NEW ORLEANS – Judge Michael G. Bagneris (Ret.), who served 20 years as a Civil District Court Judge in Orleans Parish, is the recipient of the Thurgood Marshall Award from the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, honoring his work in advancing civil rights.
Judge Bagneris, 64, receives the award today, Wednesday, July 22, 2015, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, where the National Bar Association is holding its 90th Annual Convention.
The Judicial Council of the National Bar Association is the largest and oldest organization of African American judges, lawyers, law professors and students, with international affiliates in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
Judge Bagneris was first elected in 1993. Prior to his election he had served as Executive Counsel to New Orleans’ first African American Mayor, Ernest N. “Dutch” Morial. He established a long-standing New Orleans law practice, Waltzer & Bagneris, and currently practices with the Davillier Law Group.
Judge Bagneris, a native New Orleanian who grew up in the Desire housing development, received his law degree from Tulane University and his undergraduate degrees in American History and African American History from Yale University. He is a graduate of St. Augustine High School.
He continues to mentor young people in pursuit of legal careers and he lectures extensively. He is a Bar Examiner for the Louisiana State Bar, a member of the Louisiana Judicial College, the Supreme Court Ethics Committee and the Supreme Court Pro Se Litigation Committee.
Judge Bagneris is also a member of the American Bar Association, the American Judges Association, the NBA Judicial Council, the Louis Martinet Society, the Louisiana District Judges Association, the Louisiana Judicial Council-NBA, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Association and the Pro Bono Project.
He is married to Madlyn Bagneris and has four children and 10 grandchildren.
