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Alumni

Burrell J. Carter (‘58) is serving as Chief Judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeal - a role he has filled since August 1, 2000. He is actively involved as a member of the American Bar Association Judicial Division Ethics and Professionalism Committee.

D. Irvin Couvillion (‘59) has retired and returned to Baton Rouge after serving many years as special trial judge of the U.S. Tax Court in Washington, D.C.

Cordell H. Haymon (‘68), Robert R. Rainer (‘71), and Joseph B. "Beau" Olinde, Jr. (‘77) were recently honored by the Baton Rouge Speech and Hearing Foundation as Volunteer Activists.

Jean and Harmon Drew (‘71) will receive the Chief Justice E.D. White Judicial Excellence Award from the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame, August 1, on behalf of the Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum. Over the last 20 years, the Drews have taught the basics of search and seizure to 3,000 Louisiana peace officers. They reside in Minden.

LeBlanc Bland P.L.L.C. opened its offices in Houston and New Orleans in February. Joseph E. LeBlanc, Jr. (‘71), David S. Bland (‘82), and Elizabeth S. Wheeler (‘91) are three of the six members of the firm. Brian J. Comarda (‘99), Amanda N. Moeller (‘05), Meryl M. McLendon (‘06), and James D. Prescott, III (‘05) are associates of the firm.

Warren A. Perrin (‘72) was inducted into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame by the Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum Foundation. Perrin has served as the president of CODOFIL since 1990.

John W. deGravelles (‘74) will give lectures during the last week of May in St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of a program jointly sponsored by Tulane University Law School, The Aegean Institute of the Law and the Sea, and the Russian Academy of Liberal Arts and Education.

Joe Ferguson (‘74) and his classmates are looking for the whereabouts of fellow classmate Jacqueline Cooper.

Fred Preis (‘74) completed a two-year term of office as chairman of the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce and has become vice chairman of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.

Mike Rubin (‘75) recently presented a program titled Ethics? A Conflict of Interest? What Conflict? for the ABA Section of Real Property, Trusts, and Estate Law's 19th Annual Spring Symposia in Washington, D.C. He was also the keynote speaker at the Texas Construction Law Forum's annual CLE luncheon in San Antonio.

Frank M. Auer (‘76) is the CEO of Praeses, LLC, an information management company in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Lary D. Ratliff (‘77) recently published his first novel, A Shell Game. Ratliff currently lives in Kona, Hawaii and is writing his next novel, Kona Gold.

Elizabeth Erny Foote (‘78) will be sworn in as the 68th president of the Louisiana State Bar on June 13. Foote is a partner at the Smith Foote Law Firm in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Fran C. Godchaux (‘78) was named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama at their 15th Annual Women of Distinction Luncheon. Godchaux is the senior vice president of Operation New Birmingham.

Joaquin S. (King) Molinet (‘78) has assumed the position of Chief Regional Counsel - Africa and Assistant General Counsel for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., which is based in Cairo, Egypt. Molinet leads the legal team for Africa out of the Cairo office.

Susie Morgan (‘80) was named a partner at Phelps Dunbar L.L.P. in New Orleans.

James F. Shuey (‘80) joined the firm of Liskow & Lewis' New Orleans office as a biotechnology and agricultural products attorney.

Kent Adams (‘81) was inducted into the Litigation Counsel of America at the LCA's Spring Conference and Induction of Fellows in Miami. Adams is a managing shareholder of Adams & Boswell, P.C., with offices in Houston and Beaumont, Texas.

Besty Cobb (‘81) is part of the in-house law department for The Travelers Companies Inc., located in the headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. She supports the Investment Department of Travelers. Her husband, Dr. Peter Maye, is a chemist associated with the University of Minnesota.

Preis & Roy recently announced the appointments of David M. Flotte (‘82) to its Houston office and Danielle M. Smith (‘96) to its Lafayette office as partners within the firm. Leah Nunn Engelhardt (‘94) joined the firm as a partner in the New Orleans office.

George Fagan (‘84) was recently elected as secretary and member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of ALFA International, a global legal network consisting of 85 domestic and 40 international law firms. Fagan is a principal with the law firm of Leake & Andersson, LLP in its New Orleans office. On August 1, 2007, Leake & Andersson, LLP opened a Lafayette office where Pat Wartelle (‘84) is the lead partner for the firm.

Larry Pugh (‘85), Ted Haas (‘78), Scott Loeb (‘98), and four additional partners have opened the firm Pugh, Accardo, Haas, & Radecker, L.L.C. in downtown New Orleans. Nina Rabito (‘05), Billy Davis (‘06), Shelley Thompson (‘06), and Alexander Burns (‘07) are associates with the firm.

