From 1986 to 2020, LSU Law celebrated its distinguished alumni through a formal event recognizing their extraordinary contributions to the legal profession.
Each of the approximately 70 past honorees has advanced the profession in immeasurable ways, as do this year’s seven honorees.
We could not have resumed the awards program absent the efforts of our Law Alumni Board of Trustees. They accepted responsibility for soliciting nominations, selecting the honorees from among the candidates, and organizing and staging the recognition event. With gratitude, I acknowledge their incredible effort.
The board is chaired by Robert Kallam (’90) of Kean Miller. Current membership includes: Kristen Amond (’16), Brooksie Bonvillain Boutet (’14), Mark Bodron (’90), Danny Cavell (’80), Larry Centola (’01), J. Mark Chevallier (’88), Hon. John deGravelles (’74), Hannah Grantham (’16), David Fleshman (’11), Jennifer Aaron Hataway (’99), Allison Jones (’85), J. Marshall Jones (’79), Charlie Kearns (’04), Stephen LaFleur (’03), Mark Menezes (’81), Joy Monahan (’97), Lisa Murray (’96), Frank Neuner (’76), Mike Remondet (’91), P. Ragan Richard (’93), Mark Schroeder (’83), Jason St. Julien (’11), Scott Sternberg (’10), and Ed Walters (’75). Joining the board for the upcoming year are: Clare Sanchez Burke (’16), Carla Courtney (’97), Ashley Mayes Guice (’11), Parker Layrisson (’02), Jack Zeringue (’17).
Thank you, board members, for all you have done and all you continue to do for your law school.
Alena M. Allen LSU Law Dean and Professor of Law
REcEPTION
WELcOME & OPENING REMARKs
Alena m. Allen, dean
DinnER
PrEsENTATION OF THE 2025 DistinguishED Alumni Awards
edward J. walters Jr. (’75)
young Alumnus — Dani BorEL (’14) presented by brooksie bonvillain boutet (’14)
EngagEd Alumnus — Hon. DarrEL PaPIllion (’94) presented by edward j. walters jr. (’75)
lEGAL INNOVATOR — TIM BARFIELD (’89) presented by Robert Kallam (’90)
honorary alumnus — Hillar MoorE III presented by Jennifer aaron Hataway (’99)
cAREER champion — BREazEalE, sachsE & WiLson presented by jason St. Julien (’11)
sERvicE to thE profEssion — mary TErrEll JosEPH (’70) presented by michael j. remondet jr. (’91)
DEAn’s philanthropic award — russEll “RUsty” stutEs Jr. (’91) presented by alena M. Allen, dean
closing REMARks edward j. walters jr. (’75)
DaniDANI BOREL class of
2014
Equity PartnER
BrEazEalE, sachsE & Wilson
Borel was an extremely nervous third grader the first time she ever set foot inside a courtroom.
“Unfortunately, there had been a serious incident that required me to testify against someone,” she explains, “and as you can imagine, the court was a very scary place for me at that young age.”
The public prosecutor handling the case made time to reassure Borel, explaining how the trial would proceed and trying to calm the young girl’s nerves.
“She was an absolute hero to me,” Borel says. “She was the strong lawyer who was helping us get rid of the bad guy. That left a huge impression on me.”
When the trial was over, the public prosecutor had won the case—and Borel had inadvertently been set on a path that has made her one of the most accomplished young attorneys practicing in Louisiana today.
“By the end of the whole ordeal, which carried on for several years, I had decided that I wanted to be a lawyer, too, and from that point on that was my goal.”
Borel is a highly involved person who is serious about setting—and reaching—goals. In high school, she played a variety of sports, was on the cheerleading squad, and served in student government. As an undergraduate at LSU, she took up debate to hone her oratory skills and wound up being a back-to-back Louisiana Parliamentary Debate Champion.
“I did that with the goal of becoming a lawyer in mind,” she notes, “and as soon as I got to LSU Law, I got involved with moot court. I always had these goals in mind: I wanted to become a lawyer, I wanted to work at a firm, and I wanted to make partner.”
