NEW ORLEANS — Former Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jeannette Knoll recently was presented with the St. Ives Award by the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Alumni Association.
Knoll received the award on Feb. 3 during a university event.
Loyola's website said the St. Ives Award is granted to Loyola College of Law graduates who possess the “highest standards of the profession, has volunteered service to the university and college, and has furthered the mission of the College of Law and Alumni Association in significant and meaningful ways.” Knoll, who has received two degrees from Loyola, is a former member of the school's alumni board, sat on the Women in Law Committee and is an emeritus member of the Law Visiting Committee.
“I have so many wonderful memories associated with my times at Loyola,” Knoll said in the Loyola report. “Receiving the prestigious St. Ives Award is truly an honor and a blessing coming from the institution that prepared me for my career and has already given me so much.”
Knoll’s road to a career in law began in the late 1960’s when she transferred from the Mannes College of Music in New York City to be back home in New Orleans following the death of her mother. She traded music studies for political science and history at Loyola, a path that brought her to Eddie Knoll, who would later become her husband. He convinced Knoll to pursue law.
After graduating from the Loyola College of Law in 1969, Knoll spent the first three years of her 34-year career as an defender of indigents in Avoyelles Parish. From 1972 to 1982, she was first assistant district attorney for the 12th Judicial District. Knoll later earned her master's in judicial law from the University of Virginia School of Law and won several bench seats before taking her seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court in January 1997, where she served until her retirement in December 2016.
Knoll received the St. Ives Award from her husband.