination and crime on college campuses across the country than there is presently.

At the University of North Texas, LSU Law alumna Alic’a Oliver (’14) continues the important work of creating and maintaining safe spaces for student-athletes in her role as the Associate Athletic Director of Compliance.

“Every day provides an opportunity to solve a problem,” Oliver said. “I am most passionate about helping affect and change the lives of student-athletes by shaping their experiences, and, whether it’s about compliance or not, making them feel comfortable asking for help.”

In her role at the Denton, Texas-based university, Oliver manages the compliance office staff and provides compliance guidance to administrators, coaches, staff, and student-athletes in 16 athletic programs. As collegiate sports approach new territories, Oliver said it’s vital that all athletic programs provide equal resources and opportunities, and to ensure that student-athletes of all gender identities feel welcomed, included, and supported.

The Louisiana State Bar Association presented six LSU Law alumni with 2022 Pro Bono Publico & Children’s Law Awards on May 26 in recognition of their outstanding commitments to providing the community with pro bono legal services.

The honorees were presented with their awards at the 37th annual Pro Bono Publico & Children’s Law Awards Ceremony, which was held at the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans. It was the first time in three years that the ceremony was held in person, and the first time in history that all seven of the Louisiana Supreme Court justices were able to preside over the ceremony from the bench in an official court session to demonstrate their fervent support for pro bono. The LSU Law graduates honored with awards are:

During her undergraduate years at LSU, Sulphur-native Mikha Romero fell in love with the campus community and surrounding Baton Rouge area so much that she decided to remain here to pursue a law degree.

“The staff, faculty, and students at this university are uniquely compassionate, driven and hardworking,” said Romero, who earned her bachelor’s degree in publication relations with a minor in business administration in 2020. “I knew that no other school would match my expectations for such a personal and tailored legal education.”

As she begins her final year of law school, Romero said she knows the close friendships she has forged at LSU Law over the past two years will continue to grow after her graduation next spring.

“The best part about law school is the shared experience that bonds classmates and peers,” she said. “I also appreciate the constant support and guidance from my professors, who continually strive to make law school a positive experience that I will look back on fondly.”

Learn more about Romero and find out how you can support outstanding students like her through scholarships at LSU Law »

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