Personal Pages / les Pages Personnelles
Personal Background
Born March 19, 1960, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to John Ray and Emma Ruth Trahan. Educated at Maplewood Junior High School (1966-1975) and Sulphur High School (1975-1978), both in Sulphur, Louisiana; Louisiana State University (1978-1982, 1983-1986, 1987-1989), in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Harvard Law School (1982-1983). Married to Kendra Swain Trahan, of Deridder, Louisiana (November 23, 1985 to present). Father of two children, Camille Marie Trahan, born on October 8, 1991; and Chanelle Rose Trahan, born on October 12, 1994. Baptized December 24, 1969, at Maplewood First Baptist Church in Sulphur, Louisiana; ordained as deacon January 1999 at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; deacon (1999 to present), Bible Study teacher (1999 to present), and Adult Choir member (1992 to present) at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; former Treasurer (1997) and member of the Board of Directors (1995-2001) of the Greater Baton Rouge Federation of Churches and Synagogues.
Professional Biography
Professor Trahan received his B.A. in Political Science in 1982 and his J.D. in 1989, both from Louisiana State University. While at law school, he served as Articles Editor of the Louisiana Law Review and as an assistant to Symeon Symeonides, Reporter of the Louisiana State Law Institute's Committee on Conflicts of Laws, and was admitted to the Order of the Coif. From 1989 to 1990, he clerked for Judge Alvin B. Rubin of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Between 1990 and 1995, he worked as an associate with the firm of Phelps Dunbar in its Baton Rouge office. In 1995 he joined the faculty of the LSU Law Center, where he was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 1999. A “civil law” specialist, he teaches Western Legal Traditions & Systems: Louisiana Impact (formerly called “An Introduction to the Louisiana Civil Law System”), Civil Law Property, Civil Law Obligations, Civil Law Matrimonial Regimes, Civil Law Successions and Donations, Louisiana Security Devices, Civil Law of Persons and the Family, and Law of Husband & Wife in Western Europe: A Comparative Study (taught at the LSU Law School "Summer School Abroad" in Aix-en-Provençe, France). In 2002 he was appointed to the Council and to the Persons Committee of the Louisiana State Law Institute. Though he is no longer a member of the Council, he remains a member of the Persons Committee.