The Calogero Justice Award is named in honor of Chief Justice Pascal F. Calogero, Jr. who was elected to the Louisiana Supreme court in 1972. Calogero was sworn in as Chief Justice in 1990 and served on the Court for 36 years. At the Annual Fellows Gala the Louisiana Bar Foundation honors an individual or organization for a significant contribution to the Louisiana justice system.
2024 Calogero Justice Award
Frank X. Neuner, Jr.
NeunerPate
Frank X. Neuner, Jr. is the founding partner of NeunerPate based in Lafayette. Neuner has shown an unwavering commitment to leadership and service to his community and profession. NeunerPate has developed a culture of dedication to community service and providing pro bono legal services. NeunerPate was awarded the Louisiana State Bar Association’s (LSBA) Pro Bono Publico Award twice, and The Legal Service Corporation’s Certificate of Appreciation. NeunerPate has received the Large Firm Pro Bono Award presented by the Lafayette Volunteer Lawyers and the Lafayette Bar Foundation for fifteen consecutive years. Neuner’s leadership roles and volunteerism extend beyond Acadiana to the state and national stage.
Neuner served as LSBA president during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He spoke at The World Justice Forum in the Netherlands sharing his experience in restoring the legal system after a natural disaster. As Chair of the Louisiana Public Defender Board he spearheaded the drive to provide legal protection and access to justice for indigent defendants. He has served on the Board of the Legal Services Corporation and as chair of its Audit Committee.
Neuner received a Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University. He was honored as the LSU Law Distinguished Alumnus. LBF honored him as its 2013 Distinguished Attorney. Neuner was awarded the American Bar Association (ABA) Solo and Small Firm Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, served as the ABA State Delegate, been on the Board of IPNO, currently the Emeritus Board Chair, he is past Chair of the ABA Client Protection Committee, Chair of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation(ABF), Immediate Past Chair of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and a member of the ABA and the ABF Board of Governors.
2023 Calogero Justice Award
Bernard E. Boudreaux, Jr.
Jones Swanson Huddell, LLC
Calogero Justice Award Recipient, Bernard Boudreaux, has been an associate with the law firm of Jones Swanson and Huddell, LLC since 2013. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and his J.D. degree from the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1961. Upon graduating from Law School he entered the U.S. Air Force as an attorney in the Judge Advocate Generals Department wherein he immediately began trying courts-martial. While in the Air Force he served as an adjunct professor for Ohio University.
After trying dozens of such cases he was discharged as a Captain in 1964 and practiced Law in Franklin, Louisiana. He became an Assistant District Attorney in the 16th Judicial District in 1966 and became the District Attorney in the 16th Judicial District in 1981. While serving as District Attorney he and Judge William Hunter created the first drug court in Louisiana. He retired as D.A. in 2000 to become Executive Counsel for Governor M.J. “Mike Foster”. During his service with Governor Foster he negotiated the contract between the state and the New Orleans Saints to keep the Saints in New Orleans. He also negotiated the agreement with Harrah’s to complete the construction of the Harrah’s Casino which had stood incomplete at the foot of Canal Street in New Orleans. He mediated the settlement of the 47-year-old federal litigation between the U.S. Department of Justice, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board after only nine months of negotiation. With the approval of the governor he drafted legislation to reduce excessive and costly prison population in order to release prisoners who were no longer a danger to society.
He served as President of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association and on several committees appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, including the committee to study delays in the appellate courts, the committees to study cameras in the court room and the impropriety of appointing the defense of capital cases to law firms which do not practice criminal law. He initiated and coordinated the effort to renovate the building which the Louisiana Supreme Court currently occupies. He served on the LSU Board of Supervisors and as its President.
He was an adjunct professor for eight years at the LSU Law School. Professor Cheney Joseph and he gave many CLE lectures on criminal law and then he co-authored a book published by West Publishing Company: (Sentencing Guidelines Manual). He served for decades and continues to serve on the Louisiana State Law Institute and on its committee to enact the Louisiana Code of Evidence during which time he spent immeasurable hours working with Professors George Pugh, Robert Force and Gerald Rault, the authors of the Evidence Code, which became law in 1988.
2022 Calogero Justice Award
Hon. Ivan L.R. Lemelle
U.S. District Court – Eastern District of Louisiana
After a decade of extensive trial and appellate experience, Ivan L. R. Lemelle was appointed in 1984 to serve as a U. S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana (EDLA). In 1998, President Clinton appointed him to the position of United States District Judge with the unanimous consent of the Senate. He assumed Senior Judge Status in 2015 and continues to carry an active caseload.