At LSU Law, Borel won five moot court competitions, served on the Louisiana Law Review board, and graduated as a member of The Order of the Coif, among many other accomplishments. She clerked at Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson for two summers while in law school, and joined the firm after graduating in 2014 as an associate, practicing in the areas of commercial litigation and health care litigation.
In 2020, she made partner and in 2023 she became an equity partner.
Extremely outgoing and highly driven, Borel tends to find herself in a wide variety of volunteer and leadership positions. Notably, she is a recent past chair of the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division and she’s currently serving as 2024-25 chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Young Lawyers Division.
“For starters, I keep a very meticulous, color-coded calendar,” she says when asked how she keeps up with her demanding schedule. “It’s the only way to try to keep all the balls in the air, because I feel like I have two full-time jobs right now between my work at the firm and my duties for the ABA Young Lawyers Division.”
The mother of two young children credits her husband, Nathan Judice, for helping her navigate and overcome the challenges that accompany her busy career and homelife.
“He is a true partner in every sense of the word, he’s always been very supportive of everything I want to take on, and he keeps everything moving when my focus is elsewhere or I’m going through hard times.”
“I’ve been very fortunate to have hit just about every goal I set for myself at this stage in my career. I think I’ll be in a rebuilding phase this summer, taking some time to really decide where I’d like to take my career from here.”
Her love of litigation and desire to mentor aspiring attorneys drives Borel to continue serving as a moot court coach at LSU Law despite her hectic schedule. In 2021, she was honored with the Kalinka Award for Advocacy Programs Coach of the Year in recognition of her work with the LSU Law National Pretrial Competition team—which Borel was a member of when it won a national championship during her final year in law school.
“That’s something I do purely because I love it. It takes a lot of time, but it’s incredibly rewarding to work with the students and see their progress and improvement. I always joke that if money wasn’t an object I would dedicate all my time to being a moot court coach.”
A year ago, Borel returned to LSU Law for her 10-year class reunion. Along with catching up with her former classmates and professors, the milestone provided a rare opportunity to reflect on all that she has accomplished since leaving the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center—and ponder what she might want to do in the decade that lies ahead.
“Looking at the past 10 yeas was like, ‘well, what now?’ I’ve been very fortunate to have hit just about every goal I set for myself at this stage in my career,” she says. “And, you know, I’m not sure what the next 10 years looks like for me. Do I want to take a break? Do I want to set some new goals? I think I’ll be in a rebuilding phase this summer, taking some time to really decide where I’d like to take my career from here.”
HoN. DarrEL PapiLLION
class of 1994
District judgE
U.s. Dist. court EastERN dist. OF LOUIsIANA
Each Thursday, Darrel Papillion makes the hour and a half drive from New Orleans to Baton Rouge to lead the second- and third-year students in his Civil Pretrial Litigation class at LSU Law.
“I try to leave in the early afternoon to make sure I don’t get caught in traffic,” he says just before the start of a recent class.
Papillion doesn’t hesitate when asked if it has been challenging to continue serving on the LSU Law adjunct faculty since he joined the federal bench as a District Judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana in June 2023.
“Absolutely, it has been—but it’s a labor of love.”
Papillion’s dedication to his alma mater is deeply rooted in his own experience at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, and the incalculable ways in which it has positively influenced his life and career.
He vividly recalls walking across the LSU Parade Ground in November 1990, manilla envelope in hand, to personally deliver his law school application. In fact, his memory is so detailed that he even remembers the name of the staff member on the second floor of the Law Center to whom he handed the envelope.
“All I had when I walked across that Parade Ground was potential and dreams,” he says. “I really wanted to be a lawyer, and I really wanted to go to LSU Law. I didn’t even apply anywhere else.”
Along with being accepted into LSU Law, Papillion was offered a scholarship that fully covered his tuition.
“I’ve always felt like I owe a great debt to LSU Law—and I like to pay my debts,” he says. “So, I told myself a long time ago that I’m going to give back as much as I possibly can to try to pay this law school back for all that it has given me.”
