Lafayette native nominated to judgeship

Elizabeth Erny Foote, a Lafayette native, has been nominated by President Barack Obama 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 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.

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