2023 Distinguished Attorney
Harry J. “Skip” Philips, Jr.
Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips
Harry J. “Skip” Philips, Jr. is Of Counsel at Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips in Baton Rouge where he has practiced since graduating from the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1983, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Louisiana Law Review and elected to Order of the Coif. Skip also served as Managing Partner of Taylor Porter for nine years. He is a past president and member of the Louisiana Bar Foundation Board of Directors and currently serves on the grants and governance committees. Skip is a member of the Council of the Louisiana Law Institute and is the immediate past chair of the Board of Directors of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations. He and Colleen are the proud parents of two children and grandparents of three.
2022 Distinguished Attorney
Leo C. Hamilton
Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P.
Leo C. Hamilton is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P. He practices in the areas of labor and employment law, administrative law, constitutional law, and governmental relations. His clients have included the City of Alexandria and the Parish of Pointe Coupee and General Counsel for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. Leo earned his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1977 and has provided his clients with over 40 years of experience.
Active in many business and civic endeavors, Leo has previously served as Chair of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University Board of Trustees, Vice President of Louisiana State Law Institute, Chair of the LSU Alumni Association, President of American Red Cross, President of the Baton Rouge Bar Association and the President and Board Member for the Louisiana Bar Foundation. Leo was also a member of the Entergy Louisiana Advisory Board, Louisiana State Bar Association, and House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.
Leo was awarded the Statewide Impact Award by the Louisiana Community and Technical College System for extraordinary leadership efforts which have been notably effective in advancing the education and workforce needs of students, businesses, and communities across Louisiana. Recognized as a 2020 Distinction in Diversity Honoree by the Clarence L. Barney Jr. African American Cultural Center. He has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America and Lawyer of the Year for Administrative / Regulatory Law and Employment Law in Baton Rouge by The Best Lawyers in America.
2021 Distinguished Attorney
Gordon L. James
Gordon L. James is a senior partner at the law firm of Hudson, Potts & Bernstein in Monroe. He was admitted to the bar in 1979 and has practiced at Hudson, Potts, & Bernstein since that date. His primary practice areas are medical malpractice and products liability. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Louisiana, Monroe in 1976, and then obtained his Juris Doctorate from Louisiana State University in 1979. He served on the Louisiana Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif. During his years of practice, he has served as the President of the Fourth Judicial District Bar Association, as a Director in the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, and as a member of the LSBA CLE Committee. He has been selected as a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has served for many years on the Board of Directors for Ouachita Christian School and as a Deacon at the Jackson Street Church of Christ. He has been married 46 years to his wife, Susan, and they have two daughters, Anna Zeigler and Jessica Griffin.
2020 Distinguished Attorney
Linda Law Clark
Linda Law Clark is a partner in the firm of DeCuir, Clark & Adams, LLP. She and her family moved to Baton Rouge, LA in 1977. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 1972 from Wells College in Aurora, New York. She attended the Paul Hebert Law School at LSU, served on the LSU Law Review and graduated in 1993, Order the Coif. She worked as a solo practitioner until joining Winston G. DeCuir, Sr. in 1995 where they formed DeCuir and Clark, L.L.P. As an experienced Trial attorney in State and Federal Courts, her principal areas of practice are general civil litigation, administrative hearings for quasi-governmental and governmental bodies, education, employment law and public finance.
Prior to law school, she served in a variety of paid and voluntary non-profit organizations, focusing on health, education, children and womens issues. She served in multiple capacities on executive committees of different non-profit organizations in the State over the last forty years, including Louisiana PTA, Louisiana League of Women Voters, the YWCA, Presbytery of Louisiana and Louisiana Girl Scouts. She was named a Woman of Distinction by Girl Scouts Louisiana East in 2013.
As an attorney, she has served on executive committees in various capacities with Inns of Court, the Baton Rouge Bar, the Louisiana State Bar and the Louisiana Bar Foundation. She was recognized as the inaugural recipient of the Louisiana State Bar David Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. She has actively volunteered as a pro bono attorney over the years, proudly accepting recognition of one of the first attorneys in the Baton Rouge Bar to receive the 1000 Hour Award. In 2018 she had the honor of serving as President of the Baton Rouge Bar Association.