After graduating from LSU Law in 1994, Papillion practiced in New Orleans for four years before he got a call from Ed Walters (’75). The longtime LSU Law adjunct faculty
member had taught Papillion during his final year of studies at LSU Law. Now, he was recruiting him to his Baton Rouge law firm—a move that would lead Papillion to join the LSU Law adjunct faculty shortly thereafter.
“If anyone loves LSU Law more than me, it’s Ed Walters,” Papillion says. “Ed was always encouraging me to be engaged with LSU Law, and his engagement with the law school is infectious. So, I don’t think I had been with him more than a few months before I started teaching Appellate Advocacy as an adjunct in 2000, and with maybe the exception of one or two years in between, I’ve taught here ever since.”
Though it might be his most visible contribution, teaching at LSU Law is far from the only way in which Papillion has remained engaged with his alma mater since his graduation. He’s a former Law Alumni Board of Trustees member, a longtime Dean’s Council member, and a guest speaker in more LSU Law classes than he can recall. He’s a familiar face at events such as the annual All-Alumni Tailgate and Reunion Weekend, during which he led a free CLE class for LSU Law alumni during his reunion year in 2024.
“I told myself a long time ago that I’m going to give back as much as I possibly can to try to pay this law school back for all that it has given me.”
“We tend to use these lofty terms like, ‘in the academy,’ but I feel that what really keeps one at the forefront of practice is to be well connected and highly engaged, and maintaining a close connection to one’s law school is a great way to do that,” says Papillion, who is also heavily involved in the legal community outside LSU Law. “And now, as a federal judge, I genuinely feel a greater responsibility than ever before to remain engaged at LSU Law because I believe it’s important for the students to have a direct connection to an active district judge.”
Papillion knows his LSU Law history, and he draws inspiration from the many notable alumni who came before him and invested their time in him as a law student.
“I look to the example set by Judge (Alvin B.) Rubin (’42), who taught at LSU Law as a federal judge and adjunct professor,” he says. “As I walked into the Bruce Macmurdo Classroom on the first day of classes last year, it occurred to me that I was likely the only person after Alvin Rubin to walk into an LSU Law classroom and teach a forcredit course as a judge from the Eastern District. That certainly felt special, and I also knew Bruce Macmurdo (’78) well, so I really like teaching in his memorial classroom.”
And because he knows his LSU Law history, Papillion says being named the LSU Law 2025 Engaged Alumnus is “extremely special” in comparison to the many other awards he has received throughout his esteemed career.
“This really means a lot to me. I have a deep understanding of the high caliber of people who have been honored as Distinguished Alumni at LSU Law before me. I am very humbled and gratified to receive such an award from the place that has already given me more than I could have ever imagined, and a place that I love so much.”
TIM BARFIELD class of 1989
Principal & PREsidENT csRs
Tim Barfield hasn’t ever been hung up on job titles.
“I certainly have ambition and I’m a competitor who wants to do well at everything I do,” he says, “but I never set out to have any job title. I’ve always just wanted to be at high-performing organizations, in positions where I’m able to make a difference and learn something new.”
Perhaps that’s why he has held so many varied titles over his impressive career as an attorney, business executive, and public servant.
Since graduating from LSU Law as a member of The Order of the Coif in 1989, Barfield has practiced at a large law firm, led a Fortune 500 company, headed up two of Louisiana’s most important state departments, served as executive counsel to the governor, and oversaw development efforts for a nationwide home health hospice company.
“I’m a bit of a restless spirit,” Barfield acknowledges, “but more than that, I think I’ve just been fortunate to have some really interesting opportunities come my way—and I’ve been pretty game to give them a shot.”
For the past nine years, Barfield has been at Baton Rouge-based design and construction management firm CSRS, where he is principal and president.
“But even here, I didn’t come to CSRS as president,” he notes. “I started here under some made up title because we were just seeing if I would be a good fit. That’s what was most important. After we realized it was going to be a great fit, I took on a more traditional title and solidified what my role would be.”
Barfield’s nontraditional legal career may also be rooted in his nontraditional approach to law school. Even as an LSU Law student, he was more interested in business and finance—which he had studied as an undergrad—than he was in bench memos and trial briefs.
