LSU Law News
May 2007
Law Center Honors The Order of Coif Members
May 25, 2007Eighteen students were honored as members of The Order of the Coif, the highest academic honor that graduating law students may receive, at ceremonies held at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center on May 24, 2007. First row: Justice Jeffrey P. Victory, 2007 Honorary Member; Scott Patrick Ledet; Ashley Erin Marino; Kimberly Renee’ Brame; Pamela Ann Baxter; Carli Marie Beckett; Jacob Marshall Kantrow. Second row: Professor N. Gregory Smith; Brett Michael Sides; Alexander John Mijalis; Alison Victoria Nunez; Erin Gillen Lutkewitte; Katherine Suzanne Drell Grissel; Brad Russell Resweber; Professor J. Randall Trahan. Third row: B. Trevor Wilson; Jennifer Amber Wise;…
Read more >
LSU Law Center Confers Degrees at Commencement Exercises, May 24
May 25, 2007The LSU Law Center conferred degrees upon 177 students at commencement exercises held May 24, 2007. Ceremonies were presided over by Chancellor John J. Costonis. LSU System President William L. Jenkins spoke to the graduates and assisted in the conferring of degrees. Also assisting was LSU Board of Supervisors member Francis M. "Hank" Gowen, Jr. (’71). One hundred seventy-one students were awarded the Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.). Six students were awarded the Master of Laws (LL.M.). The LSU Law Center features the only joint degree (J.D./B.C.L.) program in the Unites States, and only one of…
Read more >
John N. Kennedy, State Treasurer, to Speak at LSU Law Center Commencement
May 21, 2007State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy will speak at the Thursday, May 24, 2007 LSU Law Center Commencement exercises. Chancellor John J. Costonis will preside over the 10:30 a.m. ceremonies in the LSU Pete Maravich Assembly Center.Some 180 students will receive degrees. LSU System President William L. Jenkins will speak to the graduates and assist in conferring of degrees. Also assisting Chancellor Costonis in the conferring of degrees will be Board of Supervisors member Francis M. "Hank" Gowen, Jr. (’71). The Honorable Robert W. Kostelka, State Senator, District 35, will speak on behalf of the LSU Law Class of 1957. The…
Read more >
Murchison Book Examines 'Snail Darter' Case
May 18, 2007With the discovery of a tiny fish in a soon-to-be-flooded stretch of the Little Tennessee River, construction on a dam that had already cost taxpayers $100 million came crashing to a halt. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the snail darter was instantly transformed into both an icon for species preservation and a despised symbol of the environmental movement's alleged excesses. In the new book, The Snail Darter Case: TVA versus the Endangered Species Act, author and LSU Law Professor Kenneth M. Murchison expertly examines the intense legal battle that resulted in the first true test of the…
Read more >
Green Receives Praise for Book on White Collar Crime
May 18, 2007Professor Stuart Green’s pioneering book, Lying, Cheating, and Stealing: A Moral Theory of White Collar Crime, is now available in paperback version from Oxford University Press. Just a year old, the book is the first in-depth study of its kind and examines the moral foundations of white-collar criminal offenses such as fraud, insider trading, bribery, and tax evasion. To give emphasis to the text, Green examines several high profile contemporary cases. A review in The Wall Street Journal said, “Mr. Green’s book admirably clears away much of the conceptual underbrush surrounding the idea of white-collar crime.” The book was nominated…
Read more >
Rogers Tapped by Smit's Guides and Others
May 18, 2007Professor Catherine Rogers, the Law Center’s Richard C. Cadwallader Professor of Law, has received two contracts for new books, one with Oxford University Press and the other from the prestigious series, Smit’s Guides to International Arbitration. The two projects are scheduled for publication in 2008 and titled, respectively, Global Ethics in International Arbitration and International Arbitrators: Ethics, Conduct and Challenges. Rogers has also been asked to join a taskforce of the American Society of International Law that will focus on professional responsibility for global legal practitioners. In addition, she is working on a casebook titled Complex Litigation: Litigating for Social…
Read more >
Zuppi Honored by Argentine Ministry
May 18, 2007Professor Alberto Zuppi was honored by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an expert for integrating the Argentine delegation participating in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Assembly of States Parties Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression. The ICC Assembly of States Parties recently met at the U.N. Headquarters in New York and will continue to meet twice a year until 2009 when its normative text of Crime of Aggression will be presented to the ICC. The ICC is an independent court of last resort based on a treaty currently supported by 104 countries. Zuppi is the Robert…
Read more >
Martin Named Director of Louisiana Mineral Law Institute