She has been married for over forty-nine years to her husband Christopher Clark, is the proud mother of two children, Andrew and Samantha, and grandmother to grandson Luke and granddaughters Anson, Lacie and Ella.
2019 Distinguished Attorney
Marcus V. Brown
Marcus V. Brown is Executive Vice-President and General Counsel for Entergy Corporation. In this capacity he provides advice and counsel to the Board of Directors, Chairman and CEO and the executive team. He also leads the corporation’s Legal; Ethics and Compliance; Corporate Communications; Federal Policy, Regulatory and Governmental Affairs; Corporate Social Responsibility; Sustainability and Environmental Policy; and Corporate Security and Governance groups.
Marcus is also a member of the Energy Insurance Mutual Board of Directors, the Tulane University Center for Energy Law Advisory Board, and the Louisiana State University John P. Laborde Energy Law Center Advisory Council. Prior to joining Entergy in 1995, he practiced with the New Orleans-based Stone Pigman law firm.
He received his B.A. from Southern University A&M College in 1985 and a Juris Doctor from the Southern University Law Center (SULC) in 1988, where he was a member of the Law Review. He received his MBA from the Tulane University A.B. Freeman School of Business in 2002.
Under his leadership, and in honor of the company’s effective diversity and inclusion efforts, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association selected the Entergy legal department as its 2013 Employer of Choice-South Region.
This year he was honored with National Legal Aid and Defender Association Exemplar Award. He also received the New Orleans Bar Association President’s Award in 2018. He was named to the SULC Alumni Hall of Fame in 2017.
Marcus is married to the Hon. Nannette Brown, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. They have two adult children, Christopher and Rachel Brown.
2019 Distinguished Attorney
Mary Terrell Joseph
Mary Terrell Joseph, native of Shreveport, Louisiana, graduated in 1966 from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia and began practicing law in Baton Rouge with the firm Joseph & Joseph after graduation from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1970. In 1978 Mary joined the law firm Sanders, Downing, Kean & Cazedessus, where she remained until 1983 when she left to form the firm, Rubin, Curry, Colvin & Joseph. In 1993, the firm merged with McGlinchey Stafford where she currently practices in the area of Creditor’s Rights. In January 2005, Mary was appointed Judge, Pro-Tempore for the 19th Judicial District Court.
Legal honors include the Baton Rouge Banking and Finance Law “Lawyer of the Year,” Louisiana Super Lawyers (Banking); the “Crystal Gavel Award,” and in Best Lawyers in America®.
Mary has been honored as a Volunteer Activist, an Olympic Torchbearer, a YWCA Woman of Achievement, and as a Leave a Legacy honoree. She has chaired the Capital Area United Way Board and Campaign, the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, Capital Area Network, the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge, and the Leadership Baton Rouge Alumni Board. Mary also previously served on the Board of Directors for Baton Rouge Area Foundation Board, the Emerge Center, and many other boards.
As a member of a Baton Rouge Junior League study committee, she co-founded the Stop-Rape Crisis Center (now S.T.A.R.) and served on its Board of Directors in the 1970’s. She has been an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church since 1967.
She currently serves on the boards of the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting, the LSU Museum of Art Advisory Board, and the Hollins University Board of Trustees.
Mary and her late husband Cheney C. Joseph are the parents of two sons, Terrell Joseph, M.D., and Allen Fort Colley Joseph and 3 grandchildren, Reece, Chloe, and Jackson Joseph.
2018 Distinguished Attorney
H. Bruce Shreves
H. Bruce Shreves is a founding member of the firm of Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn, LLP. He grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, graduated from Georgetown Law School and was admitted to the South Dakota Bar in 1969. Shortly after he was drafted, spending four years in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps. While in the army he took the Louisiana Bar, and was admitted in 1972. Shreves’ practice has consisted primarily in the areas of construction, surety law, and most recently arbitration and mediation. He was named Lawyer of the Year in both arbitration and mediation by Best Lawyers and listed in Super Lawyers as one of the Top Ten Lawyers in Louisiana.