Senior Judge Lemelle also serves as needed on various federal district and circuit courts throughout the nation. In his 48 years of judicial service, he expresses appreciation for members of the bench, bar, and community who serve to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to justice, especially for marginalized and underserved persons. He is also very passionate in the deliverance of educational services and mentoring programs for students at all levels of academia, for young attorneys, over 200 former judicial law clerks, legal externs, and new judges.
His professional, community and social services included the following non-exhaustive listings: The Federal Judicial Center’s Advisory Committee for the Guide to Judicial Management of Cases in Alternate Dispute Resolution; President of District Judges Association for the U. S. Fifth Circuit; President of the Loyola College of Law-Thomas More Inn of Court; Visiting Committee Board for Loyola College of Law; Federal Bar Association New Orleans Chapter Board of Directors; Trustee on the American Inns of Court Foundation Board; Federal Bar Association Bench Bar Committee; American Bar Association Standing Committee on Diversity in the Judiciary and its CoLap Commission; Board of Trustees for Xavier University of Louisiana; Treasurer of Amistad Research Center Executive Board; First Vice-Chair of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc. as a Class A (nonalcoholic) Trustee; Catholic Community Foundation Board for Archdiocese of New Orleans; Board of Reconcile New Orleans, Inc. d/b/a Café Reconcile-a nonprofit committed to addressing generational poverty, violence and neglect in the New Orleans area, specifically “at risk” young adults; Sigma Pi Phi and Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternities.
Some examples of recognition for his services include Mentor of the Year by students at Rabouin High School, Colton Middle School and World of Work Academy; Induction into the Hall of Fame of the National Bar Association; Loyola College of Law Alumni Association St. Ives Award, highest alumni award for service; Alumnus of the Year by his alma mater Xavier University; Alumnus of the Year twice presented by Moot Court Board, Loyola College of Law; Dean Westerfield Award presented by the A. P. Tureaud Chapter of BLSA, Loyola College of Law; Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Society.
Blessed with a family of educators, mentors, colleagues, staff, and friends, he and his wife are grateful parents of three loving children (2 Medical Doctors and a Doctor of Pharmacy), and two vivacious granddaughters who remind their “Popi” – “to whom much is given, much is required.”
2021 Calogero Justice Award
Hillar C. Moore III
Hillar Moore is the District Attorney for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. Prior to taking office, he worked for 12 years as an investigator for the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s office. After law school, he maintained a private practice, specializing in criminal defense, for 16 years. When he took office, Mr. Moore realized his goal of returning to the District Attorney’s Office in 2009. He has served as DA for 13 years and is currently in his 3rd term. He has brought many new and innovative ideas to the DA’s office; he uses data-driven approaches to assist in prosecuting cases and consistently works closely with leaders in the community.
2020 Calogero Justice Award
Hon. William J. Knight (Ret.)
JUDGE WILLIAM J. “RUSTY” KNIGHT began his legal career in 1976. He graduated from LSU Law School where he was Order of the Coif and a member of the Louisiana Law Review. He was an associate with Hudson, Potts, and Bernstein in Monroe, LA from 1976-1979 and then served as an Assistant District Attorney for Washington and St. Tammany Parishes from 1979-1985. After that tenure, he opened a private law practice, handling both civil and criminal matters. In January 2003, he took office as district judge of the 22nd Judicial District Court, Division J. Since that time, Judge Knight has presided over juvenile and child in need of care proceedings and a section of adult Drug Court, in addition to his civil and criminal dockets. Most recently, Judge Knight worked to pass legislation that granted authority for a pilot program of a Risk-Needs Assessment procedure and the establishment of the 22nd Judicial District Court’s ReEntry Court in 2012. In November 2015, the Louisiana Supreme Court requested that Judge Knight create Key Components and Best Practices to be followed by Louisiana ReEntry Courts. That work was presented to and adopted by the Louisiana Supreme Court in 2016.
2019 Calogero Justice Award
Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson (Ret.)
Chief Justice Honorable Bernette Joshua Johnson (Ret.) is the Louisiana Supreme Court’s 25th Chief Justice, its second female Chief Justice, and its first African American Chief Justice.
She is also one of the first two African American women to graduate from Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center. Early in her career, while working as managing attorney at the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation (NOLAC), currently Southeastern Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS), she became a change agent, social justice advocate, and civil rights promoter. She represented the socio-economically deprived; advanced the rights of children; and gave voice to the poor, elderly, and disenfranchised citizens of New Orleans.
