The Honorable James L. Dennis (’62) will be presented with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws during ceremonies planned for Sunday, October 11, 2015.
The LSU Law Center will award the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws to the Honorable James L. Dennis, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, during ceremonies planned for Sunday, October 11. The honorary degree, the highest academic honor of an educational institution, is presented in recognition of Judge Dennis’ substantial contributions to the development of the law, to the judiciary and to our State, region and nation.
The award will be given as part of the Law Center’s annual Distinguished Alumnus and Distinguished Achievement Awards Luncheon. Judge Dennis is a former recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award. The luncheon will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Lod Cook Conference Center on the LSU campus. Registration is required. For ticket information to the luncheon, please contact Jennifer Roche at 225/578-5722.
“I have always been proud and grateful to have been a graduate of the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center,” said Judge Dennis. “Now, after having pursued a career as a lawyer, legislator and judge based on that early degree, as well as the enriching educational benefits from my lifelong association with LSU chancellors, professors and peers, I am so very humbled and so very proud and appreciative to receive an honorary doctorate degree from my own alma mater. To receive such an honor from any other source could not have been nearly as meaningful to me and my family. My heartfelt thanks to everyone in the LSU family who made it possible for me to receive this distinct and precious honor.”
Biography
Judge Dennis served in the U.S. Army from 1955-57 and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana Tech University in 1959. Judge Dennis thereafter graduated from the LSU Law Center in 1962, where he was the Managing Editor of the Louisiana Law Review and elected to The Order of the Coif. In 1984, he obtained his L.L.M. from the University of Virginia. Following law school, Judge Dennis practiced law in Monroe, Louisiana at the firm of Hudson, Potts & Bernstein from 1962-72. From 1968-1991, Judge Dennis served in numerous capacities within Louisiana State Government, including as a State Representative, Delegate and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1973, Coordinator of the Louisiana Constitutional Revision Commission, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Louisiana Judicial College, and Chairman of the Louisiana Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.
Judge Dennis’ distinguished career in the judiciary began in 1972, when he was elected to serve as District Judge for the Fourth Judicial District Court. He served on that trial court until 1974, when he was elected to a seat on the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal. In 1975, Judge Dennis was elected an Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court and served with distinction for twenty years. On January 31, 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton nominated Judge Dennis to serve as a Circuit Judge for the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Confirmed by the Senate on September 28, 1995 he received his commission on October 2, 1995. Throughout Judge Dennis’ judicial career, he has consistently embodied a deep respect for civil law sources and methodology, a tradition vital to the LSU Law Center, and a continual awareness that the welfare of the community often demands a flexible interpretation of basic civil code principles.
Judge Dennis’ service to the profession includes involvement with the Louisiana State Bar Association, American Bar Association, Louisiana Judicial College, Louisiana Law Institute, Martin Luther King Justice Center Advisory Board at Grambling University, Louisiana Supreme Court Historical Society, and the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society.
Judge Dennis has also maintained strong ties to the LSU Law Center. He has served as a member of the LSU Law Alumni Board of Trustees, founding member of and major donor to the Center’s Pugh Institute for Justice, and a member of the Chancellor’s Council. He was recognized as the LSU Law Center’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 1995.
