Stephen I. Dwyer Installed as 82nd LSBA President Stephen I. Dwyer, a founding member and managing partner of the law firm Dwyer, Cambre & Suffern, APLC, in Metairie, was installed June 9 as the 82nd president of the LSBA during a ceremony at the LSBA’s Annual Meeting in Destin, Fla. Administering his oath of office was Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Weimer. Always striving to “attempt the summit,” Dwyer is beginning his one-year term with “access to justice” initiatives on his agenda, specifically to seek sufficient financing at the state and national levels and to educate the public about the types of legal services they may need. “The LSBA offers Louisiana citizens very robust access to justice programs, but we must always be aware that the full implementation of these and related programs requires adequate funding. Since the early 1990s, the public funding for legal services for the poor has increased less than 1% per year. It does take money to do the things that must be done. I have been in contact with our congressional representatives and senators and will continue pursuing whatever routes we can to better fund access to justice services in our state,” Dwyer said. “It’s one thing to build a robust structure of access to justice programs, but that doesn’t address the community of people who may not know the types of legal services they need. We need to create the framework to educate those who need our services,” he said. For example, in the area of real estate, “there are some people living in properties that have been inhabited by their ancestors for years. Successive family members have been in these houses for 50 years or more, but no one knew that titles have to be transferred and perfected. So, those titles have never lawfully transferred, and the monetary value of these properties cannot be realized because there is no lawful title,” he said. “We must offer education to our citizens.” “Attempt the summit” is not just a turn-of-phrase for Dwyer. While he will figuratively “attempt the summit” during his term to improve the profession for LSBA members and their interactions with the public, he has literally accomplished this feat by successfully scaling the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. “About 10 years ago, I needed two things. I needed a physical accomplishment. At the same time, I needed my faith strengthened,” Dwyer said. Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro provided both in unexpected ways. “We took the steepest, most difficult way up the mountain, chosen by two other people on my climb. At the top, I witnessed another climber’s near-death experience as a result of high-altitude cerebral edema. Once down the mountain, the climber, who survived, explained his spiritual awareness of his ‘death.’ That was my physical accomplishment and my spiritual awakening. I think God was listening.” Dwyer said these experiences, and other experiences throughout his professional legal career, have served to solidify his attitudes about challenges and service to the community. “You should never be afraid to take on tasks. You should never be afraid to work hard. You should never be afraid to attempt the summit, to change things where they need to be changed and preserve them where they need to be preserved. We always must begin the task at hand with the concept that we’re not here to merely be a placeholder. We are here to create the places and to get things done. I’m always thinking about what summit I should be attempting. That’s a good attitude for everyone to have. It represents an optimistic view of the world. Let’s always strive to achieve more, not for the sake of achievement but to better our place in life and the lives of our fellow men and women,” Dwyer said. Dwyer is a founding member and managing partner of the law firm of Dwyer, Cambre & Suffern, APLC, in Metairie. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1970 from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass.; a master in arts degree, with distinction, in 1972 from the University of New Orleans; and his Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, in 1976 from Loyola University College of Law (editor-in-chief, Loyola Law Review). Dwyer served as 2021-22 president-elect of the LSBA and as the Second District representative on the LSBA’s Board of Governors from 2011-14 and 2017-20. He served on the Louisiana Bar Journal’s Editorial Board. He is a member of the Committee on the Profession, the Bar Governance Committee and the Audit Committee. He has served as an adjunct faculty member for Loyola University College of Law and is a long-time member of the Law School Visiting Committee. He has been recognized by New Orleans CityBusiness “Leadership in Law,” “Who’s Who Among American Lawyers,” Best Lawyers in America and Louisiana Super Lawyers. He is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Society. Dwyer chaired the award-winning St. Tammany Recreation District #14 (Coquille Parks and Recreation) and led the financing and development of the 150-acre sports, recreation and park complex in western St. Tammany Parish. He is serving as president of the Jefferson Performing Arts Society and is a board member for the Jefferson Community Foundation and of the Miracle League Northshore.