Paul M. Hebert Law Center

Paul M. Hebert Law Center
Parent school	Louisiana State University System
Established	1906
School type	Public university
Dean	Jack M. Weiss
Location	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
Enrollment
Faculty
Bar pass rate	86.5%
Website	www.law.lsu.edu

The Paul M. Hebert Law Center is a law school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, part of the Louisiana State University System and located on the main campus of Louisiana State University.

Because Louisiana is a civil law state, unlike its 49 common law sister states, the curriculum includes both civil law and common law courses, requiring 94 hours for graduation, the most in the United States. In the Fall of 2002, the LSU Law Center became the sole United States law school, and only one of two law schools in the Western Hemisphere, offering a course of study leading to the simultaneous conferring of a J.D. (Juris Doctor), which is the normal first degree in American law schools, and a B.C.L. (Bachelor of Civil Law), which recognizes the training its students receive in both the common and the civil law. As of June 2008, the LSU Law Center will no longer confer the B.C.L., but will confer a Graduate Diploma in Civil Law instead. This is due to a conflict with the Southern Association of Colleges (SACS) over the requirements of a bachelor degree.

The Paul M. Hebert Law Center is an autonomous campus of, rather than a dependent college of, its larger university. Its designation as a Law Center, rather than Law School, derives not only from its campus status but from the centralization on its campus of J.D. and post-J.D. programs, foreign and graduate programs, including European programs at the Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 School of Law, France, and University of Louvain, Belgium, and the direction of the Louisiana Law Institute and the Louisiana Judicial College, among other initiatives.

History

The Louisiana State University Law School was established in 1906. LSU Law Center has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools and approved by the American Bar Association since 1924. The Law Center was renamed in honor of Dean Paul M. Hebert [1] (1907–1977), the longest serving Dean of the LSU Law School, serving in that role (with brief interruptions) from 1937 until his death in 1977. One of these interruptions occurred in 1947-1948 when he was appointed as a judge for the United States Military Tribunals in Nuremberg.

Rankings

The LSU Law Center has moved nine spots upward in the 2014 U.S. News rankings of law schools, climbing to 76th. The #76 ranking is the second highest in LSU Law history, bested only by the school's ranking of #75 in 2010.

The LSU Law Moot Court/Trial Advocacy Program has been ranked in the Top 25 nationally. Since the 2005-06 academic year, the Moot Court/Trial Advocacy Program has earned 5 National Moot Court Championships, 7 National Second Place Finishes, 3 State Championships (LSBA Mock Trial), 15 Top 8 Finishes in National Quarter Finals, 15 Regional Championship or Finalist Awards, 18 Best Oralist/Best Individual Advocate Awards, and, 8 Best Brief/Best Motion Awards.

The LSU Law Center ranked 11th in the United States in the percentage of 2011 graduates employed in full-time, long-term legal jobs within 9 months of graduation, according to an analysis published by the Wall Street Journal. The ranking was based on detailed legal employment data reported by all accredited law schools to the American Bar Association (ABA).

A recent study conducted by The National Jurist magazine identified LSU Law as the #1 school in the United States in terms of first-time bar passage ratios in a predictive statistical model based on Law School Admission Test scores. It also ranked the historic LSU Law Library #5 based on measures reported to the ABA by all ABA-approved law schools.

Demographics

In 2011, the Law Center received 1,437 applications for the J.D./C.L. program for an enrolled class of 239. The current first-year class includes graduates from 80 colleges and universities throughout the nation. Women make up 49% of the class, 51% are men. Approximately 35% of the class of 2014 came from outside Louisiana representing 19 others states, United States Virgin Islands, France, and China.

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources

The Center publishes the biannual open-access LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources that focuses on the law of energy development, energy industries, natural resources, and sustainable development.

