Changing of the guard at Civil District Court

New Orleans Civil District Court gets a “make-over” with three new judges now presiding within its courtrooms.

The Honorable Regina Bartholomew, with a domestic docket, is in Division “B” replacing Judge Rose Ledet who now sits on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. Judge Bartholomew is a 1999 graduate of Loyola Law School. Most recently she was with the law firm of Boykin, Ehret & Utley, APLC. Before that she worked as General Counsel for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bartholomew was also a Staff Attorney with McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC and served as General Counsel for the Orleans Parish School Board.

BARTHOLOMEW

The Honorable Clare Jupiter, also with a domestic docket, now presides over Division “E”. She has replaced Judge Madeleine Landrieu who also moved on to the Fourth Circuit Court. Both Judge Bartholomew and Judge Jupiter are assigned domestic dockets. Judge Jupiter received her Juris Doctor degree from Duke University Law School in 1978. She was a partner in the New Orleans law firm of Bryan and Jupiter and has served as General Counsel for the Orleans Parish School Board. In 1996 Jupiter was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board.

JUPITER

The Honorable Bernadette D’Souza recently took the oath of office to become New Orleans first family court judge. D’Souza, who will preside over Division “K,” is a 1992 graduate of Tulane University Law School. She has worked for many years at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services as managing attorney of its family law unit representing indigent clients in family law, housing and domestic violence cases. She is also an adjunct professor at Tulane Law School where she teaches courses on domestic violence.

D'SOUZA

The new Chief Judge at CDC is Judge Piper Griffin, who was elected to the bench in 2001.Chief Judge Griffin was previously appointed in 1999 as Judge Pro-Tem at CDC by the Louisiana Supreme Court. A graduate from the Louisiana State University School of Law in 1987, she spent the 14 years prior to her election practicing law primarily in the area of casualty litigation, including products liability, workers compensation, personal injury, construction litigation and employment relations.

GRIFFIN

This article was originally published in the March 26, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper