This semester, Crusaders enrolled in Law Studies welcomed back alumni Hon. Kurt Engelhardt ‘78, Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,  Larry Centola '94, a civil plaintiff attorney, Jon Maestri '88 of the United States Department of Justice, Captain Robert Hodges '89 of the Louisiana State Police, and Grady Hurley '72, who is a civil defense attorney, to Brother Martin. Mr. Phil Sims ‘91 and his students spent their class periods away from their regular lectures and turned to these professionals for their firsthand knowledge of their fields while discussing a variety of areas ranging from law enforcement to the judicial process to the U.S. Constitution. Alumni also reminisced about their time as students at Brother Martin while encouraging current students to participate in extracurricular activities at school. 

According to Mr. Sims, “Our guest speakers are an integral part of the Law Studies class, emphasizing important "real-world" civil and criminal law concepts, providing practical guidance, and demonstrating the incredible bond between the Brother Martin alumni and our current students.  We are quite fortunate to have all of these speakers willing to donate their time and contribute to the class on a regular basis.”  

Upcoming speakers will include Sgt. Sean Cursain ‘85 of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and Chris Couch ‘92 and Ben Lambert ‘03 of Couch Lambert LLC.  

Mr. Sims is a 2001 graduate of LSU Law School. He practiced law (civil and commercial litigation) at Chaffe McCall, L.L.P. from 2001 to 2016, prior to working at Brother Martin.

Thank you to our Crusader alumni for returning to their ‘home’ at Brother Martin and speaking with our Law Studies students!