John Fenner (‘86) is the corporate general counsel for Turner Industries, the second largest privately owned company in Louisiana.

C. Noel Wertz (Rio) (‘87) is currently working as assistant corporate counsel for Fort Dearborn Life Insurance Company in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.

Mathile Abramson (‘88) was appointed the Division D judgeship by the Louisiana Supreme Court through July 8 or until the vacancy is filled.

Tim Barfield, Jr. (‘89) was named Louisiana Secretary of Labor by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Stephen Street, Jr. (‘89) was named Louisiana's Inspector General by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Marshall Grodner (‘90) was elected a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, or ACREL.

Neil Abramson (‘92) was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Neal J. Kling (‘93) has been elected to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and was named a member of the adjunct faculty at Tulane Law School.

Jamelle (Thompson) Magee (‘93) has been promoted to Senior Counsel/Compliance Officer of TrustSolutions, LLC - a Wisconsin-based company specializing in health insurance program benefit integrity.

Jennifer Treadway Morris (‘94) joined the Baton Rouge branch of the Financial Firm of Smith Barney, a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

Jennifer Anderson (‘95) relocated from Jones Walker's New Orleans office to its Baton Rouge office.

Ronald J. Ventola, II (‘95) was promoted to partner at the firm Schnader, Harrison, Segal, & Lewis L.L.P. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Hillary H. Hughes (‘97) is a partner in the Corporate Group at the New York office of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal L.L.P - a 700-attorney, national law firm. She is also expecting her second child in mid-June.

Brenda B. Maturin (‘97) joined the Lafayette office of Jeansonne & Remondet, L.L.C.

Mandy K. Mendoza (‘98) married Michael L. Gagliardi on June 16, 2007.

Jay M. O'Brien (‘99) was elected to serve on the Board of Governors of the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit.

Carmen M. Lavergne (‘00) was recently elected as a new member of McGlinchey Stafford P.L.L.C.

John Wesley Raborn (‘01) joined the law firm of Garrett, Hemann, and Robertson P.C. in Salem, Oregon. He specializes in business and corporate law, real estate transactions, and development and civil litigation.

Bryan Shartle (‘01) was made partner at Sessions, Fishman, Nathan, & Israel, L.L.P.

Michael Durham (‘02) was promoted to junior partner at Crawford Lewis, P.L.L.C., which has offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Sungjin Kim (‘02) was recently promoted from researcher to research officer - a position that carries the same status as judges in ordinary courts - in the Constitutional Court of Korea. He is the first research officer there with a U.S. J.D. degree.

Kyle M. Bacon (‘03) joined the Baton Rouge office of Kean, Miller, Hawthorne, D'Armond, McCowan & Jarman L.L.P. as an associate attorney. He will practice in the Business and Corporate, Finance, and Real Estate groups.

Heather Forrest (‘03) was named a "Rising Star" for 2008 by Texas Monthly. She was also elected to the board of directors for the Dallas-Ft. Worth chapter of the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation. Forrest is an associate with the Texas-based law firm Jackson Walker L.L.P.

Cara L. Raymond (‘03) completed Real Estate L.L.M. at John Marshall Law School's Center for Real Estate Law in Chicago, Illinois. She was named Top Gross Producer of 2007 for Coldwell Banker Commercial TEC Realtors and is currently employed with Wampold Companies in Baton Rouge, working with legal issues and property management.

Kerrie S. Crockett (‘05) was promoted to "B" Level Felony Prosecutor in the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.

Jacob S. Edwards (‘06) moved from Title2Land, LLC, in Baton Rouge to The Boles Law Firm, APC, in Monroe, Louisiana.

Ross Mouhot's (‘06) article, Sales Tax Incentive for Oil & Gas Drilling Companies in Louisiana, was published in the Jan.-Feb. 2008 issue of the Journal of State Taxation.

James Vilas (‘06) is practicing with another LSU Law graduate, Paul Rabalais (‘90) at the Estate Planning Law Firm in Baton Rouge. Vilas is also the owner of the Baton Rouge Capitals soccer team, which is part of the United Soccer League - a minor or semi-pro league where players retain their amateur status. Approximately 75 to 80 percent of the players drafted by Major League Soccer come from the USL.

Nicole M. Viscomi (‘06) was hired in October of 2007 by MidPenn Legal Services in Reading, Pennsylvania as a staff attorney. She primarily focuses on housing, consumer, and employment matters for low income clients.

Tarek P. Shahla (‘07) was named an associate with the Baringer Law Firm in Baton Rouge.

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