During the March meeting of American Legion James O. Hall Post 19 in Jennings, La., Post Commander Matthew Duhon (right) presented a 70-Year American Legion Membership Certificate to Judge Bernard N. Marcantel (left).
Judge Marcantel was born in 1923 in Oberlin, La. He is a World War II veteran who served in the American Armed Services from 1942-1946, in the European Theater of Operations. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1946, and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1949. While at the University of Chicago, he served as associate editor of the Law Review from 1947-1948. He received a second Juris Doctor degree from Tulane University Law School in 1950.
Judge Marcantel has been an active member of the American Bar Association, the Bar of Louisiana, and the Jefferson Davis Parish Bar Association since 1950, and has been honored by the Louisiana Bar Association for more than 60 years in the practice of law. He has been a member of the Bar of the U.S. Court of Appeal, Fifth Circuit, since 1978. He served as the District Attorney for the 31st Judicial District from 1953-1978, and judge for the City of Jennings from 1985-1993. He has also served as judge pro tem for the 15th, 14th and 36th Judicial districts of Louisiana, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeal.
The founding member of his law firm, Judge Marcantel has been practicing law in Louisiana since 1950, making Marcantel, Marcantel, Wall, and Pfeiffer the oldest law firm in Jefferson Davis Parish. It was an honor and a privilege for Post 19 to recognize him for 70 years of continuous membership in The American Legion.