October 2019
DEAN’S COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP REPORT
Welcome to our newest member, Jeff Raborn (’98). Renewing membership this month were: Ryan Boutet (’15), Brooksie Boutet (’14), John Luster (’77), Cecil Talley (’76), David Willenzik (’71), David C. McMillin (’88), Philip G. Hunter (’76), M. Hampton Carver (’70), Patrick S. McGoey (’96), Len Kilgore (’76) and Paul Strickland (’80). See the full roster Dean’s Council members.
The LSU Law Center awards more than $5 million in tuition waivers each year, and our Dean’s Council members’ unrestricted gifts underwrite those waivers. THANK YOU!
FIRST DEAN’S COUNCIL CONFERENCE CALL
More than 40 members of the Dean’s Council participated in our first conference call with Dean Tom Galligan on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Dean Galligan covered a number of topics and answered questions from participants during the 30-minute call. Some of the highlights:
- LSU Law enrollment, including L1-L3 and LLM students, totals 584.
- There are 206 students in the 1L class. The median LSAT is 155 (up one point from last year) and the median GPA is 3.48 (up .03 points).
- Other statistics about the 1L class: 13% of students self-identify as African-American; 15 students came from the 3+3 programs with Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) and the Manship School of Mass Communication, they come from 24 states and 67 undergraduate schools; 70% are Louisiana natives and 99 are from LSU; 52% are female, 48% are male; and they just took their Torts midterm and are really getting a handle on what it means to be a law student.
- Clare Ryan and Pedro Gerson have joined the faculty. Gerson is a visitor and will be with us for two years.
- John Costonis retired in June, and Bill Crawford and Paul Baier will retire at the end of December.
- Jake Henry, our Director of Admissions and a member of the Dean’s Council, has accepted appointment to the new Assistant Dean of Student Affairs position.
- Erin Pedrami has gone into private practice, so we are now seeking a Director of Admissions, a Director of Career Services and two faculty positions.
- Catherine Seemann, MSW, LCSW, has joined our staff to support student mental health. Her hiring marks a first for LSU Law.
- We received a grant from the Kendall Vick Public Law Foundation to make loan forgiveness grants to graduates working in public service.
Troy Keller, Jennifer Jones and Ryan Boutte asked about the 3+3 program.
The 3+3 program provides for eligible students from HSS and Manship (and soon, from Coast and Environment) to be admitted to the Law Center prior to completing and undergraduate degree. First-year law courses complete the requirements for their undergraduate degree. They pay tuition at the undergraduate rate to the Law Center for their first year, and most still have TOPS. Admissions require GPAs and LSATs that are above the previous year median, though we have admitted some at or below the median LSAT when other factors warranted admission. So far, 3+3 students are doing well, with solid GPAs—many in the top 25% of their class. 3+3 admissions only come from LSU undergrad programs.
David Koch asked about the tax program and faculty recruitment.
Professor Elizabeth Carter was teaching other subjects but is a tax professor and shifted her teaching assignments. Along with strong adjuncts this helps fill the void created by Phil Hackney’s departure. The program is popular and numbers are up. If they continue to rise we may be looking for another tax professor. Currently we are seeking to fill two faculty positions—one in legal writing, one in public law. Nationally, there are more scholars than faculty positions available. Our salaries are a little low, but we have research incentives that some places do not—summer research grants of $18,000, 20 hours of student research assistance and $3000 in travel allowance, which helps offset the salary differential.
Debbie Gentry mentioned a mentoring program at UT and asked if we had a similar program.
We don’t at this time. It’s a resource-intensive endeavor that we can’t support right now, though we certainly see the value. Alumni voice receptivity and students want it—especially our Texas Tigers Esq. group—students who come from Texas or want to return/go to Texas to practice. We’re researching and when we are able to initiate, it will likely be in Texas first. On another Texas matter, the LSU CLE program will be bringing CLE to Houston next fall.
The next Dean’s Council call will be in late May. Details to come.
