Our firm is proud to announce that Tony Clayton was recently interviewed in a feature published by Kreol Magazine. The feature, written by Georgina Dhillon, dives into Tony’s mindset, his career as a prosecutor, his philosophy of public service, and how his upbringing shaped the man he became.

“Daddies being in a home will make a difference. My dad’s dead and I’m still scared of him,” he said referring to how his father influenced him growing up. “I knew that when I was in high school and my buddies would say ‘Hey man, let’s go do this dude.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, my dad’s crazy, he would come here and spank me in front of y’all. I’m not doing it.’ So that fear that he instilled in me to do right by folks when no one’s looking, I still have it today.”

The desire to do right by others, which eventually became a desire to become a public servant, first led Tony to pursue medicine. While enrolled at Southern University, he intended to go to medical school.

He might have picked up the scalpel if he hadn’t fallen for a woman who was dating a law student: “I’m glad I chose it. I think I’m leaving the medicine path to my kids—it probably wasn’t my natural calling. The good Lord has blessed me tremendously well with this law degree.”

The feature article also dives into Tony’s career as a Black lawyer in Louisiana, and how he forged his own way after law school. “There were no African American lawyers when I started in 1991. I’m told since Louisiana’s inception there was only one. I wanted to go back but I was told that as an African American boy, I would not make it. So, I set out to prove them wrong, and they were wrong.”

And it’s to our benefit (and the benefit of communities throughout Louisiana) that they were.

These quotes don’t do justice to the article, which covers a wide range of Tony’s thoughts on race, community, family, and public service. Read the full article on our site today.