Meet the 2025 Tulane Law Hall of Fame Inductees

Tulane University Law School has announced its 2025 Hall of Fame class, honoring six distinguished alumni whose careers have left a lasting mark on the legal profession and elevated Tulane’s reputation worldwide.

The inductees include a trailblazing federal judge, pioneers in immigration, environmental, finance and real estate law, and a benefactor whose devotion to criminal law transformed Tulane’s legal skills training programs.

“This group represents the very best of Tulane Law School,” said law Dean Marcilynn Burke. “They have achieved extraordinary success in their fields and represented the highest ideals of the legal profession. We are proud to honor their accomplishments.”

This year’s honorees are:

• Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown (L ’88, LLM ’98), the first African American to serve as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, recognized for her leadership in the federal judiciary.
• Joseph Ettinger (L ’56), honored posthumously for his passion for criminal law and mentorship, especially the founding of the Tulane Intersession Boot Camp, which has provided intensive legal training to hundreds of students.
• Grace Hanson (NC ’83, L ’87), an innovator in the insurance industry and co-founder of the AI-driven claims management firm Elysian.
• Rose McCabe LeBreton (NC ’73, L ’76), a leader in real estate law whose work has shaped major development projects and defended critical property interests across Louisiana.
• R. King Milling (L ’65), recognized for his contributions to Louisiana’s legal and financial sectors and his prominent role in coastal restoration and environmental policy.
• Lisa Ryan (L ’94), a senior partner at Fragomen and a leading expert in global immigration law.

The Hall of Fame celebration will be held Tuesday, April 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. at The Windsor Court Hotel, 300 Gravier Street in New Orleans. This year’s event will feature a cocktail reception format in lieu of a formal luncheon.

Purchase tickets.

The Tulane Law School Hall of Fame recognizes alumni and faculty whose careers exemplify professional excellence, integrity, and service to the law and community.

Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown (L ’88, LLM ’98)

Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown has served as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana since 2018, following her historic 2011 appointment by President Barack Obama. She is the first African American woman to lead the Court in its 200-year history.

A Lafayette, Louisiana native, Judge Brown earned a journalism degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Encouraged by her community, she pursued law and earned her J.D. from Tulane Law School in 1988, where she served as editor of the National Black Law Journal and The Bench. She returned to Tulane in 1998 to earn an LLM in Environmental and Energy Law, contributing to the Environmental Law Journal.

Her distinguished legal career spans private practice and academia. She practiced at Adams and Reese LLP and later became a partner at Chaffe McCall LLP, focusing on commercial, environmental, and real estate law. She also taught at Tulane’s Environmental Law Clinic, Southern University Law Center, and Loyola University New Orleans, where she helped launch its Mediation Section.

As Chief Judge, Brown has overseen the appointment of five district judges, three magistrate judges, and key court officers. She has served on several committees for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, including those on employee dispute resolution, bankruptcy, court merit selection, and re-entry programs.

She has championed initiatives to enhance diversity, transparency, and civic engagement. These include reforms to jury selection and case assignment, expanded naturalization ceremonies, and educational programs on the Bill of Rights. She also launched the EDLA Biennial Bench and Bar Conference, providing free CLE taught by federal judges and national experts to more than 400 attorneys from across the district.

Judge Brown led the Court through major events including the 2019 federal shutdown, the COVID-19 pandemic, Hurricane Ida, and the 2025 Bourbon Street terrorist attack and a historic snowstorm.

Nationally, she has twice been appointed by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to the Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Financial Disclosure. She also serves on the ABA National Conference of Federal Trial Judges Executive Committee, the ABA Judicial Advisory Ethics Committee, and chairs the Membership Committee of the Federal Judges Association.

She is affiliated with numerous legal organizations, including the American Law Institute, National Bar Association, and multiple Inns of Court. In 2024, she joined the Board of Directors of Arts New Orleans and will co-chair the 2026 annual conference of the National Association of Women Judges in New Orleans.

Judge Brown’s many honors include the Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award and the Ernest Morial Award. She and her husband, Marcus Brown (B’02)—a member of the Board of Tulane and the Tulane Energy Law Center advisory board—are devoted supporters of Tulane University.

Joseph Ettinger (L ’56, posthumously)*

Joseph Ettinger was a dedicated visiting faculty member in Tulane Law School’s Intersession Boot Camp, contributing to the criminal practice track from its inception in 2012. A driving force behind the launch of the lawyering skills program, he served as its unofficial ambassador and generous benefactor. Through the Joseph A. Ettinger Award in Criminal Law, established in 2016, he recognized top-performing students in the criminal law and civil litigation track each year, traveling to present the award himself.

Ettinger was also a devoted supporter of Tulane Law alumni initiatives and served on the Tulane University Alumni Association Board of Directors. As a student, he was presiding judge of the Moot Court Society (1955–56), a member of Sigma Alpha Mu, Phi Alpha Delta, and the King’s Bench Society, and served on the Law School Student Council (now the Student Bar Association).

After graduating, he attended the U.S. Army Law School and served as a Captain in the Army. He began his legal career in Chicago, where he worked on air pollution enforcement cases and was involved in the landmark trial of the Chicago Seven. He later joined the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Kent College of Law as an associate professor, a role he held until 1976.

Ettinger also held public office, serving as Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals in Olympia Fields, Illinois, and later as Special State Appellate Defender for Illinois in 1997. In 2016, he was appointed to a three-year term as Commissioner of the Scottsdale Human Relations Commission in Arizona. He also supervised cases pro bono with the Arizona Justice Project at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

Even after retiring to Scottsdale, Ettinger remained active in legal education and continued mentoring Tulane Law students, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. He passed away on December 4, 2022, after a long illness, leaving behind a legacy of service, mentorship, and advocacy.