DEAN’S COUNCIL SPOTLIGHT Q&A
J. Randy Young | Class of 1992 | Kean Miller
J. Randy Young is a partner at the Kean Miller law firm. He has specialized over the years in public utility, river pilotage regulation and environmental law. He is married to Connie Cormier Young, who is also of the Class of 1992 and is a research attorney to First Circuit Judge Mike McDonald. Connie and Randy are parents to two LSU students: Allie is a third-year medical student and Andrew is a first-year law student.
Your path to LSU Law was indirect. Do you think that made a difference in your law school experience?
I grew up in Carencro. I helped run a family Exxon station and competed in horse shows at state and national levels. I studied business at USL, then worked for the Federal Land Bank for about six years. I enjoyed that work but came to realize that I wanted to do something more. So I decided to go to law school.
I think I had the same challenges as most students of that time, but one additional challenge I had was the transition back to being a student after having been out of school for so long. Eventually I settled in and was successful in applying the discipline and focus developed from my work experiences to my studies.
Law school certainly gave me everything I needed to learn to begin to practice law. But, by far, the best gift I received in law school was meeting Connie Cormier. She was a wonderful partner then and remains so today. After we graduated, we settled here in Baton Rouge. And that choice has proven to be a good one for our family. I’ve developed a busy practice in utilities regulation from a single case many years ago. And Connie has clerked for some truly great judges—John Parker, Doug Gonzales, and now, Mike McDonald.
You have made some significant contributions to the community, from home repair in Mid City to delivering Meals on Wheels. Most recently, you served as chair of the Capital Area United Way, which is among the most influential nonprofit organizations. How does that square with a busy practice?
I clerked for Kean Miller during law school and was offered a job there upon graduation. I became a partner about five years later. What attracted me to Kean Miller was the people and the culture. It has been a wonderful place to build a career and I feel fortunate to be a part of it.
The culture at this firm now and always has valued social responsibility. Very early on, my mentors—among them Len Kilgore, Charles McCowan, and Katherine King—imparted an important message: We have the opportunity and privilege of earning a living in this community. With that opportunity comes the obligation to give back by seeking something about which you have passion and committing to it. I found that passion at United Way. The organization reaches across the community to identify the most pressing needs as well as the groups that are best positioned to do something about those needs. It helps channel human and financial resources to make a measurable difference. It means a lot to me to be part of that.
Your son is a 1L this year. How is his experience different from yours?
My children are both adults who I’m proud to say are very independent and make their own decisions. They know they can come to me with anything, but Andrew’s law school experience belongs to him and I’d have to leave any comparison to him. That said, I did share some advice with him—advice that would benefit any law student:
- Believe in yourself. Law school is a new world with new ideas and a language all its own. It can be intimidating. You belong.
- Outline and study early—don’t wait.
- Know the end game. Use the tools you learn to solve problems.
- Have a strategy for exams. Figure out what matters.
As a LSU Law student in four of his classes, you kind of “majored in Tom Galligan.” What did you think of him as a professor? Were you pleased when he returned as dean?
Professor Galligan had a way in the classroom. He’d take an idea and spin it around. Then he’d take another, and another—kind of like spinning plates. Just when you thought there were too many ideas and too much going on to ever make sense of it, he’d pull them all together and you’d understand. He was a teacher in every sense of the word.
Learning that Dean Galligan would be returning to the Law Center coincided with my own interest in becoming more engaged at LSU Law. So, one of the first things I did was to join the Dean’s Council!
Around that same time, I was serving as chair of the LSBA Utility Law Section. We coordinated with LSU Law to put together a lecture on utility and energy law. The lecture was very well-attended and we really enjoyed doing it. That led to an invitation to do something a little more involved.
Right now, I am planning a course for 2020 Apprenticeship Week on Energy Regulatory Law. We’re going to look at electric generation issues, hurricane restoration, electricity cogeneration and energy policy rulemakings. Students will be learning about real-life energy law issues. We’ll meet a Public Service Commissioner and hear first-hand about the process from the regulator’s perspective. The evolving emphasis on making law school graduates more practice-ready is a great opportunity to pass along some of the things I’ve learned from my years of experience. And it’s going to be a lot of fun, too!