Prior to that while in law school, Chief Justice Johnson worked with the United States Department of Justice assisting with cases pertaining to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1984 Chief Justice Johnson became the first woman elected to serve as a judge on the Civil District Court of Orleans Parish; in 1994, she was elected Chief Judge. Later that year she was elected to serve as an Associate Justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court, and was re-elected without opposition in 2000 and 2010. In 2013, with seniority in years of service, she became the Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.
She served on the National Campaign on Best Practices in the area of Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. She has championed many successful initiatives including the training and certification of the Limited English Proficiency Interpreters in the courts and the implementation of the electronic filing system for the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Johnson is most proud of her family, which includes her son David Johnson, an accountant; her daughter, Judge Rachael Johnson, Civil District Court of Orleans Parish; her son-in-law, Telley Madina; and grandchildren, Neyah, Noah, Lacey, Byron, and Telley Jr.
2018 Calogero Justice Award
Kendall Vick
Public Law Foundation
Kendall Vick was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and lived in New Orleans for over 30 years. He was an assistant professor at Loyola University College of Law in the mid-1960s and provided many years of legal expertise to the American Civil Liberties Union. His principal activity was serving as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division of the Louisiana Department of Justice from 1972 to 1988.
The Vick Foundation began activities in 1999. Mr. Vick’s primary goal for the establishment of the Vick Foundation was for it to find ways to encourage law graduates to seek careers in public law. The Board of Directors concluded that providing funding for Loan Repayment Assistant Programs (LRAP) was a direct way to accomplish his vision. The Vick Foundation began providing grants to LRAP at several institutions in the State of Louisiana in 2006. One condition of the grants is that they be awarded to law graduates in public sector positions within the State of Louisiana.
The Louisiana Bar Foundation named the Vick Foundation the recipient of its Horn Blower Award in 2009 in recognition of its support encouraging careers in public interest law. From its inception through 2018, the Vick Foundation has provided LRAP funding in excess of $2 million.
Photo is the Vick Foundation President Jerome J. Reso, Jr.
2017 Calogero Justice Award
Robert S. Noel II
Robert S. Noel II has practiced law in North Louisiana for 32 years. A graduate of Loyola University, with a BA in 1979 and a JD in 1985, he has served as a Public Defender and Assistant District Attorney in the 4th JDC.Noel is currently the felony supervisor for the 4th JDC Public Defender, former interim Chief Public Defender in the 5th JDC. He practices criminal defense law in many North Louisiana jurisdictions.
Noel is a former president of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and currently is the Vice President and legislative chair of the Public Defense Association of Louisiana. One of the original Board members of Teen Court of Northeast Louisiana, he has served on that board for over 30 years. He has also served on the Board of Directors of National High School Mock Trial and has been active in the Louisiana High School Mock Trial since 1991. He is an adjunct professor of Political Science at the University of Louisiana at Monroe(ULM) and founded and coached the ULM Mock trial team which has advanced for the last three years to the national tournament.
An army brat and graduate of Leesville High School, he is married to Starlia Jones Noel and is a grandfather of six.
2016 Calogero Justice Award
Joesph R. Oelkers III
Acadiana Legal Service Corporation
Joseph R. Oelkers III is a founder of Acadiana Legal Service Corporation (ALSC), the first Legal Services Corporation funded law firm in the Acadiana area. He served as Executive Director of ALSC since its inception in 1978 and retired on September 1, 2016 after 38 years of dedicated service. He graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1972 and from the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1976.
Oelkers served as President of the Louisiana Legal Consortium from 1983 through 1994, which was established by the Louisiana legal services programs to provide support for access to justice efforts in the state. He has been a member of the LSBA Access to Justice Committee since 1981, chairing the Committee for over 10 years, and has served as a member of the LSBA House of Delegates since 1993. He is a former President of the Lafayette Bar Association (LBA) and currently is a member of the LBA Board of Directors.
He received the Best of the Best Executive Director Award from the Louisiana Legal Consortium; Friend of the Year from the Lafayette Parish Legal Secretaries Association for 1993-94; the LSBA President’s Award in 1992 and in 1998; the Legal Services Corporation Distinguished Service Award in 2008; Safeguarding Democracy Award from the League of Women Voters of Lafayette in 2011. In 2015, he was the recipient of the LSBA Career Public Interest Award.