Grace Hanson (NC ’83, L ’87)

Mishthi "Grace" Hanson is a Tulane alumna and a trailblazer in the insurance industry, currently serving as Co-Founder and CEO of Elysian, an AI-powered claims management startup.

Hanson earned both her undergraduate degree (NC ’83) and J.D. (L ’87) from Tulane University, as well as an MBA from Northeastern University. With nearly 25 years in claims leadership, Hanson has held senior roles at AIG, Allied World Assurance, Hiscox Group, and Hippo Insurance. Her time in Bermuda (2001–2008) with AIG and Allied World helped establish her as a respected expert in claims management.

In 2024, Hanson co-founded Elysian, a Nashville-based company that leverages artificial intelligence to modernize claims handling. Its proprietary AI platform, Claim Conductor, streamlines complex tasks, allowing adjusters to focus on strategic decisions and client service. Backed by $3 million in pre-seed funding led by American Family Ventures, Elysian launched operations on January 1, 2025.

Hanson’s vision for Elysian was born from her recognition that traditional claims systems overburden adjusters with administrative work, contributing to inefficiency and burnout. Her goal is to use AI to reduce that burden while preserving human judgment and ethical oversight.

Throughout her career, Hanson has championed innovation grounded in strong ethical principles and combining cutting-edge technology with human-centered design.

Rose McCabe LeBreton (NC ’73, L ’76)

Rose "Rosie" McCabe LeBreton was Senior Counsel and a Shareholder at Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard, until recently when she transitioned to solo practice through RMLeB Law, LLC. 

LeBreton began her legal career serving her alma mater as Assistant Dean under Acting Dean Robert Force and then Dean Paul R. Verkuil. From there, she clerked for the Hon. Charles Schwartz, Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.  After a bird’s eye view of litigation on the court, she turned to and built a successful transactional practice as a commercial real estate attorney.

Professionally, LeBreton has focused on all aspects of real estate development, title insurance defense and agency, title curative work, and specializing in the resolution of complex title issues. Most notably, she served as special counsel to the Deepwater Horizon Trust, with responsibility to determine ownership of the Louisiana wetlands area damaged by the BP Oil Spill, and as counsel to the Port of New Orleans in its acquisition of the holdings of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Commission.

She represents the Port of New Orleans, the Public Belt Railroad, Tulane University and RiverSphere One, LLC where she has created the legal structure for Tulane’s Riverfront property at Race Street. Examples of developments on which she worked are the Astor Hotel, the Dave & Buster’s development at the corner of Poydras and Loyola Streets, and multiple bank sites in Louisiana and Texas.

A native of New York, LeBreton came to New Orleans to attend Newcomb College, where she met her husband, Edward F. LeBreton III. She is active in community service and philanthropy; she supports the New Orleans Opera Association as a board member and was a founding member of the Preservation Resource Center.  She was one of the early leaders in New Orleans CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) serving on its board and as president in 2009-10. Chosen by CREW National, the parent organization, she chaired the Recognition and Education Committees. She also served on the Board of the New Orleans chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and was a founding member of the Association of Women Attorneys in New Orleans.  

R. King Milling (L ’65)

 R. King Milling is a respected Tulane Law alumnus whose distinguished career spans law, banking, and environmental advocacy. He is widely recognized for his leadership in Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts and his lasting contributions to the legal and financial sectors.

Milling earned a Bachelor of Science in European History from Washington and Lee University in 1962, followed by an LL.B. from Tulane Law School in 1965. Admitted to the Louisiana Bar the same year, he began his legal career at Milling, Saal, Saunders, Benson & Woodward (now Milling Benson Woodward LLP), where he served as an associate and later as a partner from 1964 to 1984.

In 1978, he joined the board of Whitney National Bank and became its president in 1984, also leading Whitney Holding Corporation until his retirement in 2007.

Beyond his legal and financial leadership, Milling has been a passionate advocate for Louisiana’s environmental future. He served as founding chairman of both the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration, and Conservation. His work was instrumental in shaping Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan, a long-term blueprint for sustainability.

In recognition of his impact, the CPRA established the R. King Milling Distinguished Coastal Service Award in 2022, naming him its inaugural recipient. He also received the Times-Picayune Loving Cup in 2022 and was honored in 2023 with a live oak planting by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation at the Woodlands Preserve in Belle Chasse.

Milling is married to Anne McDonald and they have three children.

Lisa Ryan (L ’94)

Lisa Ryan is a distinguished Tulane Law alumna and a recognized leader in immigration law. A Senior Partner at Fragomen – the world’s largest immigration firm - she leads the firm’s global operations on the West Coast and chairs its Semiconductor Industry Group. With nearly three decades of experience, Lisa advises clients—from early-stage startups to the world’s most significant global corporations—on strategic, business-aligned immigration and mobility programs. Her counsel helps companies navigate everything from rapid growth to crisis response, with a continued focus on competitive compliance and program effectiveness.

During law school, Lisa founded the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, showcasing her dedication to leadership in legal scholarship. Today, she remains extremely active in legal and civic leadership endeavors, having served as Chair of the ABA’s International Law Section, and now as a member of the organization’s Council as well as President of the Board of Directors for the Humane Society of Sonoma County. She was named one of America’s Top 200 Lawyers in 2024 by Forbes, and to the list of 2025 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times.