“I had a broad vision for what I could do with a law degree, but I was naïve in the sense that I didn’t think about going to law school to become a lawyer.”
Whenhillar MoorE III
District attornEY
East baton rougE Parish
Hillar Moore III was lead investigator for the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office back in the early 1980s, he would regularly run the LSU Lakes with the late LSU Law Professor Cheney Joseph (’69).
“Cheney and I had become friends through his work at the DA’s office, and he was one of the people who was really encouraging me to go to law school at that time,” Moore recalls. “I didn’t really have any interest in going to law school or becoming a lawyer, but Cheney was someone who first planted that seed and made me believe that it was something that I could do.”
LSU Law barred first-year students from working full time as they studied, and Moore had no intention of leaving the job he’d had since earning his criminal justice degree from LSU in 1977. So, when he finally committed to pursuing his law degree in the mid-1980s, Moore enrolled at Southern University Law Center across town and earned his J.D. over the next three years as he continued to handle investigations for the DA’s office.
“It was a nightmare,” he says of working full time while attending law school. “My wife and I had young children at the time, too, and the stress was phenomenal.”
After earning his law degree in 1989, Moore ended his tenure with the DA’s office— temporarily, at least—and began practicing with LSU Law alumnus Tony Marabella (’73), for whom he had clerked as a law student.
“The day I graduated from Southern I became a full partner at his firm, and it became Marabella & Moore. I spent the next 16 years as a private lawyer, about half of which were with Tony. He has been one of the most influential people in my life, and I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in today without him. I know Tony nominated me for this award, and that means as much to me as actually receiving it.”
When he was first elected East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney in 2008, Moore turned to his old friend and running partner Cheney Joseph for help.
“I selfishly asked Cheney to take leave from LSU Law to help me get started as my first assistant DA, and he did it, which was an incredible honor because I consider him to
BREAZEALE, sachsE & Wilson
Est. 1928 attornEys at Law
Stephen Whalen (’90) was a rising second-year LSU Law student when he enthusiastically began his first clerkship at Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson (BSW) under the tutelage of LSU Law alumnus Michael Palmintier (’75).
One of the aspiring attorney’s first notable assignments was drafting an opposition to a motion for summary judgement, and Whalen still remembers Palmintier’s unenthusiastic reaction upon reviewing his work.
“He said, ‘You know, this is a very nice ivory tower document. Everything you’ve stated here is accurate—but what I need you to do is advocate for our client,’” recalls Whalen, a BSW partner and former recruiting partner. “That was the biggest lesson for me, and I got it right out of the gate here.”
This small vignette exemplifies the vital role that a community-minded law firm can play in helping law students make the difficult transition from the classroom to the courtroom.
“LSU Law did a great job of preparing me to litigate,” adds current BSW Recruiting Partner Joseph Cefalu III (’12), who completed two summer clerkships with the firm before joining BSW upon graduation, “but the firm taught me how to actually do it.”
BSW was founded in Baton Rouge in 1928 upon two leading principles: To strive for legal excellence, and to be involved in the communities in which its attorneys live and work. The firm has shared a strong symbiotic relationship with LSU Law since its formation, and the connections between the two have only strengthened in the nearly 100 years that have since passed.
In 1978, BSW established a namesake scholarship at LSU Law to commemorate its 50th anniversary and honor its founding partners, H. Payne Breazeale Sr. and Victor A. Sachse Jr (’25). The award supports a first-year student from Louisiana and it’s just one of the many ways in which it champions the careers of LSU Law students.
“Our attorneys have a lot of engagement at LSU Law that goes far beyond traditional recruiting and professional development events,” Cefalu says. “Of course, recruiting is a secondary effect, but we also just have so many people who are passionate about
giving back to LSU Law and supporting current students.”
That’s why you’ll commonly see BSW attorneys at events such as the annual LSU Law Scholarship Reception, All-Alumni Tailgate, Hats ’n Canes toast to the graduating class, and Welcome to the Profession Dinner for first-year students, which the firm sponsors. BSW attorneys also regularly volunteer their time to serve as guest speakers, panelists, and moot court coaches and judges at LSU Law.
