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Chief Judge Brown Visits Northside High School

Chief Judge Jolivette Brown with NHS Law Studies Students

Chief Judge Jolivette Brown with NHS Law Studies Students

The Lafayette Parish School System had the honor of hosting Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown for a visit at Northside High School. Chief Judge Brown is a graduate of Northside High School and is the first African-American woman appointed to any Louisiana federal district court and the first African American district judge elevated to the position of Chief Judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana in the Court’s 200-year history.

Chief Judge Brown spoke to the students in law studies, students in the Magnet Academy of Legal Studies, and Junior and Senior leaders in the school. She spoke of her humble beginnings living on the Northside of Lafayette and moving on to earn degrees in Lafayette and New Orleans. Her message was one of hope. All students need to paint a picture of their dream and create a path of how to get there. One’s current situation does not determine their future.

This visit would not be possible without the coordination and support of the CAFE created by Love Our Schools at Northside High School. 
 

About Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown

Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown was nominated to the United States District Court for the

Eastern District of Louisiana by President Barack Obama and after the United States Senate

confirmed her nomination by unanimous consent, she began active service on October 5, 2011.

She was elevated to Chief Judge on May 25, 2018. Chief Judge Jolivette Brown was the first

African American woman appointed to any Louisiana federal district court and the first African

American district judge elevated to the position of Chief Judge in the Eastern District of

Louisiana in the Court’s 200-year history. Just prior to her appointment to the United States

District Court, Chief Judge Jolivette Brown was Deputy Mayor and City Attorney for the City of

New Orleans. Prior to that, she was a Partner with the firm of Chaffe McCall, LLP, where she

had a varied practice in commercial and environmental litigation, as well as in real estate law and

other transactional matters.

Chief Judge Jolivette Brown graduated from Tulane Law School with a Juris Doctor. She later

served as a teaching fellow at Tulane Law School’s Environmental Law Clinic while pursuing an

LLM in Energy and Environment. She also served as associate professor at Southern University

Law Center and clinical professor at Loyola Law School, where she helped establish the

Mediation Section of the Loyola College of Law Clinic & Center for Social Justice. In

November 2020, Chief Judge Jolivette Brown was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to

serve on the Judicial Conference of the United States Standing Committee on Financial

Disclosure. She is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the ABA National

Conference of Federal Trial Judges, ABA Ethics Committee Judicial Advisory Committee, the

Executive Committee of the Federal Judges Association and a Past President of the New Orleans

Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She serves on the FBA Diversity & Inclusion Committee

and the Sarah T. Hughes Awards Committee and FBA Foundation. She is also a member of the

National Bar Association, Louis A. Martinet Society, Tulane Inn of Court and A.P. Tureaud Inn

of Court.

Of her many honors and awards over the years, Chief Judge Jolivette Brown has been honored

with the Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award by the National Federal Bar Association and the

Ernest Morial Award by the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society. She has also been honored with

the National Bar Association’s Women Lawyers Division Excellence in the Judiciary Award.

Upcoming Events

MAR
25

Easter/Spring Break

Start: Mar 25, 2024 End: Apr 1, 2024

Multi-Day Event

APR
9
APR
10

Regular Board Meeting

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

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