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LSU Law announces 2020 Distinguished Alumni and Distinguished Achievement honorees

LSU Law has selected William Crawford, Hon. Ernestine Gray, Hon. Guy Holdridge, H. Alston Johnson III and James P. Roy Sr. as its 2020 Distinguished Alumni of the Year, and Glenn Armentor, John M. Madison Jr. and Mary Olive Pierson have been selected as this year’s Distinguished Achievement honorees.

“The Law Center’s graduates work and serve the profession in a variety of capacities, from government service to the judiciary to private practice and more, occasionally even returning here to teach new generations of students, and this year’s honorees reflect that diversity,” says LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Wheelis Lockridge. “We are proud to recognize our Distinguished Alumni and Distinguished Achievement honorees for their professional accomplishments as well as for their support of and service to the Law Center and the community.”

The eight LSU Law alumni will be honored at a ceremony on Friday, March 6, 2020, at the Marriott Hotel in Baton Rouge.

The Distinguished Alumni award is given annually to alumni for rare distinction in professional achievement and loyalty to the LSU Law Center. The Distinguished Achievement awards recognize graduates for professional achievement and career distinction, service to and support of LSU Law, and service to the community.

For sponsorship and ticket information about the March 6 ceremony, please contact Christine Briede at 225-578-8343 or cbriede@lsu.edu. Tickets and tables for the event may also be purchased online.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

  • William Crawford retired from LSU Law following the Fall 2019 semester as the longest-serving LSU faculty member. He was a professor at LSU Law for 53 years, and spent 10 years as a practicing attorney in New Orleans prior to joining the faculty as assistant dean in 1966. He became an associate professor in 1969 and professor in 1971, and was awarded the James J. Bailey Professorship in Law in 1985. Over the span of his career, he taught Louisiana civil procedure, Louisiana security devices, and advanced Louisiana torts to thousands of students. He also served as director of the Law Institute from 1978 to 2018. Crawford is a 1951 LSU Law graduate. Crawford has been a member of the Dean’s Council since its inception.
  • Ernestine Gray was first elected to the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court on Nov. 6, 1984 and has served with distinction for 35 years. A native of South Carolina, Gray earned her undergraduate degree from Spelman College in Atlanta and graduated from LSU Law in 1976. Prior to her election to the bench, Gray was in private practice. She has also had an extensive career in government, most notably with the Louisiana Attorney General’s office working on antitrust matters, and many years as a trial attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
  • Guy Holdridge is the 1st District, Division C Judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeal in Louisiana. He ran unopposed and was elected to a 10-year term on the court in 2014. Holdridge received his BA from LSU in 1974 and graduated from LSU Law in 1978. Prior to being elected to the First Circuit Court of Appeal, Holdridge joined the 23rd Judicial District in 1991 and served as the chief judge of that court in 1991, 1995, 2000 and 2006. He serves as an adjunct professor of law at the Law Center.
  • Alston Johnson III is a senior partner with Phelps Dunbar in its Baton Rouge office, practicing in the area of litigation, particularly at the appellate level and with particular emphasis in the areas of tort litigation, insurance coverage and litigation and administrative law. Prior to joining Phelps Dunbar in 1984, he was a full-time LSU Law faculty member for 12 years and he served as an adjunct faculty member from 1984 to 2011. When he became a senior partner at Phelps Dunbar in early 2012, he resumed teaching full-time until the end of the spring semester of 2013, when he reverted to his prior adjunct status. He earned his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in 1967 and graduated from LSU Law in 1970.
  • James P. Roy Sr. is a senior partner and managing member of Domengeaux Wright Roy & Edwards LLC in Lafayette, and is primarily involved in the representation of plaintiffs in admiralty & maritime law, personal injury litigation, and mass tort/class actions. He graduated from LSU Law in 1976 and earned an LLM from Georgetown University Law School in 1977. He is admitted to practice in all federal and state courts in Louisiana, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, and is a past president of the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association. He has been on the LSU Law Alumni Board of Trustees for many years and is the former chair of the Annual Fund. He has been a Dean’s Council member since its inception and a principal philanthropic donor to the Law Center.

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT

  • Glenn Armentor is general partner of Glenn Armentor Law Corporation in Lafayette, which he founded in 1977 as a plaintiffs’ litigation firm. Armentor earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is a 1977 LSU Law graduate. He is a current member of the LSU Board of Supervisors and the LSU Law Alumni Board of Trustees. Armentor’s “Pay It Forward” academic scholarship supports at-risk youth who wish to attend the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He has also funded the Glenn Armentor LSU Law Annual Scholarship in past years.
  • John M. Madison Jr. is a founding member of Wiener, Weiss & Madison in Shreveport and has practiced law continually with the firm since 1975. His practice includes commercial litigation, construction law, oil and gas law, with emphasis on representation of mineral owners, business law and employment law. His experience ranges from the representation of the owners of small businesses to national corporations. He earned his undergraduate degree from Washington & Lee University and is a 1969 LSU Law graduate. He has been a member of the Dean’s Council since its inception and a member of the LSU Law Alumni Board of Trustees for many years.
  • Mary Olive Pierson is a longtime Baton Rouge attorney who specializes in banking, lender liability, complex litigation, trials, tort, contracts and complex agreements. Over her storied career, she has been involved in many high profile cases. She earned her undergraduate degree from LSU and she is a 1970 LSU Law graduate. Pierson is a past member of the LSU Law Alumni Board of Trustees. She also served as co-chair of the Law Center’s Centennial Celebration in 2006, helping to lead the fundraising initiative and gala celebration.
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