2025 Distinguished Alumni Awards
Career Champion • Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson
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.
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.”