May 18, 2007Professor Patrick Martin, Campanile Professor of Mineral Law, was recently named director of the Law Center’s Louisiana Mineral Law Institute. Created in 1953, the Institute has provided leadership to the state’s oil and gas attorneys and petroleum landmen and its proceedings have served as the definitive resource on mineral law for the state. An annual continuing legal education program, the Institute is charged with promoting an understanding of Louisiana mineral law and facilitating its development through educational activities. Martin has taught at the Law Center since 1977. From 1982-1984, he served as the commissioner of Conservation for the State of…
Read more >
Corbett Co-authors First of Its Kind Casebook
May 18, 2007Professor William R. Corbett, the Frank L. Maraist Professor of Law and member of the law faculty since 1991, has co-authored the first English-language international and comparative employment law casebook, The Global Workplace: International and Comparative Employment Law – Cases and Materials.The new casebook covers employment laws of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, Japan, and India. The book examines the variety of laws governing issues such as individual and collective employment, antidiscrimination, privacy, and dispute resolution systems. The laws of individual companies are discussed against the backdrop of globalization and how they relate to the…
Read more >
Pietruszkiewicz Closes Out Year as President of SEALS
May 18, 2007Tax law expert Christopher Pietruszkiewicz, the Law Center’s J.Y. Sanders Associate Professor of Law, recently completed his term as president of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) and has the distinction of being the first untenured president of the association. Under his leadership, SEALS expanded its ongoing commitment to new scholars by adding several “New Scholars Workshops” and establishing a mentor program. He joined the LSU Law faculty in 2001.Pietruszkiewicz has added several new publications to his scholarly work. Discarded Deference: Judicial Independence in Informal Agency Guidance is his most recent article, and he is also the co-author of…
Read more >
Baier Receives Honor for Teaching
May 18, 2007Professor Paul Baier, the George M. Armstrong, Jr. Professor of Law, has received the Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate 2006-2007 Teaching Award. Baier received the distinction for his Honors College undergraduate course on The Constitution and American Civilization, a course he created for LSU undergraduates who wish to have an “edge up on entering law school.”Baier was honored at a May 8, 2007 reception held at the Lod Cook Alumni Center. The Louisiana Bar Foundation (LBF) named him the 2004 Distinguished Professor. He received his J.D. from Harvard University.
Read more >
Katherine Spaht Named Distinguished Professor by Louisiana Bar Foundation
May 17, 2007Katherine Shaw Spaht, the Jules F. and Frances L. Landry Professor of Law, was named the 2006 Distinguished Professor by the Louisiana Bar Foundation. The Foundation honored Professor Spaht at a gala event held in New Orleans April 20, 2007. Professor Spaht earned her B.A. from the University of Mississippi in 1968 and her law degree from LSU Law in 1971. She began her teaching career at the Law Center in 1972, concentrating on Civil Code subjects that impact the family, including Family Law, Matrimonial Regimes, and Successions and Donations. She also taught Obligations for 26 years. In announcing the…
Read more >
LSU Law Among Top 100 Law Schools in 2008 U.S. News and World Report Rankings
May 17, 2007The 2008 U.S. News and World Report rankings placed the LSU Law Center at number 91 and within the top 100 American Bar Association (ABA) law schools. The Law Center dropped slightly in the 2008 rankings released in March, but retained its top 100 classification. The 2007 rankings placed the Law Center at number 87. The Law Center’s rankings have improved dramatically under the leadership of Chancellor John Costonis, moving from fourth to the second tier over the past nine years. The magazine ranks all 180 ABA schools. The rankings are derived from various subcategories related to institutional resources, student…
Read more >
Dr. Pierre Loiseau of Quebec Completes LSU Law Distinguished Global Visitors Program
May 10, 2007Dr. Pierre Loiseau, adjunct faculty at the University of Laval in Quebec, was in residence at the Law Center through March 15. Teaching Health Cost Control vs. Medical Liability: A Comparative Law Perspective, Professor Loiseau showed how cost and liability impact one another. In the context of medical law and using a multidisciplinary approach, he discussed whether American managed care can be translated to improve the French health system. France has tried to mix profit-oriented managed care with socialized medicine and in doing so, the legal context was largely ignored, according to Loiseau. The Law Center’s Distinguished Global Visitors Program…
Read more >
Kauffman Foundation's Robert Litan speaks on Mega-Catastrophes
May 10, 2007Robert Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation, recently joined Professor Jim Richardson, director of the Masters in Public Administration program at LSU, for a presentation to the LSU Law Center faculty. The subject was Mega-Catastrophes: Perspective as an Economist and Attorney and concerned the legal and economic issues involved in disasters such as those our state recently experienced. Topics ranged from how much legal authority can be given verses how much is constitutional authority; litigation issues such as wind verses water; the need to establish regional councils for crossing state lines for disaster management; and…
