Kern Reese elected Chief Judge of Orleans Parish Civil Court

The Honorable Kern A. Reese is now Chief Judge of Orleans Parish Civil District Court. Reese was elected by his peers to lead the court for the next two years. His term began January 1 of this year.

Chief Judge Reese was elected Judge of Division “L” at Orleans Parish Civil District Court in the spring of 2001. Reese took the seat vacated by Judge Max Tobias who was elected to the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. Judge Reese initially handled domestic cases before moving on to a general docket.

KERN REESE

Reese succeeds former Chief Judge Michael Bagneris, who stepped down in December after two decades on the bench to launch a bid to become mayor of New Orleans.

Reese is a 1970 graduate of St. Augustine High School and was the 1974 Class Speaker at Pomona College in Claremont California. In 1977 he graduated from Loyola University School of Law. Judge Reese practiced law for 24 years. He spent 16 years as a sole practitioner in the firm of Kern A. Reese and Associates, APLC, specializing in tort litigation, corporations, general business and municipal finance. Prior to his election as a Civil Court judge, Reese had extensive experience on the bench having been appointed more than 50 times by the Louisiana Supreme Court to sit as Judge Ad Hoc in New Orleans Traffic Court, Municipal Court and First City Court.

Chief Judge Reese has served as a board member and chairman of several organizations including the Finance Authority of New Orleans, the Regional Transit Authority and the Regional Planning Commission. Reese is currently an Associate Adjunct Professor at Tulane University School of Law and holds memberships in the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of St. Augustine High School. Chief Judge Reese is married to the former Dorothy “Dottie” Farmer. They are the parents of two sons, Justin and Jared.

This article originally published in the July 14, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.