Shreves currently serves as the chair of the Section on Fidelity, Surety and Construction Law of the Louisiana State Bar Association. He has also served as chair of the American Bar Association’s Fidelity & Surety Committee. Thirty years ago, he co-authored one of the first books in Louisiana devoted to construction law.
Shreves served many years with the Pro Bono Project. He has served on the board of Boys Town of Louisiana and is a former board member and chair of the Louisiana chapter of Bread for The World. Shreves has been married 49 years to the former Jacqueline Farnsworth of New Orleans and is the proud father of three children, Catherine, Trey, and Ashley, along with two grandsons.
2017 Distinguished Attorney
Kim M. Boyle
Kim M. Boyle is a partner at Phelps Dunbar where she practices in the areas of labor and employment, civil rights, constitutional law, commercial, tort, and general litigation. Boyle served as the first female African-American President of the Louisiana State Bar Association (2009-2010) as well as the first African-American President of the New Orleans Bar Association (2002-2003).
Boyle is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Amistad Research Center, as well as serving on the Executive Committee of Tulane University and the New Orleans Business Alliance, and serves on the boards of Dillard University and Touro Infirmary. She previously served on the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, which focused upon rebuilding New Orleans post-Katrina, and served as Chair of the Health/Social Services Committee of the Commission, as well as serving on the Louisiana Recovery Authority after Hurricane Katrina.
Prior to joining Phelps Dunbar, Boyle served as Judge Pro Tempore, Division I, for the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish. She is also a former assistant professor of law at Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans. Kim received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1987 and her A.B. from Princeton University in 1984.
She is the proud daughter of the late Ernest Boyle, Jr. and Mrs. Connie W. Boyle and the sister of Wardell Boyle.
2016 Distinguished Attorney
Donna D. Fraiche
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC
Donna D. Fraiche practices as a shareholder with the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz where she chairs its Nominating Committee and formerly chaired its Women’s Initiative. Fraiche chaired the Louisiana Health Care Commission from 1998 to 2015, and served on the Louisiana Legislature’s Task Force on the Working Uninsured. She served as the first woman president of the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) and was chosen for their first class of Fellows.
She is currently a Board member of the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, The Center for Planning Excellence, Woman’s Hospital and serves on three publically traded corporate boards. Fraiche is the Honorary Consul-General of Japan for New Orleans. She was a charter member of the Louisiana Recovery Authority; chaired its Long Term Community Planning effort, and served on its Health Care Committee and the Louisiana Health Care Redesign Collaborative.
Fraiche served as Chair of the Board of Loyola University, received the Integritas Vitae award, Loyola’s highest honor, and has delivered the commencement address at the Law School. Fraiche has received the LSU Esprit de Femme award, and has been recognized by City Business in their Women’s Hall of Fame. She is currently on the Board of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and a number of other Boards and civic associations.
She has served as President of the World Trade Center, Chair of the Board of the New Orleans Regional Medical Center, and on the adjunct faculty of Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Administration as a preceptor for the residency program in health systems management.
2016 Distinguished Attorney
Thomas M. Hayes III
Hayes, Harkey, Smith and Cascio, L.L.P.
Thomas M. Hayes III has practiced for forty years in Monroe, Louisiana. He obtained a B.A. with honors from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in 1974 and a J.D. from Louisiana State University in 1977. He then began practicing with his father, Tom Jr., at Hayes, Harkey, Smith & Cascio L.L.P and where he now practices with his son, Tommy. His practice has focused on civil litigation in state and federal court across north and central Louisiana, where he has represented parties in disputes involving a broad range of subjects including professional responsibility of lawyers, architects, engineers and other professionals, product liability, property, successions, contracts, intellectual property, tort, insurance, civil rights, and employment.
He is a Senior Council Member of the Louisiana State Law Institute, and serves on its Executive Committee and its Committee on Louisiana Civil Procedure. He served five years as Bar Examiner on Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure for the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Committee on Bar Admissions. He has twice served on the LSBA Board of Governors, and on its nominating committee. He was trained as a mediator at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine School of Law, and serves as a mediator with the Patterson Resolution Group. He is a past president of the Fourth Judicial District Bar Association and the Fred Fudickar Inn of Court. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and serves as its Regent for Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas. He also holds membership in several specialty bar associations.