Read more >
LSU Law Hosts Region 11 National Trial Competition
May 10, 2007The LSU Law Center recently hosted the Region 11 round of the 32nd Annual National Trial Competition in downtown Baton Rouge. All trials were held in the courtrooms of the Baton Rouge City Court and the 19th Judicial District Court, with 24 teams from 12 law schools across Louisiana and Texas competing. The top two teams in the regional competition were declared Regional Winners and invited to participate in the National Finals held in Houston in March. In addition to two teams of LSU Law students in the competition, approximately 150 attorneys and judges from Louisiana and surrounding states came…
Read more >
Law Review Holds Annual Banquet
May 10, 2007The Louisiana Law Review held its annual banquet at Juban’s Restaurant on March 10. The featured speaker was the Honorable Dee D. Drell, U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, who spoke about his path to the Bench. Judge Drell also shared anecdotes from his years of practice and offered words of wisdom to the attendees. Three awards were presented that evening. Benjamin W. Janke received the Vinson & Elkins Award for outstanding student comment or casenote. For outstanding service to the Louisiana Law Review as a Junior Associate, David P. Hamm, Jr. was presented the W. Lee Hargrave Award…
Read more >
Second Annual Judicial Clerkship Preparatory Program
May 10, 2007The Law Center recently hosted its Second Annual Judicial Clerkship Preparatory Program. Designed by Professors Frank Maraist, Andrea Carroll, and Ron Scalise, Associate Vice Chancellor Randy Thompson, and Tracy Evans, director of Career Services, the program is offered to second- and third-year students to assist them in overcoming the first few weeks of a judicial clerkship learning curve. It is also intended to give students an advantage when seeking judicial clerkships upon graduation. This year’s program included many prestigious speakers from across Louisiana: Judge Marilyn Castle, 15th Judicial District CourtJudge Tom Daley, 4th Circuit Court of AppealJudge Dee D. Drell,…
Read more >
Tucker Lecture Holds 34th Annual Series
May 10, 2007Professor Helmut Koziol was the guest lecturer for the thirty-fourth annual Tucker Lecture held at the LSU Law Center recently. A speaker of international prominence, Professor Koziol spoke on Punitive Damages: A European Perspective. Koziol is Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Vienna and Director of the European Center of Tort and Insurance Law. A distinguished civilian, he has devoted much time and talent to civil law scholarship. He has published numerous books and articles, is the editor of the Austrian law journal, Bank-Archiv, and a member of the board of editors of the German review, Zeitschrift für…
Read more >
Law Professor Named 2007-08 Supreme Court Fellow
May 2, 2007Elizabeth Murrill, assistant professor of Professional Practice at the Law Center, has been selected as the 2007-08 Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the Federal Judicial Center. The program was created in 1973 by the late Chief Justice Warren E. Burger “to provide promising individuals with a first-hand understanding of the federal government, in particular, the judicial branch,” according to the Court’s news release announcing Murrill’s selection. She will begin her fellowship this fall. As the fellow at the Federal Judicial Center, Professor Murrill will conduct research and provide assistance with the inter-judicial affairs programs. Murrill formerly served as a law…
Read more >
Moot Court Team Competes in International Competition
May 2, 2007LSU Law recently competed in the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot Court held in Vienna, Austria. 178 law schools with more than 1,000 individual students from 51 countries participated. The LSU Law team finished in the top third of all schools at the competition – quite a feat for the school’s first trip to this prestigious event. Laranda Moffett, third-year student, received Honorable Mention in the Individual Best Advocate category. This award is reserved for the top five percent of all competitors. Held in Vienna each spring, the Vis is the premiere international commercial law moot court. Sponsored by…
Read more >
Big Win for LSU Law Center's Black Law Students Association
May 2, 2007The LSU Law Center’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA) team of Brianna Guerin and Delon Lewis won second place at the Southern Region of the National Black Law Students Association’s Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition. Recently held in Miami, the competition consisted of 32 teams from six regions. The Law Center’s team was one of three from the Southern Region that will advance to the 18-team national competition in Atlanta. Students Ekua Assabil, Zita Jackson, Ashley Johnson and Jasmine Owens of the Thurgood Marshal Mock Trial Team also represented the Law Center in the quarterfinal round.Many people contributed to the…
Read more >