2015 Calogero Justice Award
Family Justice Center of Ouachita Parish
The Family Justice Center of Ouachita Parish (FJC) opened in 2005. A Family Justice Center is an innovative method of co-locating a multi-disciplinary team of professionals to provide coordinated services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. The FJC is one of only 15 in the nation. The FJC puts agencies that serve victims under one roof, making it easier for those who need services to get them while batterers are held accountable for their actions.The FJC is a well-respected, long standing program, and has been a resource not only in Louisiana, but the whole nation.
2014 Calogero Justice Award
Marta-Ann Schnabel
O’Bryon & Schnabel, PLC
New Orleans
Marta-Ann Schnabel is a shareholder in the law firm of O’Bryon & Schnabel, PLC. She is a cum laude graduate of Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law, where she was a member of Law Review. She served as Editor of the Louisiana Bar Journal from 2001-2003 and was the first woman to serve as President of the Louisiana State Bar Association. She remains active with LSBA and is currently the chair of the LSBA Access to Justice and ATJ Policy Committees. She was honored to receive the LSBA’s President’s Award on three separate Occasions.
Schnabel is a past President of the New Orleans Bar Association and has served in the ABA House of Delegates and as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services. She is a Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation and a past recipient of the LBF Hornblower Award. She is currently the President of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel and the Chair of the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Judicial Campaign Oversight Committee. She is a past recipient of the Gillis Long Poverty Center Public Service Award and the David A. Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award for her work as an advocate for Access to Justice. As part of her commitment to public service, Schnabel also heads the Board of the non-profit Louisiana Civil Justice Center.
2013 Calogero Justice Award
Robert H. Morrison III
Chief Judge, 21st Judicial District Court Amit
Chief Judge Robert H. Morrison III is a 1970 graduate of LSU Law Center. He operated a private practice for 18 years before he was first elected to the 21st Judicial District in 1988. He has been Chief Judge for 22 years and Drug Court judge for 15 years. He served as past chair of the Judiciary commission; Past President Louisiana District Judges Association; and served as Legislative Liaison for that Association. He is presently co-chair Criminal Law & Procedure Committee of Law Institute; and chair of Trial Court Committee on Judgeships of Judicial Council of Supreme Court. He is a member of Judicial Budgetary Control Board.
2012 Calogero Justice Award
Hon. Jay C. Zainey
United States District Court,
Eastern District of Louisiana
Judge Jay C. Zainey is a 1975 graduate of Louisiana State University Law School. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on February 19, 2002. In 2011, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Zainey to serve on the Federal Judiciary Commission Codes of Conduct Committee.
He is a past President of the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA). As State Bar Association President, he created the Community Action Committee and the Committee to Provide Legal Services for the Disabled. These two committees were purportedly the first of their kind in the nation.
Judge Zainey is co-founder of SOLACE which provides services to members of the bar association and the entire legal community and their family members who experience tragedies, and who otherwise have special needs. SOLACE Programs have now been developed in Rhode Island, Delaware, Georgia, Nevada, Nebraska, Puerto Rico, Louisville, St. Louis and El Paso and plans are underway to start programs in the District of Columbia and other cities and states throughout the country.
In May 2004, Judge Zainey organized the Homeless Experience Legal Protection (H.E.L.P.)Program. In this program, over 450 attorneys provide legal consultation services and notary services at four homeless centers in New Orleans. He has initiated similar programs in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Opelousas, Lake Charles and Shreveport, Louisiana; Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia; Hartford, Connecticut; Bloomington, Indiana; Columbia, South Carolina; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; Lubbock, Texas; Jackson, MS; New York City, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Mobile, Alabama; and, Detroit, Michigan. Plans areunderway to start H.E.L.P. Programs in other major cities. Judge Zainey has also worked with the LSBA to provide legal services for the disabled by providing pro bono legal services to people with disabilities and their families. He has assisted Tulane Law School develop its Disability Law Society, one of the first of its kind in the country.
Judge Zainey and his wife Joy founded the God’s Special Children Program for people with special needs, their families and friends. Judge Zainey and Joy also co-founded St. Andrew’s Village, a faith-based long term living community for adults with disabilities. St. Andrew’s Village recently purchased a 100 acre tract of land in Abita Springs, and will provide a loving environment for disabled adults. He proudly serves as President of the Board of St. Andrew’s Village. Groundbreaking for St. Andrew’s Village is scheduled to take place in the fall 2013.
Judge Zainey has been a Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation since 1995.
