Executive Director's Message

Rain, rain go away! Most of the time, I love a good rainy day. But when it interferes with our previously scheduled Moncus Park Meet Up and hampers our Bench Bar marketing efforts, it does get a bit tiresome. Rest assured, we will persevere and hope that Mother Nature cooperates.

I am happy to announce that in early June we hired Katie Blanchet as our new marketing and member services coordinator. Katie is well-known in various circles in and around Lafayette and is already familiar with many of our LBA members. She has already proven to be an asset to our team, greets everyone she meets with a bright smile and tackles every task with a cheerful attitude. If you don’t already know her, or haven’t had the opportunity to meet her, be sure and drop by the office to say “Hi”. Within minutes, you will feel like you have known her for years.

It feels great to be getting back on track with our events! We had a great turnout for our recent CLE, Mediation: Practical Tips from a Mediator presented by Tommy Juneau. And we were thrilled to be able to host a fabulous group of female attorneys for the annual Running in Heels CLE chaired by Roya Boustany and Vanessa Anseman. Thank you to all who participated in the Vitalant Blood Drive held at the Bar office in conjunction with Running in Heels. We know that blood donations are always in high demand so we were happy to do our part to help out.

A special thanks to Stuart Breaux, membership chair, and our Bar president, Karen King, for all of their hard work in making sure that our Moncus Park Meet Up went off without a hitch. It took a lot of planning and replanning but seeing the great turnout of our members was well worth it. Thank you to all who came out and enjoyed a preview tour of Moncus Park and fellowship with friends and colleagues. Of course, we could not have made any of it happen without the support of our sponsors, Kean Miller and NeunerPate so a huge shout out to them!

Congratulations to the 20212022 Young Lawyers Section officers: Derek Aswell, President; Roya Boustany, President-Elect; Jami Ishee, Secretary, Kenny Hebert, Treasurer; and Carolyn Cole, Immediate Past President. I am confident they will be exceptional leaders of the YLS this year. The inaugural Let’s Talk About It round-table discussion has been planned for September 1, 2021. Committee chair Vicky Bowers and co-chair Jonathan Jarrett will be announcing the topic soon. Future topics will include Warrantless Entry in Pursuit of Misdemeanor Suspect, Louisiana Prisoner Reentry Initiative, and Let’s Talk about Mental Health and emotional well-being: finding ease during uncertainty, self-care; the key to stress and anxiety. Please plan on joining us for these thought-provoking conversations.

Pam Landaiche

Bench Bar 2021 is right around the corner and I hope to see many of our members in attendance. The committee, chaired by Kenny Hebert, has put a lot of time and effort in to the planning of the event. Check out the speaker lineup and agenda at lafayettebar. org. Thank you to all of our firm and corporate sponsors for your support for this year’s conference! We could have such a fabulous event without you!

The annual Tennis Tournament sponsored by the Young Lawyers Section will take place on Saturday, September 18 beginning at 8:00 a.m. at Red’s. Always a popular event, this is one you don’t want to miss. Be sure to register soon to play! Contact Jessica, jessica@lafayettebar.org for event and sponsorship details.

Until next time, I wish you good health, peace, and love!

COMMERCIAL LITIGATION ATTORNEY

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