Last week, a great lawyer, leader, and passionate supporter of LSU Law left us too soon.

Gene Fendler — a 1973 graduate of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, president of the LSU Law Alumni Board of Trustees, and a 2019 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year — died Wednesday, Oct. 21, in a light plane crash in Slidell, Louisiana. He was 73.

Fendler was one of LSU Law’s most dedicated alumni. He was always thinking of ways to enhance support for the Law Center, and he constantly worked to make our institution a better place for our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. LSU Law is — and will remain — a better law school for his incredible influence and support.

Fendler was appointed to serve on the LSU Law Alumni Board of Trustees in 2005 and served as board president since 2010. He was also a long-standing member of the Dean’s Council, and was a frequent guest lecturer at the Law Center.

As a former managing partner of Liskow & Lewis in New Orleans, Fendler was instrumental in a gift that established The Liskow & Lewis Visiting Professorship in Energy Law in 2013. The professorship provides funds to bring distinguished scholars in energy law and closely related fields to the Law Center on an annual basis as part of the LSU John P. Laborde Energy Law Center. The law firm also established the LSU Law Liskow & Lewis Professorship of Law in 1995 and supports an annual scholarship.

Fendler graduated from LSU Law in 1973 as a member of The Order of the Coif and was editor-in-chief of the Louisiana Law Review. When he was honored as a 2019 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, Fendler said: “To be recognized by the school that I hold dear means all the world to me. LSU Law continues to turn out great lawyers today, just like it did when I was there in the Class of ’73. It was a great place when we went and it’s a great place today.”

Due to the pandemic, a memorial service will not be held at this time. Friends and colleagues, together with the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, are working on plans to recognize Gene for his significant contributions to LSU Law. A memorial fund has been established at the LSU Foundation and gifts can be made online at lsufoundation.org/givetolsulaw by entering Gene’s name in the "Tribute Information" section on the webpage.

LSU Law, in partnership with the Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO), has received a nearly $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to review select cases of incarcerated people who have claims of innocence. The two-year grant establishes the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center — the first clinic of its kind at a Louisiana law school — in which LSU Law students will review cases to identify those that may benefit from DNA testing.

“We are so pleased to establish this vitally important new clinic at LSU Law, which will provide our students with invaluable real-world experience working on incredibly meaningful criminal legal cases,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Lockridge.

The partnership between LSU Law and IPNO will expand IPNO’s capacity to review cases, locate evidence, and conduct DNA testing that may prove innocence and ultimately exonerate the innocent. It will also provide LSU Law students with a new avenue to gain practical experience working in the criminal legal system.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the expansion of our robust clinical programs at the LSU Law Center,” said Professor Robert Lancaster, Assistant Dean of Experiential Education. “We look forward to our partnership with IPNO as it will give our students practical legal experience representing individuals imprisoned for crimes they did not commit and, through that experience, understand how systemic problems in the criminal legal system cause those wrongful convictions.”

Thanks to the generous donation of more than $100,000 by two dozen LSU Law alumni and supportive law firms, a renovation of Room 107 in the Paul M. Hebert Law Center to include a courtroom in the classroom is underway.

Led by LSU Law alumni and adjunct faculty members Ed Walters and Frank Holthaus, the Alumni Courtroom Committee launched a fundraising campaign last year to begin adding courtrooms to as many as five classrooms in the Law Center.

The renovations will provide LSU Law students with more courtroom experiences inside the classroom and additional space for 35 Moot Court and Trial Advocacy teams to practice and compete.

The Class of 2020 dedicated their class gift to the campaign. See a list of all those who have donated to the effort thus far »

After serving 23 years in prison for attempting to steal a pair of hedge clippers, Fair Wayne Bryant was granted parole on Oct. 15 and released. The Committee on Parole voted 3-0 to release the 63-year-old following a hearing at which Bryant was represented by the LSU Parole & Reentry Clinic at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

Kelsey Jenkins, a third-year LSU Law student from Basile, Louisiana, worked with Bryant and drafted a memo in support of his early release that was submitted to the Committee on Parole prior to the Oct. 15 hearing. LSU Law Professor Robert Lancaster, Director of the LSU Parole & Reentry Clinic, represented Bryant at the hearing.

“Mr. Bryant’s sentence is an example of the flaws in Louisiana’s criminal legal system, but the Parole Committee’s decision to grant him early release shows the importance of periodic evaluation of an individual’s rehabilitation, which Mr. Bryant will continue with the support of the Louisiana Parole Project, Inc.,” said Jenkins.

Third-year LSU Law students Jessica Brewer and Seth Madden won the Fall 2020 Ira S. Flory Mock Trial Competition, which was conducted via Zoom.

Brewer and Madden beat fellow 3Ls Sara Duffy and Jordan Tambara in the final round of the competition, which was streamed live on Facebook.

The students argued the case of State of Louisiana vs. Courtney Act, a criminal trial in which the State of Louisiana charged the defendant, Courtney Act, with first-degree murder. The State of Louisiana was represented by Duffy and Tambara, while Act was represented by Brewer and Madden.

Serving as judges were Lindsay Blouin (’12), Deputy Chief Defender, East Baton Rouge Office of the Public Defender; Charles Watkins (‘12), Assistant U.S. Attorney, Western District of New York; and LSU Law Professor Jeff Brooks, Preis PLC Director of Advocacy & Professional Practice. Blouin and Watkins are very familiar with the Flory Mock Trial, having been partners in the competition while they were LSU Law students.

Second-year LSU Law students Katie Fox and Sarah Perkins won the 2020 Tullis Moot Court Competition on Monday, Oct. 26.

More than 100 people tuned into a Facebook live stream of the final round of competition, which was held via Zoom and in which Fox and Perkins competed against second-year LSU Law students Brennan O’Keefe and Cullen McDonald.

Serving as judges during the competition finals were the Hon. Erin Wilder-Doomes (’99), United States Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana; Walt Green, a partner at Phelps Dunbar and former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana; and Ben Aguiñaga (’15), an associate at Jones Day and former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

LSU Law alumni and students participated in the Paul M. Hebert Law Center’s 2020 Class Reunions and Hats ‘n Canes events on Oct. 23-24, which were held virtually due to the pandemic.

LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Lockridge and LSU Interim President Tom Galligan welcomed graduates from the classes of 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2010 in a video message for the Class Reunions on Friday evening, Oct. 23. The video also includes a tour of the Law Center narrated by LSU Law students. Watch the video. Alumni of each reunion class were joined by LSU Law faculty and staff members for their individual class social hours.

On Saturday, Oct. 24, many alumni also joined third-year LSU Law students and their family members to toast the Class of 2021 at a virtual Hats ‘n Canes event. Prior to the toast with Interim Dean Lockridge, the Class of 2021 were treated to a special video that was made by 3L Class President Keifer Ackley and 3L Blane Mader.

“Although the pandemic has taken away our normalcy, it did not stop the Class of 2021 from taking part in LSU Law’s most famous tradition,” Ackley said. “Even though the circumstances weren’t ideal, I’m so glad my class was able to celebrate their accomplishments and memories with their family and friends from across the country via Zoom. The Class of 2021 is special as they’ve never wavered from any challenge that’s been thrown their way the past few years. They’ve remained positive, encouraging and resilient and for that, I could not be more proud to be their class president.”

The Hats 'n Canes video features photos of 3L students throughout their time at the Law Center as well as a special congratulatory message from legendary LSU Gymnastics Coach D-D Breaux, who recently retired after 43 years. Watch the video.

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