He is married to Federal Magistrate Judge Karen Luikart Hayes of the Western District of Louisiana. They have four children and four grandchildren.
2015 Distinguished Attorney
Judy Y. Barrasso
Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C.
Judy Barrasso is a founding member of Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation, and includes complex commercial litigation matters and class actions involving insurance coverage and bad faith, director and officer liability, securities fraud, and commercial contracts. Barrasso is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a fellow and Second Vice President of the International Society of Barristers. She is the incoming President of the New Orleans Bar Association. Barrasso has taught as an adjunct professor at Tulane Law School, the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy, and at continuing legal education programs throughout the United States. She has served as a board member and chair of the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board. She also serves on the Attorney Disciplinary Committee of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District. Barrasso is a Commissioner of the New Orleans Downtown Development District, and the Immediate Past Chair. She is a Board Member of the Contemporary Arts Center. She served on the Board of Directors of Newman School, the New Orleans Pro Bono Project, Summerbridge, Dress For Success, and the Anti-Defamation League (South Central Region). Barrasso was named a Young Leadership Council Role Model in 2004, the CityBusiness Women of the Year in 2014 and 2001, and a YWCA Role Model in 2000.
2015 Distinguished Attorney
Herschel E. Richard, Jr.
Cook, Yancey, King & Galloway
Herschel Richard is a member of Cook, Yancey, King & Galloway. His practice principally involves business litigation, eminent domain, toxic tort, products liability, and legal and medical malpractice. He received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University and his law degree from Louisiana State University, where he was a member of the Louisiana Law Review. Richard was admitted to practice in 1970. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers, and the Louisiana Bar Foundation. He is a member and past President of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, and is a Master Bencher in the Harry V. Booth and Judge Henry A. Politz American Inn of Court. Richard holds memberships in the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel, and the Maritime Law Association of the United States. He is also a Member of Council of the Louisiana State Law Institute. Richard was the 2000 recipient of the LBF Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award. He served as the LBF President from 2010-11.
2014 Distinguished Attorney
Allen L. Smith, Jr. (Posthumously)
Plauche, Smith & Nieset, LLC
Allen L. Smith graduated from LSU School of Engineering and received his J.D. from LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He joined the Firm of Plauche’ and Plauche’ in 1964, became partner in 1967. Upon his retirement from partnership, he became General Counsel for the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury.
Smith served as President of Southwest Louisiana Bar Association; President of Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel. He was the recipient of the Louisiana State Bar Association President’s Award; LBF Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award; and the Judge Albert Tate American Inns of Court Professionalism Award. He was inducted to LSU Law Center Hall of Fame in 1987.
2013 Distinguished Attorney
Francis X. Neuner, Jr.
NeunerPate
Francis X. “Frank” Neuner, Jr. is a founder and the managing partner of NeunerPate, a corporate defense firm based in Lafayette. He received a Juris Doctor in 1976 from Louisiana State University and in 2008, was named the LSU Law School?s Distinguished Alumnus. He has served as President of the Louisiana State Bar Association, Chair of the Louisiana Public Defender Board and President of the Louisiana Client Assistance Foundation. He is a member of Louisiana, Texas and American Bar Associations, the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, the Maritime Law Association of the United States and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. He is also a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers and serves as the ABA State Delegate for Louisiana. He has been married to Tracy Owens Neuner for forty two years. They have four children and four grandchildren.
2012 Distinguished Attorney
Michael H. Rubin
McGlinchey Stafford PLLC
One of the managers of the multi-state firm of McGlinchey Stafford and a senior attorney in the firm’s Baton Rouge office, Michael H. Rubin has an active commercial litigation, appellate and finance practice. He has served as an adjunct law professor for more than 30 years and is a nationally-known speaker, having given more than 375 presentations on topics such as legal ethics, appellate advocacy, real estate, finance and trial tactics throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and England. He is the author of over 30 articles in law reviews and periodicals, and is the author, co-author, and contributing author of thirteen books. Rubin’s publications have been cited as authoritative by federal and state courts, and he has been recognized nationally for his legal writing, having received both the Burton Award for Outstanding Legal Writing at the Library of Congress and the highest award given by the Atlanta-based Foundation for the Improvement of Justice for clarifying and simplifying the law. Rubin has served as President of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Southern Conference of Bar Presidents (covering 17 state bar associations), the Bar Association of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Baton Rouge Bar Association. He has been elected to a number of national and international invitation-only legal groups, including the American Law Institute, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, as well as being one of only 50 U.S. attorneys elected to the international Anglo-American Real Property Institute and representing Louisiana on the national Uniform Law Commission. Rubin has been a LBF Fellow since 1987.