“Strategies have shifted, with law firms being even more focused on engaging with law schools and law students as much as they can throughout the year,” Cefalu says.
LSU Law alumni account for roughly 70% of the 75 attorneys who are practicing at BSW offices in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Monroe today. LSU Law students routinely fill most of the openings in the firm’s Summer Associates Program each year.
“And we have quite a few partners here who have been with the firm since they graduated from LSU Law,” notes Whalen, who practiced in Texas for six years after graduating, but has been with BSW ever since he returned to Baton Rouge in 1997.
“our attorneys have a lot of engagement at lsu law that goes far beyond traditional recruiting and professional development events. Of course, recruiting is a secondary effect, but we also just have so many people who are passionate about giving back to lsu law.”
BSW has long looked for the top talent emerging from LSU Law when it’s recruiting, and at one point in history it even lured one of the law school’s most prominent administrators and alumni away from the Law Center. When former LSU Law Dean Paul M. Hebert (’29) decided to leave academia to enter private practice in 1951 (resigning as LSU dean to do so), he chose BSW and the firm was known for a short time as Brezeale, Sachse, Wilson & Hebert.
“At the present time,” Hebert was quoted by the Reveille as saying at the time, “I have an opportunity for professional association with a leading law firm which I cannot afford to refuse.”
BSW Partner Melissa Morse Shirley (’97) is yet another of the many LSU Law alumni who have received a similar offer from the firm over the decades. She’s also a great example of how the pipeline from law school to law firm can ideally work for students.
“I had the good fortune of being a research assistant for Professor (Bill) Corbett at LSU Law, which gave me a great understanding of employment law, and he actually pointed me in the direction of the firm,” says Shirley, also a former BSW recruiting partner. “Employment law was a blossoming practice, but there wasn’t really a spot here for me at the time. They really brought me under their wing and created an opening for me, and I’ve been an employment lawyer here since 1997. I’m not sure I would have even ended up in this practice if it weren’t for those experiences at LSU Law and here at the firm.”
Mary TERRELL JOsEPH class of 1970 MEMBER
M c GLINchEY
Well, I was going to save the world, you see.”
Thus was Mary Terrell Joseph’s primary motivation for travelling to Spain in the fall of 1966 after earning her undergraduate degree at Hollins University, rather than launching a career or continuing her education.
“This was back before anybody called it a gap year, but that’s essentially what it was,” she explains. “The gist was I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I had majored in political science at Hollins and had applied to law school, but I wasn’t ready to go. I just wanted to make a positive difference somewhere.”
After nearly a year of living in Madrid and travelling and camping throughout Europe in her Volkswagen Beetle, the Shreveport-native returned home in the summer of 1967 and began plotting her next move. She considered the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA programs before deciding to become a social worker. She had heard great things about the LSU School of Social Welfare, which was housed in the basement of the Law Center, so she paid it a visit.
“I was told it was too late to apply, so I walked upstairs to the law school, where I had applied and been accepted the year before. I asked if I could enroll this year instead and they surprisingly said yes. So, I started classes three weeks later—as an accidental law student.”
Her experience at LSU Law would forever change the trajectory of Mary’s life, providing her with an education that would lead to a highly successful legal career, and a community in which she would make an indelible impact on the arts and education through her extensive volunteer work.
“That’s easy,” she says when asked what could have possibly kept the ambitious young woman with a touch of wanderlust in Baton Rouge, “I married Cheney.”
Mary Terrell and Cheney Joseph Jr. (’69) were married in December 1967. She was in her first semester at LSU Law and Cheney was in his second year. She had the first of their two boys during her final year of studies. Mary was among just eight women who graduated as part of the LSU Law Class of 1970. She practiced with Joesph & Joseph
and then Sanders Downing before co-founding Rubin, Curry, Colvin, and Joseph in 1983, alongside colleagues with whom she continues to practice today at McGlinchey.
“Since I didn’t know many people from Baton Rouge, I joined Junior League right out of law school, which was wonderful. I met so many active women who I would have never met in my career. That really started my involvement in the community, and I guess it just took off from there.”
