Distinguished Jurist
Hon. Richard T. Haik, Sr. (Ret.)
U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana
Richard T. Haik, Sr. served as a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette from his appointment in 1991 until his retirement in 2016. He served as Chief Judge of the district from 2002 until 2009.
Judge Haik received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he was a four-year football letterman for the Ragin' Cajuns. He received his Juris Doctorate in 1975 from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. He was elected to serve as a state court judge in the 16th Judicial District Court in 1984, at the age of 34, after practicing law in his hometown of New Iberia. From 1971 to 1978, he was a Louisiana Army National Guard member, serving as a reserve captain in the United States Army from 1980 to 1984.
While on the federal bench, he was offered $2 million bribe in exchange for a favorable ruling in an environmental case. He went undercover to participate with federal agents in “Operation Black Robe,” as it was later called, a successful six-month operation that led to two participants serving time in federal prison.
As a trial judge for 30 years, he conducted countless settlement conferences, with the ability to broker amicable settlements in the most complex matters, including In Re Combustion, Inc., a mass tort/multi-district environmental litigation regarding a hazardous waste dumping site, involving approximately 12,000 plaintiffs and 900 defendants. After six years of litigation, it was transferred to him and settled before trial. He now enjoys a thriving mediation practice, through his Of Counsel position at Morrow, Morrow, Ryan, Bassett & Haik and as a mediator with Perry Dampf Dispute Solutions.
Judge Haik was the 2019 John A. “T-Jean” Hernandez III Memorial Award recipient, presented for achievements in Francophone leadership, the 2016 Loyola University Alumni Glass Award, and the 1994 ULL Outstanding Alumni Award recipient. He has been married to his wife, Kathleen, for 47 years, and they have three children, Elizabeth, Richie, and Mary Carolyn, and nine grandchildren.
Distinguished Attorney
Leo C. Hamilton
Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P.
Leo C. Hamilton is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P. He practices in the areas of labor and employment law, administrative law, constitutional law, and governmental relations. His clients have included the City of Alexandria and the Parish of Pointe Coupee and General Counsel for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. Leo earned his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1977 and has provided his clients with over 40 years of experience.
Active in many business and civic endeavors, Leo has previously served as Chair of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University Board of Trustees, Vice President of Louisiana State Law Institute, Chair of the LSU Alumni Association, President of American Red Cross, President of the Baton Rouge Bar Association and the President and Board Member for the Louisiana Bar Foundation. Leo was also a member of the Entergy Louisiana Advisory Board, Louisiana State Bar Association, and House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.
Leo was awarded the Statewide Impact Award by the Louisiana Community and Technical College System for extraordinary leadership efforts which have been notably effective in advancing the education and workforce needs of students, businesses, and communities across Louisiana. Recognized as a 2020 Distinction in Diversity Honoree by the Clarence L. Barney Jr. African American Cultural Center. He has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America and Lawyer of the Year for Administrative / Regulatory Law and Employment Law in Baton Rouge by The Best Lawyers in America.
Distinguished Professor
Andrea Beauchamp Carroll
LSU Paul M. Hebert School of Law
Andrea Beauchamp Carroll is the Associate Dean for Student & Academic Affairs and the Donna W. Lee Professor of Family Law at the LSU Law Center. Before joining the LSU Law faculty, Professor Carroll clerked for The Honorable W. Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She subsequently worked as an associate at the Dallas law firm of Baker Botts, L.L.P., handling appellate litigation. In 2003, Professor Carroll returned home to LSU Law, where she has been teaching and writing about family law, community property, and property for nearly two decades.
Professor Carroll is the author of more than a dozen books and articles in her field. She has recently been published in the Cambridge University Press and her Tulane article on civil law property was honored at the Stanford-Yale Junior Faculty Forum.
Professor Carroll is active in law reform in Louisiana, as a Member of the Council of the Louisiana State Law Institute and the Institute’s Property, Children’s Code, and Adult Guardianship Committees. She has led successful legislative reforms in the areas of domestic violence, child relocation, spousal support, surrogacy, and community property rights. As a Reporter of the Law Institute’s Marriage and Persons Committee, Professor Carroll continues to work to improve the law related to marriage and the family.
Calogero Justice Award
Hon. Ivan L. R. Lemelle
U.S. District Court – Eastern District of Louisiana
After a decade of extensive trial and appellate experience, Ivan L. R. Lemelle was appointed in 1984 to serve as a U. S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana (EDLA). In 1998, President Clinton appointed him to the position of United States District Judge with the unanimous consent of the Senate. He assumed Senior Judge Status in 2015 and continues to carry an active caseload.
Senior Judge Lemelle also serves as needed on various federal district and circuit courts throughout the nation. In his 48 years of judicial service, he expresses appreciation for members of the bench, bar, and community who serve to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to justice, especially for marginalized and underserved persons. He is also very passionate in the deliverance of educational services and mentoring programs for students at all levels of academia, for young attorneys, over 200 former judicial law clerks, legal externs, and new judges.
His professional, community and social services included the following non-exhaustive listings: The Federal Judicial Center’s Advisory Committee for the Guide to Judicial Management of Cases in Alternate Dispute Resolution; President of District Judges Association for the U. S. Fifth Circuit; President of the Loyola College of Law-Thomas More Inn of Court; Visiting Committee Board for Loyola College of Law; Federal Bar Association New Orleans Chapter Board of Directors; Trustee on the American Inns of Court Foundation Board; Federal Bar Association Bench Bar Committee; American Bar Association Standing Committee on Diversity in the Judiciary and its CoLap Commission; Board of Trustees for Xavier University of Louisiana; Treasurer of Amistad Research Center Executive Board; First Vice-Chair of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc. as a Class A (nonalcoholic) Trustee; Catholic Community Foundation Board for Archdiocese of New Orleans; Board of Reconcile New Orleans, Inc. d/b/a Café Reconcile-a nonprofit committed to addressing generational poverty, violence and neglect in the New Orleans area, specifically “at risk” young adults; Sigma Pi Phi and Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternities.
Some examples of recognition for his services include Mentor of the Year by students at Rabouin High School, Colton Middle School and World of Work Academy; Induction into the Hall of Fame of the National Bar Association; Loyola College of Law Alumni Association St. Ives Award, highest alumni award for service; Alumnus of the Year by his alma mater Xavier University; Alumnus of the Year twice presented by Moot Court Board, Loyola College of Law; Dean Westerfield Award presented by the A. P. Tureaud Chapter of BLSA, Loyola College of Law; Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Society.
Blessed with a family of educators, mentors, colleagues, staff, and friends, he and his wife are grateful parents of three loving children (2 Medical Doctors and a Doctor of Pharmacy), and two vivacious granddaughters who remind their “Popi” – “to whom much is given, much is required.”
