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PUERTO RICO
Andres W. Lopez was born and raised in San Juan and is the first member of his family to become a lawyer or study state- side. After a federal clerkship in Boston, Andres did a stint at the firm in which Past President Gale Mahony practiced. Andres is the first Puerto Rican to serve as a presidential appointee to the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees in Washington, D.C., and the only Puerto Rico resident to serve on the presidential commission that led to the creation of the Smithsonian
American Latino Museum (which recently became federal law).
QUEBEC
Patrick Girard completed a PhD in Physics (Cosmology) while clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada. Despite such obvious educational attainment, he has never managed to get a driver license. Patrick did manage to get the Supreme Court of Canada to grant Leave to Appeal on behalf of 300+ administrative judges on a matter of Judicial Independence, only to have that order reversed two hours later by the Court saying leave had been granted by error with no further reasons. Patrick still has no idea why – it must be cosmic.
Stuart Kugler practices with his father, Gordon, and his younger brother, Robert. Gordon was inducted as a Fellow in 2003, and – who knows? – Robert may be in the wings. Speaking of wings, Stuart has played and watched ice hockey for almost his entire life. For some reason, he is able to remember which way every player he has played with or watched shoots. A player in his league once challenged and asked which way he shoots; Stuart replied, “Left – and usually wide.” Despite that, we are confident that Stuart meets the College’s standard of collegiality.
Christian Trepanier was, for more than fifteen years, a member of the Board of the Quebec Bar Foundation, which pro- motes legal knowledge in disadvantaged communities. During college and law school, Christian pursued a possible career in hockey or beach volleyball, but the fact that he now practices law says something about the realism of that goal. Christian is a gourmet cook and future guitar player.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Brian Duffy founded a non-profit, The Charleston Forum, after the 2015 massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in his hometown of Charleston, SC. The basic premise of the organization is to bring people together to share different perspectives on various issues relating to race and to find a way forward together as a community. Brian compares the Forum to success in mediation – no one is willing to change course on an important issue until they have listened to other perspectives and had a chance for their own to be heard. The terrible events at Mother Emanuel drew people in to have a willingness to participate.
Samuel Mokeba was born in Cameroon, Central/West Africa, attended the University of Yaounde, where he earned a Licence en Droit (Bachelor in Law). While attending college, he worked as a game warden and personally saved three lions, two elephants and a hippo from poachers. Samuel attended the University of South Carolina where he obtained a master’s degree in Public Administration, then Louisiana State University, where he obtained his Juris Doctor. Samuel served as a public defender before beginning his insurance defense practice.
Stanley Myers was a four-year starter as quarterback for The Citadel. He was commissioned as an Infantry Officer and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Free- dom. He switched over to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 2004 and is currently the military judge for the South Carolina Army National Guard, the first African American to hold the position. Several years ago, he started a youth mentorship program in his hometown, Swansea, where he recently opened a barbecue restaurant that serves the best barbecue and fried chicken on the planet. Hey, it aint bragging if it’s true.
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