Kim M. Boyle, Esq., a Dillard University Board of Trustees member since 2014, received the New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Legal Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Martinet Jazz Brunch and Scholarship Gala.
Trustee Boyle serves as vice-managing partner of Phelps Dunbar LLP’s New Orleans office. Her expertise in labor and employment law and focus on civil rights, constitutional law, commercial disputes, tort, and general litigation, is widely recognized. Trustee Boyle’s service extends beyond her legal practice. She made history by becoming the first African-American woman to serve as President of the Louisiana State Bar Association during the 2009-2010 term.
This groundbreaking achievement is a testament to her leadership and the barriers she has broken. Currently, she serves on the Touro Infirmary and Tulane University boards and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Interim President Dr. Monique Guillory praised Boyle’s impact, stating, “We truly value Trustee Boyle’s dynamic energy, guidance, and support at Dillard and congratulate her on this momentous achievement. She is an invaluable asset to the boards and organizations she serves and the entire New Orleans community, which benefits greatly from her leadership and service.”
Trustee Boyle’s connection to Dillard runs deep, as her parents, Ernest and Connie Williams Boyle, met on the university’s campus. Ernest Boyle, Jr., entered Dillard University in 1951, and shortly after was drafted into the Korean War, where he served his country with honors. Connie D. Williams Boyle was a 1955 graduate who was active in various campus organizations. She served as editor of the Courtbouillon, the school newspaper, as associate editor of the first Dillard University yearbook, and as the Vice President of Future Teachers of America. In 2017, Kim Boyle established The Ernest and Connie Boyle Endowed Scholarship in her parents’ honor.
The Martinet Legal Society itself shares a rich history with Dillard University. In 1876, its namesake, Louis A. Martinet was the first African-American graduate of Straight University Law School, a predecessor institution of Dillard. Martinet Society founders include Dillard graduates Robert F. Collins, Sr., ’51, Nils R. Douglas ’50, and Revius O. Ortique, Jr., ’47. Collins and Douglas worked closely with fellow Dillard alumnus Lolis E. Elie, who represented the Consumers’ League of Greater New Orleans during the historic 1960 boycott of white-owned businesses along Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.
Trustee Boyle is the third trustee to receive this honor. Judge Carl E. Stewart ’71, was the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and past trustee Justice Revius O. Ortique Jr. ’47, was the 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
