Ernest “Dutch” Morial (October 9, 1929–December 24, 1989)

Mr. Morial was a New Orleans native, graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1951. In 1954, he became the first African American to receive a law degree from LSU Law. Morial fought to dismantle segregation as president of the local NAACP from 1962 to 1965. He was elected in 1967 to represent a district in New Orleans’ Uptown neighborhood. He served as Juvenile Court judge and on the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. In 1977 he became the first African American mayor of New Orleans.

  Judge Ralph E. Tyson (1948 – July 18, 2011)

Judge Tyson was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and received a B.A. from Louisiana State University in 1970 and a J.D. from Louisiana State University Law Center in 1973. He was in private practice from 1973 to 1988. He was an adjunct professor, Louisiana State University Law School from 1989 to 1991 and an instructor in the Sociology/Law Enforcement Department at Southern University from 1989 to 1998. He was a judge on the Baton Rouge City Court from 1988 to 1993 and on the 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish from 1993 to 1998. Tyson was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1998, to be a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 31, 1998. He served as chief judge from 2005 to 2011. Judge Tyson was honored as the LSU Law Center Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2009.

  Judge Trudy M. White

Judge White is a native of Baton Rouge, graduated from Howard University with a B.A. in Business Management in 1978, and earned a J.D. from Louisiana State University Law Center in 1981. She also completed advanced studies at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Kellogg’s School of Management. White has served as an elected judge of the Baton Rouge City Court, Division “B” of the Baton Rouge City Court, chief counsel to the Support Enforcement Services Program, Deputy General Counsel and the General Counsel to the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Judge White, often referred to as the “People’s Judge,” is an active participant in her community. Judge White was behind the production of a historical documentary about the first African-American swimming pool in Baton Rouge. The documentary is entitled “Baton Rouge’s Troubled Waters: Brooks Park and Beyond”. It aired on the Louisiana Public Broadcasting Station in 2007. Judge White is an elected judge of the 19^th Judicial District Court.

  Winston G. DeCuir, Sr.

Mr. DeCuir is a senior partner in the law firm of DeCuir, Clark & Adams, L.L.P.  He is a Baton Rouge native. He received a B.S. from Xavier University of Louisiana in 1970
and a J.D. from Louisiana State University Law Center in 1975. He was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 1975.  DeCuir has been awarded Awards the Earl Warren Legal Defense Foundation Scholarship and has served as the Judge Pro Tempore, Baton Rouge City Court in 1989 and 1995. He has served as an Assistant Attorney General Louisiana (1975-1989), an instructor at the Louisiana State University School of Paralegal Studies and is currently an Adjunct Professor in Trial Advocacy and Law Office Practice.

  Eulis Simien, Jr.,

Mr. Simien graduated from McNeese State University with a B.A. in Political Science in December of 1977. Eulis attended Louisiana State University’s, Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He graduated with honors in 1981 and was a member of the Order of the Coif. Eulis received an LL.M. from Columbia University School of Law in 1987. Eulis was a member of the faculty at the L.S.U Law Center from 1984 through January, 1994. Eulis received tenure in the shortest possible time after joining the faculty he remains an active member of the adjunct faculty.