LOUISIANA JUDICIAL COLLEGE 2016 Spring Conference for Judges

April 14 and 15 Double Tree by Hilton, Lafayette

Appellate Track

Managing Oral Argument: A Perspective from the Bench

JUDGE SUSAN CHEHARDY 5th Circuit Court of Appeal JUDGE WILLIAM CRAIN 1st Circuit Court of Appeal JUDGE MAX TOBIAS JR. 4th Circuit Court of Appeal

Honorable Susan M. Chehardy Chief Judge

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal

State of Louisiana

The Honorable Susan M. Chehardy currently serves as Chief Judge of the Louisiana 5th Circuit

Court of Appeal. She received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University of the South Law School in

1985. Upon graduation she held the position as law clerk for the late Hon. Veronica Wicker for the 85'-

86' term. In August of 1986 she was employed as an associate with the firm of Gauthier, Murphy,

Chehardy, Sherman & Breslin, engaged in the practice of personal injury litigation. In 1989 s,he became a

partner in the firm of Chehardy, Sherman, Ellis & Breslin. In 1991, she opened her own general litigation

practice, Chehardy & Nielsen.

In January of 1992 she was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court as judge pro tempore to

Division C of the 24th JDC. In September of 1992 she was elected judge of Division N of the 24th JDC. She

served as judge of Division N, winning re-election without opposition to her district court seat in 1996. In

October of 1998 she was elected to Division D of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, the first woman to be

elected to that Court. She was re-elected without opposition in 2002 and 2012. In January of 2013, she

was sworn in to her new term as the first female Chief Judge of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Judge Chehardy is a member of the American Bar Association, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the

Jefferson Bar Association and is a retired member of the Federal Bar Associations of the Eastern and

Middle Districts of Louisiana. She is also a member of the American Judges Association, the Council of

Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal, the Louisiana Conference of Court of Appeal Judges; the Fifth

Circuit Judges Association, the Fourth and Fifth Circuit Judges Association, the Association of Women

Judges, the American Judicature Society, and is a Fellow with the American Bar Association. She is a

frequent lecturer for the Louisiana Judicial College and the Louisiana State Bar Association, and sits on

several committees and boards by appointment of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

JUDGE WILLIAM J. CRAIN is a member of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal. He is formerly a Judge with the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court for St. Tammany and Washington parishes. A 1983 graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in accounting, Judge Crain graduated from the LSU Law Center in 1986.

Judge Crain is a former law partner of Jones Fussell, L.L.P. in Covington, La. where for 23 years he handled complex judge and jury trial cases. He has been a lecturer at continuing legal education seminars on many topics including “Evidence and Persuasion at Trial”, “Professionalism” and writ practice at the court of appeal. Judge Crain is a member of numerous bar associations and is the former president and vice president of the Greater Covington Bar Association. He was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to be a member of the 2011 inaugural class of the Louisiana Judicial Leadership Institute, and presently serves as a member on the court cost committee of the Louisiana Judicial Council, the Board of Governors for the Louisiana Judicial College, and the Uniform Rules Committee for the Louisiana Courts of Appeal. Judge Crain is a member of St. Timothy United Methodist Church, and has been married for 30 years to Cheri Hackett Crain. They are the parents of four children, William, Michael, Matthew and Elizabeth.

JUDGE MAX N. TOBIAS, JR. BIO

MAX N. TOBIAS, JR. has been a Judge on Louisiana’s Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal since 2000. Prior

thereto, he was a Judge on the Orleans Parish Civil District Court for over 14 years. Prior to entering the

bench, he practiced law in multiple capacities: with a large law firm, a small law firm, and as a sole

practitioner. Following law school, he served as a law clerk for then Louisiana Associate Justice John A.

Dixon, Jr. Judge Tobias was a delegate to Louisiana’s Constitutional Convention of 1973. He is a past

President of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, and active for his lifetime

in promoting impartial treatment of all minorities. Judge Tobias was a member of the adjunct faculty at

Tulane University’s Law School for over 25 years, a lecturer at CLE programs around the country, and co-

editor of the publication, Louisiana Civil Pretrial Procedure. He received his J.D. and B.A. degrees from

Tulane University in 1971 and is a member of the Louisiana, American, New Orleans and various federal

bar associations.