By Stephanie Riegel, Contributing writer
Capitol news bureau
Published: Dec 6, 2006

What is the No. 1 challenge for Baton Rouge today?

The biggest challenge is to manage the record growth and the infrastructure.

Rob Marionneaux wears a lot of hats. He's a cattle farmer in his native Iberville Parish, a personal injury and criminal defense lawyer, and a state senator. So when he says he "doesn't like to sit still for long," you have to take him at his word.

Of course, with a 200-acre farm and a bustling law business he practices with renowned defense attorney Lewis Unglesby, you have to wonder why Marionneaux would want to mess with politics at all. There's not much glory in it these days, and not much money either.

Marionneaux still believes in the system, and he believes that those who want to can make a difference.

"I figured if people were sitting around a table making decisions about the direction things were going to take, I'd just as soon be one of them."

Leadership has always been in his blood. He was the first white representative to serve on the student bar association at Southern University, where he attended law school. He was also elected to the state House of Representatives at the age of 27, then to the Senate at age 32.

Though he enjoys his political career, he says practicing law is his real passion. He chose law school after spending his first couple of post-college years working for a local attorney who ended up in prison for tax evasion.

"I've really tried to turn that into a positive experience," he says.

So far, he appears to be succeeding. He has a Martindale-Hubbell "BV" rating, the highest possible, and was recently named to the Southern University Law School Hall of Fame.

When he's not busy juggling the demands of constituents, clients and cattle, he makes time for his family, including wife Keely and 8-year-old son Robert.

Click here for a link to the article.