Frank X. Neuner, Jr.
Frank X. Neuner, Jr. of Lafayette was awarded the LBF's prestigious President's Award on Thursday, June 8, 2006 in Sandestin, Florida. The award is presented each year to a volunteer attorney who has shown extraordinary commitment and dedication in supporting the mission of the LBF, which is to honor and improve the system of justice by funding and promoting efforts which aid and enhance the legal profession. Neuner was recognized for the leadership he displayed during the unprecedented devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
LBF President, Donna Fraiche of Baton Rouge stated, "Frank was instrumental after the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in establishing a legal hot-line which to date has received more than 13,000 calls. This hot-line has provided vital information for victims of the storms and for lawyers in Louisiana. Also, Frank was actively involved in securing grants from various sources which provided funding for disaster related legal services to Louisiana residents. The LBF is forever grateful to Frank for his leadership, sensitivity and call to justice during and after the worst disaster in US history. The partnership between the LSBA and LBF has never been stronger as a result of the commitment of the presidents of these two organizations to address disaster relief efforts."
Frank is managing partner in the Lafayette firm of Laborde & Neuner. He received a BS degree in 1972 from Louisiana State University and his JD degree in 1976 from LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He was admitted to practice in Louisiana in 1976 and in Texas in 1994.
Frank served as Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) president in 2005-06, president-elect in 2004-05 and treasurer in 2002-04. He served on the LSBA Board of Governors from 1997-99 and in the House of Delegates from 1980-96. He is a past chair and current member of the LSBA Professionalism and Quality of Life Committee. He is currently serving as a Louisiana delegate of the American Bar Association House of Delegates. He received the Isaac Hecht Award in 2004 from the National Client Protection Organization.
In January 2006, he was honored by the LSBA with its Professionalism Award for his dedicated service in assisting the bench and bar in re-establishing the rule of law in the storm-affected areas of Louisiana and for his successful efforts in assisting the lawyers of Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
He is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, the Defense Research Institute and the Maritime Law Association of the United States. He is a Fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation. He is a past president and board member of the Lafayette Parish Bar Association and the Lafayette Parish Bar Foundation. He served as the 2005 co-chair of the Lafayette Outreach for Civil Justice campaign. He serves on the Council of the Louisiana State Law Institute, is a team leader and past president of the Acadiana Inn of Court, and has served on the Louisiana Supreme Court's Committee on the Prevention of Lawyer Misconduct.
