High-wire Act Whether he is trying a case or drumming with a jazz band, Curtis Joseph ’93, ’96L doesn’t miss a beat.

Barbara Elliott
February 3, 2025

When Curtis Joseph ’93, ’96L was 7 years old, he came home from school and announced to his mother that he wanted to be a lawyer when he grew up. She asked why, and he told her lawyers get to wear suits and carry briefcases. He was true to his word, but he has since learned that it is a bit more complicated than that. A calling at which he truly excels, Joseph, an attorney with the Shreveport, Louisiana, firm of Blanchard, Walker, O’Quin & Roberts, will become president of the Louisiana Bar Association in June 2026.

Joseph admits he had never heard of W&L until a high school classmate, John Kalmbach ’93, told him he had applied. That same day, Joseph received a recruitment mailing from the university, so he filled out a form and sent it in. Some months later, he was invited with other minority students to visit the school.

“We landed on W&L’s campus, and I saw the Colonnade and thought, ‘That’s exactly how it is supposed to look,’” he remembers. “It just felt right.”

During that visit, he met William Toles ’92, ’95L. The two became friends and helped found the W&L chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the country’s oldest historically Black intercollegiate fraternity. They were joined by Courtney Penn ’92 and John Harris ’92.

“We cross-pledged with JMU. It is one of the things I’m most proud of,” he says

TEACHING MOMENTS

As a journalism major, Joseph found a mentor in the late Bob de Maria, professor of journalism and mass communications emeritus, who challenged him in ways that were at times uncomfortable.

“He sent me and a Black girl from Brooklyn, New York, to Winchester, Virginia, to cover a town hall meeting. When we arrived, as far as we could see were Confederate flags. In the meeting, one of the hot-button items — and this was in 1991 — was removal of Confederate monuments in public spaces,” he remembers. “The next morning, I confronted professor de Maria with smoke coming out of my ears. He didn’t apologize for sending us to the meeting, but he did for not letting us know about the issue. He said our job was to let the readers know the facts and let them make their own decisions.”

When he enrolled at W&L School of Law, Joseph discovered another mentor in the late Roger Groot, Class of 1975 Alumni Professor of Law Emeritus.

“He did not suffer fools. In my first year he told me, ‘You can do better and will do better,’” he recalls.

Each year, Groot picked 10 students in the summer before their third year to be part of a clinic focused on post-conviction relief for prisoners at the Federal Women’s Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia. When he was chosen for the clinic, Joseph knew he had come a long way.

A PERCUSSIVE INTERLUDE

After law school, Joseph clerked for a law firm in Shreveport as he prepared for the Louisiana Bar Exam, which he did not pass, and he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a professional musician. In law school he had played drums in a fraternity/sorority band with two undergraduates, Aaron Wilkinson ’97 and Thomas Leggett ’97.

He reconnected with them and moved to New Orleans. The three lived together and toured all over the country for a couple years.

In between gigs, he took a bar review class.

“We had a 15-passenger van, and if it wasn’t my turn to drive, I studied,” he said. “After we played in San Francisco, a limo took me to the airport. The exam was the next week. When I finished, I knew without a doubt I had passed.”

Asked if there are similarities between playing drums and practicing law, he answers: “Playing a gig is just like trying a case. You have to be in tune with all that is happening. Where is the bass? Where might he go from there? You have to be aware of unspoken signals. It’s like reading the bailiff and court reporter. It’s a high-wire act.”

MORE ABOUT CURTIS

COMMUNITY SERVICE

In 2019, Curtis Joseph received the Dr. Jesse N. Stone Pioneer Award from the Shreveport chapter of the NAACP for his dedicated service, determination and efforts to create equality and justice for the citizens of Shreveport.

KEEPING THE BEAT

He still plays drums with two bands: One is more jazz and blues; the other is more pop and contemporary.

PRESIDENTIAL GOALS

During Joseph’s tenure as president of the Louisiana Bar Association, he would like to bring the bar in a more meaningful way to less occupied parts of the state. “There are almost 25,000 lawyers in the state, and most practice south of I-10,” he says.

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This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of W&L: The Washington and Lee Magazine. To nominate someone from the W&L community for a Lives of Consequence feature, email magazine@wlu.edu.