Thomas C. Galligan, Jr., former LSU Law Center professor and current dean and professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law, delivered the commencement address at the LSU Law Center graduation ceremony held today. The Law Center conferred degrees upon 249 students.
Chancellor John J. Costonis was joined by LSU System President William L. Jenkins and Charles S. Weems, 1969 LSU Law Center graduate and member of the LSU Board of Supervisors, as degrees were conferred.
Graduates come from 21 states and six foreign countries. Of the graduates, 204 are from Louisiana, while 45 are from other states. Some 242 students received the joint Juris
Doctor/Bachelor of Civil Law (J.D./B.C.L.) degree. Seven international students received the Master of Laws (LL.M.). The LSU Law Center is the only law school in the United States to award the joint degree and only one of two such programs in the Western Hemisphere.
Twenty-five graduates were named as 2006 members of The Order of the Coif in ceremonies held earlier in the day. Membership is comprised of those students in the top 10 percent of the senior class, and election to The Order of the Coif is the highest academic honor that graduating law students may receive. Doug Moreau, District Attorney for the 19th Judicial District and a former judge, was named honorary member of The Order.
Commencement speaker Thomas Galligan is President-elect of Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire. He taught at the LSU Law Center from 1986 to 1998 and was named the Dr. Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law in 1997. He was honored six times by the students as the Outstanding LSU Law Professor. Galligan is also a noted scholar who has recently co-authored a book on admiralty law and a treatise titled Louisiana Tort Law that has received honors by the Louisiana Bar Journal and the Tulane Law Review.
Additional platform guests included LSU Board of Supervisors members Marty J. Chabert, Francis M. “Hank” Gowen, 1971 LSU Law graduate, and James P. “Jim” Roy, 1976 LSU Law graduate.
Members of the LSU Law Center Class of 1956 were honored during the commencement ceremonies. The Honorable Anne L. Simon, retired judge of the 16th Judicial District Court in New Iberia, Louisiana, spoke on behalf of the 50-Year Golden Grads.
For more information, contact Karen Soniat at ksonia2@lsu.edu or 225/578-8645.