Rubin received his law degree from Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center and his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Amherst College. He met his wife, Ayan, when they were 18 years old. They have been inseparable ever since and are the proud parents of two daughters and the proud grandparents of three little girls, aged 2-4.
2011 Distinguished Attorney
William Shelby McKenzie
William Shelby McKenzie primarily practices in insurance law, university law and litigation. Mr. McKenzie is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the LSU Law Center, having taught the course in Insurance Law since 1971 to over 3000 law students. He is also co-author of McKenzie and Johnson, Louisiana Insurance Law and Practice, 15 Louisiana Civil Law Treatise: Second Edition (West, 1986); Second Edition, 1996; Third Edition, 2006, with annual supplements and frequently cited in Louisiana decisions. He has served as an attorney, consultant, expert witness, mediator and arbitrator on insurance matters and frequently speaks on insurance topics at seminars. During his career, Mr. McKenzie has litigated hundreds of suits involving many issues such as insurance coverage, torts, product liability, contracts, mineral rights and discrimination. Mr. McKenzie is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and former President of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, Baton Rouge Bar Association, and the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center Alumni Board of Trustees. He was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America? and Louisiana Super Lawyers. Mr. McKenzie has been named the Best Lawyers’ 2011 Baton Rouge Insurance Lawyer of the Year.
2010 Distinguished Attorney
Phillip A. Witmann
Phillip A. Wittmann is a partner at the law firm of Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann L.L.C. He concentrates his practice in commercial litigation, class actions, toxic tort and products liability matters. He has extensive trial experience and maintains an active litigation practice.
Wittmann is a frequent lecturer at seminars conducted by the Louisiana State and New Orleans Bar Associations, Tulane University, and Louisiana State University on trial practice topics. He has served as a member of the Civil Rules Advisory Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the House of Delegates of the Louisiana State and American Bar Associations. He is a Past President of the New Orleans Bar Association and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers. He also served as Chairman of the Louisiana State Board of Legal Specialization and is a former Chairman of the Louisiana State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Committee.
Wittmann is the 2008 recipient of the Louisiana Bar Foundation’s Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award. He received his J.D. degree in 1961 from Tulane Law School where he earned the Order of the Coif and Law Review Honors.
2009 Distinguished Attorney
Charles S. Weems III
Charles S. Weems III is the President and senior member of the Alexandria law firm Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell, in which he has practiced since 1971, after beginning his career with the Stone, Pigman firm in New Orleans. He is a 1969 graduate of the LSU Law Center, where he was Editor in Chief of the Louisiana Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He is a member of the LSU Law Center Hall of Fame, and was selected by the Board of Trustees of the Law Center as its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2002.
Mr. Weems is a Board Certified Tax Attorney, having served as Chair of the Specialization Board (Taxation), and is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He has also maintained a corporate practice and has been a frequent lecturer in certain areas of tax, corporate law and commercial litigation.
He was elected and served as President of the Louisiana State Bar Association in 1996-97, after serving on the Association’s Board of Governors. He was recognized by the LSBA with its Distinguished Service Award in 1998, and was selected to receive the Curtis R. Boisfontaine Award in Trial Advocacy in 1999. Mr. Weems was twice elected Chair of the LSU (System) Board of Supervisors during his service on that board under five different Governors from 1991 through 2007.
He currently serves as President of the Louisiana State Law Institute, in which he has been active as a member of the Council since his election in 1985. He is also Chair of the England Economic and Industrial Development District (England Authority). A past President of the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce, and the founder and initial chair of the Central Louisiana Diversity Alliance, Weems is a current board member of the LSU Law Center Board of Trustees, the LSUA Foundation, and the Tiger Athletic Foundation. He is a past board member of numerous other charitable and civic organizations, including the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
2008 Distinguished Attorney
Edward J. Walters, Jr.
