Leslie Turk

President nominates Lafayette native for federal judgeship

by Leslie Turk

President Barack Obama nominated Elizabeth Erny Foote, a Lafayette native, to be U.S. District Court Judge of Louisiana’s Western District, replacing retired federal judge Tucker Melancon. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu recommended Foote for the position on July 31, 2009; the Senate Judiciary Committee must first confirm the nomination before it goes to a vote of the full Senate. No timetable has been set.

Foote is a partner at Smith Foote Law Firm in Alexandria, where she has practiced since 1979. She also served as law clerk for Judge William Culpepper, chief judge for the Third Circuit Court of Appeal. Foote is the immediate past president of the Louisiana State Bar Association. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from LSU.

Though she was born in Lafayette and still has family here, Foote's family relocated to New Orleans when she was a pre-schooler.

INDsiders might recall first reading about Foote’s likely recommendation by Landrieu in Peep Goat’s June 2009 column.