The Loyola University New Orleans College of Law paid tribute to the public service and alumni support of Adams and Reese Partner Mark Surprenant with the Glass Honoree Award at the 73rd Louisiana State Bar Association’s annual meeting Tuesday, June 3rd, at John Wehner’s Village Door.
Surprenant is a Loyola Law alumnus, Class of 1977, and also adjunct professor of law for the university. Surprenant has served as the president of both the Loyola Law Alumni Association and the Loyola University Alumni Association. He and his wife, College of Law alumna, Monica Surprenant, J.D. ‘78, established the Mark and Monica Surprenant Scholarship, awarded to civil and common law students at Loyola’s College of Law every other year. Mark also led the effort to create the Law Class of 1977 Scholarship.
“Forty years ago, Loyola admitted me as a law school student and thus provided me with a much appreciated opportunity to be a lawyer,” Surprenant said. “I was very thankful to Loyola then, and I am even more thankful today for this fantastic honor which Loyola has bestowed upon me. During the years, my relationship with Loyola has enriched my life in numerous ways for which I am forever grateful.”
Surprenant established HUGS, Adams and Reese’s corporate philanthropy program, in 1988, and also CA&RE, the firm’s official pro bono program in 2000. In 2002, he co-founded the statewide organization Support of Lawyers/Legal Personnel All Concern Encouraged (SOLACE). The organization consists of 8,500 volunteers throughout Louisiana and has chapters in 18 other cities across the country. It reaches out to assist judges, lawyers, court personnel, paralegals, legal secretaries and their families who have experienced some significant, potentially life-changing event in their lives. The program is coordinated in Louisiana by the Louisiana State Bar Association/Louisiana Bar Foundation's Community Action Committee.
Surprenant serves as President of the New Orleans Bar Association.
He received The Times-Picayune’s 2012 Loving Cup award as well as the Louisiana State Bar Association’s 2014 David A. Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award, both given for his pro bono legal work and long history of volunteerism.