That’s a mammoth understatement. Over the past five decades, Mary has served on the boards or held leadership positions at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, LSU Museum of Art, Louisiana State Arts Council, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Capital Area Network, Rotary Club of Baton Rouge, Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Capital Area United Way, and Hollins University Board of Trustees, among others. In 2005, she served on the bench of the 19th Judicial District Court as an appointed Judge Pro Tempore.
She points to her upbringing when asked where she developed her sense of duty to serve.
“My grandparents and parents were always involved in the Shreveport community. My father was a businessman who was very active with United Way. My mother was married at 19 at the end of World War II and she volunteered in the community. In school we were always encouraged to do community service projects, so I guess that’s where all that comes from.”
“You know, some people have a misguided notion that attorneys are just money hungry people, so volunteerism helps raise the reputation of our practice and lawyers in general.”
Shortly after Cheney died in December 2015, Mary established an endowed professorship at LSU Law in his honor. Despite being a prominent attorney, Mary never got heavily involved in professional legal organizations or bar associations.
“I was too busy doing other things. I loved being involved with the arts because I got to work with so many fun and creative people. And it was good for business, too. You know, some people have a misguided notion that attorneys are just money hungry people, so volunteerism helps raise the reputation of our practice and lawyers in general.”
Mary continues to practice at McGlinchey, though she reduced her workload several years ago. She also continues to volunteer and serve on a number of local boards, but she spends more of her free time with friends and family these days.
And as for her progress on saving the world?
“I was doing pretty well for a while there,” she laughs, “but I think we’ve still got some work to do. I guess I’ll have to keep trying.”
russELL “Rusty” stutEs jr. class of 1991
manaGing partnER
stutEs & LavErgnE
Growing up in Lake Charles in the 1970s, Russell “Rusty” Stutes Jr. remembers watching in awe as his father tirelessly worked two full-time jobs to support him, his mother, and three sisters.
“When I tell you that my father worked extremely hard, I mean that he would put in 80 to 90 hours a week,” Stutes Jr. says. “I remember the days when he would work at the refinery overnight from 11 to 7 and then immediately roll onto a construction job for the day. He would come home at about four in the afternoon and sleep for a few hours in my bedroom while my sisters and I did our homework, and then he’d clock in at the refinery that night and do it all over again.”
By the mid-1980s, Russell J. Stutes Sr.’s hard work was beginning to pay dividends. His name had become synonymous with top quality construction and his namesake business was rapidly growing, allowing him to eventually quit his second job at the refinery.
“By the time I started at LSU Law, he had grown Russell J. Stutes Construction into the most successful contracting business in Lake Charles,” says Stutes Jr., a commercial litigation attorney and managing partner of Stutes & Lavergne in Lake Charles.
Ensuring that his son and three daughters had the opportunity to earn a college degree was among the senior Stutes’ highest priorities. That was at least partially due to the fact that he had been forced to withdraw from Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute (known as the University of Louisiana Lafayette today) after just one semester in 1956.
“He had grown up in what can only be described as serious poverty in nearby Crowley, but he was a very bright guy and he always wanted to go to college and earn a degree,” his son explains. “Unfortunately, his mother became very sick, and it tapped out the money the family had to spend on my father’s education, so he had to drop out after his first semester.”
As a first-generation law student at LSU Law in an era when one-third of first-year law students failed out of school, Stutes Jr. would often find much needed motivation by recalling the long days he spent working alongside his father.
“I remember a number of times that I was still at the Law Library at 10 p.m. and being really tired but also knowing that I needed to put in a few more hours of study to really get something down,” he recalls. “And I would just think, ‘This is nothing compared to being drenched in sweat on a jobsite at three in the afternoon in August,’ and it would give me the energy to stay at the library until it closed.”
A few years ago, Stutes Jr. and members of his family began exploring options to honor the memory of his late father, who passed in December 2015.
“This country is built upon American Dream stories, and my father represents one of those stories,” he explains, “so I wanted to attach my father’s name to something that would provide others with the opportunity to pursue their own American Dream.”