Charles S. Weems III is the President and senior member of the Alexandria law firm Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell, in which he has practiced since 1971, after beginning his career with the Stone, Pigman firm in New Orleans. He is a 1969 graduate of the LSU Law Center, where he was Editor in Chief of the Louisiana Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He is a member of the LSU Law Center Hall of Fame, and was selected by the Board of Trustees of the Law Center as its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2002.
Mr. Weems is a Board Certified Tax Attorney, having served as Chair of the Specialization Board (Taxation), and is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He has also maintained a corporate practice and has been a frequent lecturer in certain areas of tax, corporate law and commercial litigation.
He was elected and served as President of the Louisiana State Bar Association in 1996-97, after serving on the Association’s Board of Governors. He was recognized by the LSBA with its Distinguished Service Award in 1998, and was selected to receive the Curtis R. Boisfontaine Award in Trial Advocacy in 1999. Mr. Weems was twice elected Chair of the LSU (System) Board of Supervisors during his service on that board under five different Governors from 1991 through 2007.
He currently serves as President of the Louisiana State Law Institute, in which he has been active as a member of the Council since his election in 1985. He is also Chair of the England Economic and Industrial Development District (England Authority). A past President of the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce, and the founder and initial chair of the Central Louisiana Diversity Alliance, Weems is a current board member of the LSU Law Center Board of Trustees, the LSUA Foundation, and the Tiger Athletic Foundation. He is a past board member of numerous other charitable and civic organizations, including the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
2007 Distinguished Attorney
Harry S. Hardin III
Harry Hardin, a partner with Jones Walker, in the firm’s Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group, has been practicing law at Jones Walker since 1971. Mr. Hardin received his A.B. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Tulane University Law School. As a trial attorney, Mr. Hardin has handled hundreds of commercial cases in diverse practice areas including antitrust, transportation, insurance, contract, patent, trademark and copyright, intellectual property, legal and accountancy malpractice, judicial misconduct, class actions, and appellate law, and he has more than 60 reported decisions. He was trial and appellate counsel in a complex multiparty toxic tort class action which was tried for five weeks to jury verdict, and involved approximately 20 reported decisions during the 10-year span of the case. He has been retained by and regularly represents railroads, the gaming industry, the entertainment and music industry, health care providers, trade associations, telecommunication companies, computer software and hardware companies, domestic and international manufacturers, banks, and insurance companies. In addition to his broad spectrum of representation, Mr. Hardin frequently lectures on ethics and professionalism, and is a leader in the organized bar. He is Chair of the Louisiana Supreme Court Judicial Campaign Oversight Committee and was commended for his work by the Chief Justice before the Joint Session of the House and Senate of the Louisiana Legislature.
2007 Distinguished Attorney
Thomas L. Lorenzi
Thomas L. Lorenzi is a partner with Lorenzi, Sanchez & Barnatt, LLP in Lake Charles. He was born in New Eagle, PA and raised in the Monongahela Valley near Pittsburgh. Tom received his BA from Duquesne University, and his J.D. from Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1975. He was employed by the law firm of Hunt, Godwin, Painter and Roddy to practice criminal defense. At this time there was no indigent defense system in existence and Tom was willing to handle their appointed cases. He was anxious to defend those who most needed help. In addition to handling nearly 50 capital cases, with no death verdicts, Tom represented lawyers to bring about judicial and legislative reform of funding indigent defense and was a cofounder of public interest law firms to provide cutting edge capital defense (Louisiana Capital Assistance Center) and the closure of abusive juvenile prisons with long term reform of the juvenile justice system (Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana).
Tom’s professional accomplishments have been recognized by numerous organizations. He is a Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers and was awarded the 2007 David Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award by the LSBA. He received the Sam Dalton Capital Defense Advocacy Award in 2000 and the Justice Albert Tate, Jr. Award in 2003 from the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; the 2006 Professionalism Award from the Judge Albert Tate American Inn of Court; and he has been named to “Best Lawyers in America” and “Super Lawyers”. Tom is a long time member of the LSBA House of Delegates, served on the Board of Governors and currently serves on the Legislation Committee. He is a former president of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and SW Louisiana Bar Association. With his wife, Stephanie (“Frou”), and their son, Dan, they operate a cow/calf commercial cattle herd. Tom is a member of the Louisiana and National Cattleman’s Association. Time permitting, Tom loves riding his Harley with his friends and son, especially at Sturgis, SD.
