Gail Sweeney Stephenson

Stephenson has been a member of the faculty at Southern University Law Center since 2004. She was an adjunct faculty member at Southern and at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU.

Stephenson is active in state and local bar associations. She has been a member of the editorial board for the Louisiana Bar Journal since 1999 and serves as the recent developments editor. She was named 2014 Distinguished Law Professor by the Louisiana Bar Foundation. She was elected to the Baton Rouge Bar Association board of directors in 2004, served five terms on the board, and held every office, including serving as president in 2012.

Stephenson received her juris doctorate from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1984, where she was a member of the Louisiana Law Review and Order of the Coif. She was inducted into the Paul M. Hebert Law Center Hall of Fame in 1987. She received her B.A. with honors from Northwestern State in 1976, where she was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, Purple Jackets and the Political Science Honor Society.

After receiving her law degree, Stephenson served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Frank J. Polozola from 1984-1986. She worked as a law clerk and research attorney for Judge Melvin Shortess of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal from 1986 to 1988 and 1991 to 2000. She then was promoted to the court’s Administrative General Counsel, where she served until joining SULC. From 1988 to 1991 she also practiced corporate and insurance defense and was director of litigation for the firm that became known as Henchey, Verbois & Hackenberg.