Seated: William Meyers; Standing L to R: C. Kris Kirkpatrick, Hon. Bonnie Jackson, Distinguished Alumnus W. Henson Moore III, Chancellor Jack Weiss, Hon. Elizabeth Foote & Pat Vance
The LSU Law Center honored W. Henson Moore III as the 2012 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year and the Honorable Elizabeth Foote, Honorable Bonnie Foster Jackson, C. Kris Kirkpatrick, William Morrison Meyers and R. Patrick Vance for Distinguished Achievement at an awards brunch on Saturday, October 20 at Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, Louisiana.
The Law Center, with the help of a group of alumni advisors, adopted the new model of alumni recognition for this year, providing for the opportunity to recognize multiple graduates for Distinguished Achievement and one alum as the Distinguished Alumnus/ae of the Year.
“In year’s past, the task of selecting one or even two people as Distinguished Alumnus of the Year has become more and more difficult,” said Chancellor Jack M. Weiss. “This is a good problem, because it means that we have a wealth of outstanding and worthy people in our family of graduates.”
The Distinguished Alumnus Award is given annually to a graduate for rare distinction in professional achievement and loyalty to the LSU Law Center. Graduates for Distinguished Achievement are chosen based on professional achievement and career distinction, service to and support of LSU Law, and service to the community.
Distinguished Alumnus of the Year W. Henson Moore III received his Juris Doctor from the LSU Law Center in 1965. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in government from LSU. Moore retired as president and CEO of American Forest & Paper Association in 2006. Immediately prior, Moore was a partner in the Washington office of Bracewell & Patterson, a Houston law firm, where his time was largely spent on natural resources and environmental issues. He was deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from 1989 until 1992, when he became deputy chief of staff for President George H.W. Bush. From 1975 to 1987, Moore represented the Sixth Congressional District of Louisiana in the U.S. House of Representatives where he served on several committees, including Energy and Commerce, Agriculture, Budget, and Ways and Means.
Moore is on the Board of USEC Inc. (United States Enrichment Corporation) and the advisory boards of Proudfoot Consulting, videoNEXT, and Small Business Resources. He was the first president of the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations, an international organization for the wood and paper industry. He served as Chair of the successful Forever LSU Campaign that was concluded in 2010 and is a member of the LSU Law Center’s Chancellor’s Council. He and wife Carolyn have three grown children.
The Honorable Elizabeth Foote received her Juris Doctor from the LSU Law Center in 1978. Since 2010, Foote has served as a United States District Court Judge for the Western District of Louisiana. Prior to her appointment to the federal judiciary, Foote was engaged in the full-time practice of law as a partner in the Smith Foote Law Firm in Alexandria. Foote served as a law clerk for Chief Judge William Culpepper of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal from 1978-79. An active member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, Foote served as President in 2008-09. Foote’s professional affiliations include membership in the Louisiana Bar Foundation and the Shreveport Bar Association. She has been a volunteer for the March of Dimes and served in numerous leadership positions with United Way of Central Louisiana. She is a member of the LSU Law Center’s Chancellor’s Council and serves on the Law Center’s Board of Trustees.
The Honorable Bonnie Foster Jackson, a 1978 graduate of the LSU Law Center, has served as a Criminal Court Judge in the 19th Judicial District for almost 20 years. Prior to her election as judge, Jackson worked for the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Defender’s Office for 14 years. She was named Assistant Director, a position she held until she launched her successful campaign for the judgeship. Jackson was one of five African American students to graduate from the Law Center in 1978. A frequent presenter at CLE programs, Jackson has also served on the Governor’s Task Force on Violent Crime, Supreme Court Task Force on Indigent Defense Funding, Louisiana Sentencing Commission, Criminal Bench Book Advisory Committee, the Louisiana Judiciary Commission and the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics.
A founding partner of the Long Law Firm, C. Kris Kirkpatrick has been involved with governmental relations and public policy for over 30 years. He served as both legislative assistant and administrative assistant to United States Senator Russell B. Long from 1979 to 1987. His knowledge of the political process has been instrumental in several state and national campaigns. He has been actively involved in numerous philanthropic efforts benefitting Baton Rouge and the state, as well as the LSU Law Center. Kirkpatrick lead the fundraising efforts for renovations of the Law Center’s Centennial Plaza in 2006. Kirkpatrick practices at the state and federal levels, with particular emphasis in the fields of taxation, healthcare, foreign trade, and insurance. He received his Juris Doctor from the LSU Law Center in 1975. He and wife Jane have two sons and four grandchildren.
William Morrison Meyers graduated from the LSU Law Center in 1948 where he was Associate Editor of the Louisiana Law Review and a member of The Order of the Coif and the Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity (President). Mr. Meyers became a member of the firm of Liskow & Lewis in Lake Charles, and he was associated with the firm for over 41 years. He was one of the founders of the New Orleans office of Liskow & Lewis in 1950. A long-time senior member of the Council of the Louisiana Law Institute, Mr. Meyers was very active in the revisions of various portions of the Louisiana Civil Code and the Louisiana Mineral Code. In 1984, he was the Practitioner in Residence at the LSU Law Center where he taught for a semester. He was inducted into the LSU Law Center Hall of Fame In 1987. Mr. Meyers is married to Lorraine Holleman Meyers, an LSU graduate, and they are the proud parents of six children. Three of their children, and the spouse of one, are graduates of the LSU Law Center. Meyers is a member of the LSU Law Center’s Chancellor’s Council.
R. Patrick Vance is a 1975 graduate of the LSU Law Center, where he was a member of the Louisiana Law Review. A partner at Jones Walker in New Orleans, Vance is a leader of the firm’s Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group. His practice focuses primarily on business litigation, creditors’ rights litigation, and bankruptcy. Mr. Vance is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, American Law Institute, and the American College of Bankruptcy. He is also an officer and conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference. He is one of two Louisiana attorneys listed in the International Who’s Who of Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers. Vance is the Past Chair of the Bankruptcy Litigation Committee for the American Bar Association and currently serves as President of the New Orleans Bar Association. Vance is a member of the LSU Law Center’s Chancellor’s Council.