2006 Distinguished Attorney
Wayne J. Lee
Wayne J. Lee is a member of Stone Pigman’s Management Committee and chairs the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice group. For the last 12 years, his practice has included a concentration in insurance and class action lawsuits. Mr. Lee has extensive experience in handling coverage issues, bad faith claims, regulatory issues and class actions involving a myriad of substantive issues.
Mr. Lee received his law degree in 1974 from Tulane University School of Law, where he was chosen to the Order of the Coif and was a member of the Tulane Law Review Board of Editors, 1972-74. He received his undergraduate degree from Tulane in 1971.
Mr. Lee is a past president of the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA). Throughout his career, he has held numerous other positions within the LSBA including membership in the House of Delegates, 1997-2003; the Board of Governors, 1993-96; vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Diversity in the Profession, 2006-07; chair of the Practice Assistance and Improvement Committee, 1997-99; chair of the Continuing Legal Education Program Committee, 1991-93; and an ad hoc member of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Committee. He received two President’s Awards, first in 1993 for his work as chair of the Continuing Legal Education Program Committee, and again in 1998 for his work as co-chair of the Practice Assistance and Improvement Committee. He served as a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates, 2003-05 and is a member of the American Bar Association Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession.
In addition to his involvement with the bar associations, Mr. Lee is on the Board of Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Tulane University School of Law. Mr. Lee was a member of the Louisiana Indigent Defense Assistance Board and served as chair of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group. He was appointed to the Louisiana Board of Regents for Higher Education, 1989-94; served as president of the board of Kingsley House, 1998-2000; served as chairman of the board of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, 2001-03; and is the immediate past chairman of the board of the Audubon Nature Institute. He currently is a member of the board of directors for Attorneys’ Liability Assurance Society, Ltd., a member of the Tulane University Inn of Court and a member of the Advisory Board of Editors of the Tulane Law Review. He is also the current chairman of the board of the New Orleans Community Support Foundation. Mr. Lee is a member of the American, National, Louisiana, New Orleans and Fifth Federal Circuit Bar Associations and a member of the Louis A. Martinet Society. He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Mr. Lee is a frequent speaker at legal seminars and has been named to The Best Lawyers in America in the field of business litigation.
2005 Distinguished Attorney
H. Alston Johnson III
H. Alston Johnson III is a managing partner of Phelps Dunbar’s Baton Rouge office. Mr. Johnson graduated cum laude in 1967 from Georgetown University. He received his J.D. in 1970 from Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center where he was a senior associate editor of the Law Review . Prior to joining Phelps Dunbar in 1984, he was a full-time member of the law faculty at LSU for twelve years. He continues to teach as an adjunct member of that faculty, teaching primarily conflict of laws, federal courts and insurance.
His practice concentrates primarily in litigation, particularly at the appellate level and with particular emphasis in the areas of tort, insurance coverage, and administrative law. He has extensive experience in legislative, regulatory and governmental matters and has represented numerous public entities in both counseling and litigation capacities.
Mr. Johnson served on the LSBA Board of Governors from 1975 to 1976. He is a member of the LSBA, the American Bar Association, and the American Law Institute and a former member of the council of the Louisiana State Law Institute. He is a past president of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel and in 1988 he served as chair of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Tort, Workers’ Compensation and Insurance Reform. From 1973 to 1984, he served as consultant for the LSBA Law Reform Committee. Mr. Johnson also received the 2005 LBF Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award for his long-standing devotion to excellence in trial practice and for upholding the standards of ethics and consideration for the courts, litigants and all counsel in his practice of the law.
He is the author or co-author of three treatises on Louisiana law published by Thomson/West Publishing Company: Louisiana Workers’ Compensation (4th ed.), Louisiana Insurance Law (3rd ed. in manuscript) and Louisiana Civil Jury Instructions (2nd ed.).
