Frank Neuner, 1976 Paul M. Hebert Law Center alumnus, received the 2008 Distinguished Alumnus Award on Thursday night. Jack Weiss, Law Center Chancellor, said he chose Neuner as this year’s distinguished alumnus because of his service to the community, specifically after Hurricane Katrina.Neuner said even though he graduated from the University 35 years ago, he remembers the great experiences he had. He said he ate 38 cent cups of soup from the Student Union while living on a $5 a week budget.”[I] splurged on Friday and got seafood gumbo for 50 cents,” Neuner said. He paid $255 a semester for his education. He said he appreciates learning “to work hard and be competitive,” at the Law Center.After graduating from the Law Center, Neuner moved to Lafayette and began practicing law. Neuner joined Cliffe Laborde in 1987 to form the law firm Laborde and Neuner, which now has 18 lawyers.Two months before Hurricane Katrina hit, Neuner was appointed president of the Louisiana State Bar Association. “My job description changed after the hurricane,” Neuner said. When many of the lawyers in Louisiana were in disarray after the hurricane, Neuner was influential in keeping the system together, Weiss said.”One problem was how lawyers and clients communicated with each other,” Weiss said. “Frank [Neuner] set up a web page for lawyers and clients.” Clients could find their lawyers through the Web site, he explained. Neuner said he received help to run the Web site from the president of the Texas State Bar Association who sent five staff members. Many lawyers who were displaced after the storm needed financial help, Weiss said. “So he initiated a project to give $500 grants,” he said. Neuner said he collected about $1 million to give to displaced lawyers. “We gave out about 800 stipends,” he said explaining how they were given to lawyers from cities including St. Bernard, New Orleans and Plaquemine. Neuner also found temporary offices for displaced lawyers, Weiss said. He found a trailer for them to work from with the necessary appliances including copy machines, computers and fax machines. “It remained until 2007,” Weiss said. “That’s how bad the problem was.” Recently, Gov. Bobby Jindal appointed Neuner as chair of the Public Defender Board after his work to bring order to the criminal justice system, Weiss said.
 
 
 
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