Notable alumni

• Kent M. Adams, Class of 1981, Houston, Texas attorney, Past Chairman of the Board of Regents of the Texas State University System (2001–2007)
• H. Welborn Ayres, judge of the Third Judicial District and Second Louisiana Circuit Court of Appeals, 1942–1975
• Charles C. Barham (1934–2010, Class of 1959), State senator from Lincoln and Union parishes; attorney in Ruston
• Greg Barro, State senator from Caddo Parish (1992–1996); Shreveport attorney
• Walter O. Bigby, State representative and appeals court judge
• John Breaux, United States Senator from Louisiana from 1987 until 2005, lobbyist
• Chris Broadwater (Class of 2002), current District 86 state representative from Tangipahoa Parish
• Overton Brooks (Class of 1923), United States Representative from Louisiana's 4th congressional district from 1937 to his death in 1961
• Henry Newton Brown, Jr., Chief Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeal
• Ossie Brown, former East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney
• Roy Brun, state district court judge in Shreveport and former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Caddo Parish
• Bryan Edward Bush, Jr., former EBR district attorney; unseated Ossie Brown in 1984
• Patrick T. Caffery (Class of 1956), United States Representative from 1969 to 1973 and member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1964 to 1968
• David T. Caldwell (Class of 1951), Second Judicial District Court judge in Jonesboro.
• Theo Cangelosi (Class of 1934), lawyer, businessman, politician, gubernatorial confidante
• James Carville, American political consultant, commentator and pundit
• Marcus R. Clark, Louisiana Supreme Court Justice from West Monroe
• Cleveland Dear, U.S. representative from 1933 to 1937, district attorney, and state judicial district court judge
• James L. Dennis, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit judge
• Edwin Washington Edwards, Four-term Governor of Louisiana; prisoner, convicted of extortion, racketeering, and fraud
• Frank Burton Ellis, 1929 L.L.B., state senator and federal judge
• Jimmy Field, 1966 Law, member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from Baton Rouge
• C.B. Forgotston, 1970 J.D., political activist and state government watchdog
• Mike Futrell, 1985 J.D., former state representative and East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council member
• Allen C. Gremillion, (1929–1971), state representative from Crowley, 1964-1971
• Rufus D. Hayes, (1913–2001), first state insurance commissioner, former East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney, former state Democratic chairman
• S. Maurice Hicks, Jr., United States District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division
• George B. Holstead (1924–2002), State representative from Lincoln Parish from 1964–1980
• Guy E. Humphries, Jr., state court judge from Alexandria
• H. Alston Johnson, III, former federal judicial nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., United States Senator from 1972 to 1997; former member of both houses of the Louisiana legislature from Caddo Parish; Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist
• J. Lomax "Max" Jordan, Jr., Louisiana State Senator from Lafayette and Acadia parishes, 1992–2000
• Eddie J. Lambert, 1982 J.D. (born 1956), state representative from Ascension Parish. Mrs. Lambert is an LSU Law graduate and a judge in Ascension Parish.
• Cheney Joseph, Judge Pro- Tempore, 16th Judicial District Court; Judge Pro-Tempore, 40th Judicial District Court; Executive Counsel to the Governor of Louisiana
• Anthony Claude "Buddy" Leach, Jr., United States Representative from 1979-1981, chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party
• Fred S. LeBlanc, 1920 L.L.B., mayor of Baton Rouge (1941–1944), state attorney general (1944-1948; 1952-1956), 19th Judicial District Court judge
• Joe LeSage, Law School Class of 1952, Shreveport attorney, state senator (1968–1972), LSU supervisor (1956–1968; 1992, 1998), 1948 LSU quarterback
• Russell B. Long, American politician who served in the United States Senate from Louisiana from 1948 to 1987
• Gillis W. Long, United States Representative during the 1960s.
• Speedy Oteria Long, United States Representative from 1965 to 1973.
• Nicholas Lorusso (Class of 1992), state representative from Orleans Parish since 2007
• James O. McCrery, III, United States Representative from 1988 to present.
• John Willard "Jack" Montgomery, Minden attorney and state senator from 1968–1972
• William Henson Moore, United States Representative from 1975 to 1987. Unsuccessful Republican candidate for the United States Senate; Commissioner, Panama Canal Consultative Committee, 1987–1989; Deputy Secretary of Energy, 1989–1992; White House Deputy Chief of Staff, 1992–1993; Professional Advocate.
• Bernette Johnson, Louisiana Supreme Court Justice
• Catherine D. Kimball, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Louisiana
• Charles E. McConnell, Webster Parish politician
• Jay Morris (Class of 1983), Louisiana state representative since 2012 from Ouachita and Morehouse parishes
• Sydney B. Nelson, state senator (1980–1992) from Caddo Parish
• G. Thomas Porteous, United States District Court judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana
• O. E. Price (1924–2006), Class of 1949, municipal, district, and state appeal court judge from Bossier City
• Alvin Benjamin Rubin (1920–1991), Class of 1942, federal judge from 1965 to 1991
• Alan Seabaugh (born 1967), Class of 1993, state representative from Shreveport
• Andrew L. Sevier (1894–1962), Class of 1921, state senator from Tallulah
• J. Minos Simon (Class of 1946), attorney and legal author in Lafayette, Louisiana
• Tom Stagg, United States District Judge in Shreveport
• Wilbert Joseph "Billy" Tauzin, Jr., Member of the United States House of Representatives from 1980–2005
• Risley C. Triche, Louisiana state representative, 1955–1976
• Ralph E. Tyson, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
• R.B. Walden, director of the Louisiana Department of Hospitals and former mayor of Winnsboro
• Edward J. Walters, Jr., Prominent Baton Rouge Trial Attorney, named 2008 Distinguished Attorney in Louisiana by Louisiana Bar Foundation, founding partner of Walters, Papillion, Thomas, Cullens, LLC.
• John L. Weimer, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Louisiana
• W. Scott Wilkinson, Shreveport attorney and member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1920-1924 (D)
• Captan Jack Wyly - Conservative Democratic political figure
• Henry L. Yelverton, district and appellate court judge based in Lake Charles

See also

• Joseph T. Bockrath

Further reading

• W. Lee Hargrave. LSU Law: The Louisiana State University Law School from 1906 to 1977. Louisiana State University Press, 2004.

External links

• Official website