2004 Distinguished Attorney
Louis D. Curet
Louis D. Curet, a native of New Roads, is a graduate of LSU and of Paul M. Hebert Law Center. While at LSU, Curet served as Justice on Honor Court; Student Council; President of College of Arts & Sciences; President of Omicron Delta Kappa, National Leadership Fraternity; listed in Who’s Who among Students in American Colleges and Universities; a Distinguished Military Graduate, LSU ROTC. He served two years active duty with Judge Advocate General’s Department, United States Air Force. Curet began his law practice in 1950. He is admitted to practice before all courts in Louisiana and US Supreme Court. He is a member of D’Amico & Curet law firm. He is a former Fellow in American College of Trust and Estate Counsel; served as President of the Baton Rouge Bar Association, 1972-1973; former member Board of Directors of Baton Rouge Speech and Hearing Foundation; and a former member Board of Directors of Bocage Racquet club. He is a member of the Supreme Court of Louisiana Historical Society; member and former Director of Baton Rouge Foundation for Historical Louisiana; member of the Board of Directors of Our Lady of the Lake Foundation; and member of the Board of Directors of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Foundation; Curet served as Co-Chair of the 2004 Capital Campaign Drive for Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center which raised over 2 million dollars. He has the distinction of being the first President of Friends of French Studies at LSU and now serves as Treasurer. He was inducted into LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction in 2002. He is a member of Sigma Chi Alumni Association; City Club of Baton Rouge; Baton Rouge Country Club; Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity; downtown Kiwanis Club; and a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. He was married to Jean Harvey Curet for 48 years, she passed away on 05/25/2000. He has one daughter, Jeanne Marie Curet James and four grand children.
2004 Distinguished Attorney
Julian R. Murray, Jr.
Julian R. Murray, Jr. received his Juris Doctor degree from Tulane Law School in 1964. He is admitted to practice before all federal and state courts in Louisiana and is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court and the 5th, 6th and 11th U.S. Courts of Appeals. He was an Assistant District Attorney for the Parish of Orleans from 1966 to 1968 and was supervisor of the Fraud Section. He was then appointed an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, was promoted to Chief of the Criminal division and served for two years as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney. He also served as the Chief Prosecutor of the Organized Crime Unit in the Louisiana State Attorney General’s Office.
He is engaged in all types of litigation including white collar criminal defense work, business litigation and personal injury cases. Mr. Murray also serves as an adjunct professor of law at Tulane Law School, and for the last 22 years has been the Director of Tulane’s Trial Advocacy Program. He is the recipient of the Monte M. Lemann Distinguished Teaching Award for outstanding service to the law school. Mr. Murray serves on the White Collar Crime Committee of the ABA and is past president of the N.O. Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He was also the founder and first president of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Murray co-authored the text books “Louisiana Criminal Trial Practice” and “Louisiana Criminal Law Formulary”.
He was awarded fellowship in the International Society of Barristers and the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, and is listed in Who’s Who in American Law and the Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Murray is a member of the Louisiana Landmarks Society, the Irish Cultural Society, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He also serves as a member of the Louisiana Supreme Court Historical Society. He was on the cover of New Orleans Magazine, January 1999, which featured an article on New Orleans lawyers. In 2003 he was selected by the readers of Gambit as one of the top three attorneys in the metropolitan area.
2003 - 1986 Distinguished Attorney
2003- David J. Utter
2002- Camille F. Gravel, Jr.*
2001- Judy Perry Martinez
2000- Howard B. Gist, Jr.*
1999- Gene W. Lafitte
1998- Sam J. D’Amico*
1997- John B. Scofield
1996- Jack C. Benjamin, Sr., Robert E. Leake, Jr.
1995- Frank Voelker, Jr.*
1994- Jack E. Caldwell
1993- Thomas Haller Jackson, Jr.
1992- Carlos G. Spaht*
1991- Dermot S. McGlinchey*
1990- Robert G. Pugh*
1989- Eldon E. Fallon, LeDoux R. Provosty, Jr.*
1988- Samuel C. Gainsburgh*, Edgar H. Lancaster, Jr.*
1987- Thomas O. Collins, Jr.
1986- M. Truman Woodward, Jr.*
*Deceased