In late 2023, LSU Law announced the creation of the Russell J. Stutes Small Business and Community Development Clinic, which would be funded with a gift of more than $500,000 from Stutes Jr. and his mother, Cissy.
The clinic began operations this spring semester, with eight upper-level students working with about one dozen Louisiana small businesses and nonprofits. Under the supervision of licensed faculty, sudents assist clients with business formations, tax exemption applications, bylaws, operating agreements, intellectual property issues, regulation compliance, and other important legal issues.
“This country is built upon American Dream stories, and my father represents one of those stories, So I wanted to attach my father’s name to something that would provide others with the opportunity to pursue their own American Dream.”
The clinic is designed to assist fledgling businesses and nonprofits that would not otherwise be able to afford legal services. Stutes Jr. says his father would have certainly fallen into that category when he was building Russell J. Stutes Construction, which remains a family-owned and operated company today.
“It’s something that I think he would have been proud of,” he says of the clinic, adding it aligns with one of his father’s core principals to “leave one’s family and community better than you found it.”
Along with his desire to honor his father, Stutes Jr. is committed to supporting LSU Law because it provided him with an incredible education at an unbeatable value.
“At the time I went to LSU Law, we were stealing those educations,” he says. “I’ve always believed that I got way more out of my LSU Law education than I was required to pay for it, and I haven’t forgotten that. I love Louisiana. I love LSU and the Law Center, and I treasure my parents, and so to me it’s only fitting that I stay engaged and give back, because I wouldn’t be the lawyer I am today without my parents’ sacrifice and tutelage, or the training I got at LSU Law.”
Young Alumnus: A graduate of 10 or fewer years whose leadership benefits the profession, the community, and/or LSU Law.
Engaged Alumnus: A graduate of 10 or more years whose combined investment of time, expertise, financial support, and leadership benefits the Law Center.
Legal Innovator: A graduate of 10 or more years who has used their law degree to build a business, pursue public service, or establish a successful non-traditional career.
Honorary Alumnus: A non-graduate whose unique relationship with and contributions to LSU Law have advanced the mission of the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center.
Career Champion: A firm that has provided significant and consistent contributions toward the advancement of employment outcomes through student programming.
Service to the Profession: A graduate of 10 or more years who elevates the profession through extraordinary and consistent leadership in one or more of the many organizations that make a difference in our world.
Dean’s Philanthropic Award: A graduate whose philanthropy helps LSU Law go beyond what has been done before and is, in that sense, transformative.
INSPIRED DESIGN
The Distinguished Alumni Awards are represented by design elements borrowed from the stained glass panels in the Student Lounge of the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center.
The panels were donated by LSU Law alumna Frances Leggio Landry (’34) and her husband, Jules F. Landry (’32), who practiced law together for more than 50 years in the historic Landry & Landry law firm building and gallery on Lafayette Street in downtown Baton Rouge. Frances was the first woman valedictorian in LSU Law history, and she was named Distinguished Alumna of the Year in 1988.
The art deco pelican graces the front cover of our program booklet and the crystal award for each honoree. It is one of four icons—along with a stylized fleur-de-lis, scales of justice, and law book—adorning the double doors that accompany the 19 stained glass panels.
Designed by Baton Rouge artist Adalie’ Brent, the stained glass panels were originally located on the ground floor of the “new” Law Center when it opened in 1969. The panels were moved to the second floor of the building as part of the Student Lounge renovation, which was completed in 2003.
Each of the honoree profiles was written by LSU Law Senior Associate Director of Communications Steve Sanoski, who also designed the awards program booklet.
rEcEption sponsor
compliments of
Vic Marcello (’76)
scoREboard sponsor
music sponsor
compliments of
Cynthia and Marshall Jones (’79)
TablE sponsors
Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson • Butler Snow • CSRS • East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore • Jeansonne & Remondet • Jones Walker • Kean Miller •
Kenneth Privat • Martzell, Bickford & Centola • Louisiana Middle District Bench and Bar • McGlinchey • Phelps • Walter, Thomas, Cullens