2011 Calogero Justice Award
Gregory A. Pechukas
Gregory Pechukas is the Director of the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Central Staff, established in 1977 to manage the Court’s criminal docket and filings. For more than 30 years he has been the court’s leading staff lawyer assisting the court in its review of criminal cases. Mr. Pechukas is responsible for supervising a staff of over two dozen employees who process and report on designated criminal writ applications for the Justices and who assist in researching and writing criminal law opinions.
Mr. Pechukas graduated from Yale University in 1966 and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1969. He was in private criminal law practice prior to coming to the Court. In 1978 he was hired as a law clerk in Central Staff, and two years later became the director. He has served in that capacity to the present day under a total of five Chief Justices.
2010 Calogero Justice Award
Louisiana Appleseed
Louisiana Appleseed uncovers and corrects injustices and barriers to opportunity through legal, legislative and market-based structural reform. Working with a pro bono network, they identify, research, and analyze social injustices; make specific recommendations; and advocate for effective solutions to deep-seated structural problems.
2009 Calogero Justice Award
Louisiana Public Defender Board
The Louisiana Public Defender Board (LPDB) was created on August 15, 2007 to serve the public, support practitioners across the criminal justice field and advocate for clients to ensure that Louisiana provides equal justice for all as guaranteed by the Constitution. It is an executive branch agency located within the Office of the Governor.
LPDB administers the Public Defender Fund, which supports all 42 judicial districts, and contracts with eight 501(c)3 non-profit organizations that provide appellate representation, capital representation at the trial level, capital post-conviction representation and representation of claims of innocence for persons serving life sentences in Louisiana.
The staff and Board supervise the public defender system through on-site evaluations, intensive financial reporting requirements, relevant and accurate data collection, and monitored compliance with approved policies and performance standards. LPDB provides juvenile-dedicated staff and resources to support the specialized needs of juvenile clients and the unique practice of juvenile law. LPDB conducts a comprehensive state-wide training program, improving the quality of defense at every stage of legal proceedings.
LPDB also collaborates with a host of partners to improve public awareness of the criminal justice system, better leverage resources for clients, and provide technical support to advance the community-oriented defender model. It pursues, and administers, grant awards to achieve these objectives. LPDB represents the state of Louisiana on the national level, through participation with Department of Justice subcommittees, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, the American Council of Chief Defenders, the Community Oriented Defender Network and other national criminal justice agencies/organizations.
2009 Calogero Justice Award
Louisiana Public Defender Board
The Louisiana Public Defender Board (LPDB) was created on August 15, 2007 to serve the public, support practitioners across the criminal justice field and advocate for clients to ensure that Louisiana provides equal justice for all as guaranteed by the Constitution. It is an executive branch agency located within the Office of the Governor.
LPDB administers the Public Defender Fund, which supports all 42 judicial districts, and contracts with eight 501(c)3 non-profit organizations that provide appellate representation, capital representation at the trial level, capital post-conviction representation and representation of claims of innocence for persons serving life sentences in Louisiana.
The staff and Board supervise the public defender system through on-site evaluations, intensive financial reporting requirements, relevant and accurate data collection, and monitored compliance with approved policies and performance standards. LPDB provides juvenile-dedicated staff and resources to support the specialized needs of juvenile clients and the unique practice of juvenile law. LPDB conducts a comprehensive state-wide training program, improving the quality of defense at every stage of legal proceedings.
LPDB also collaborates with a host of partners to improve public awareness of the criminal justice system, better leverage resources for clients, and provide technical support to advance the community-oriented defender model. It pursues, and administers, grant awards to achieve these objectives. LPDB represents the state of Louisiana on the national level, through participation with Department of Justice subcommittees, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, the American Council of Chief Defenders, the Community Oriented Defender Network and other national criminal justice agencies/organizations.
2008 Calogero Justice Award
Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO)
Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) is a 501(c)3 non-profit law office founded in 2001. IPNO represents indigent, innocent prisoners serving life sentences in Louisiana and South Mississippi. By identifying and remedying cases and causes of wrongful conviction, IPNO raises awareness of systemic problems in the criminal justice system and promotes reforms to introduce best practices throughout the criminal process to prevent future miscarriages of justice. IPNO believes that, with simple reforms, the criminal justice system can work for every person it affects regardless of their means.
From a seed fellowship of $72,000 IPNO has grown to be the largest free-standinginnocence project in the country with one of the highest success rates, especially in tough cases that do not involve a simple DNA test. IPNO works with volunteers and students from scores of law schools and undergraduate institutions across the country and has programs at all four of Louisiana’s law schools.
