NEW ORLEANS, LA - Attorney and former Judge Pro Tempore Hunter Harris announces his candidacy for the Section “A” Judgeship at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. A special election is expected due to the Honorable Laurie A. White’s retirement.

In 2020, Harris was appointed by then Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette J. Johnson to serve as Judge Pro Tempore at Criminal District Court. Harris served eleven months, adapting new processes and technology to continue court proceedings during the Covid pandemic. Harris recalls, “It was a state of emergency and for the Court to proceed it required all hands on deck whether it be via teleconference or via Zoom. Collectively law enforcement, probation, deputy clerks of court, attorneys, courthouse administration and my staff bravely agreed to work so that hearings could be held at a time when there was no vaccine or cure for Covid.”

Harris graduated from Jesuit High School, University of New Orleans, and Loyola School of Law. He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar, the Federal Bar, the New Orleans Bar, the St. Bernard Bar, the A.P. Tureaud American Inn of Court, and the G.N.O. Louis A. Martinet Legal Society. He passed the Louisiana bar exam and was admitted to practice law in 2000 and was later admitted to the United States Eastern, Middle, and Western District Courts for Louisiana and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. He previously worked on pharmaceutical defense cases as a staff attorney with Irwin, Fritchie, Urquhart & Moore. Currently, he is a partner with Jacobs, Sarrat, Lovelace, Harris & Matthews. Harris has represented criminal defendants, civil plaintiffs, and victims of crime in trial courts and appellate courts throughout Louisiana for a variety of legal matters including cases that dealt with environmental pollution, substandard housing, wrongful imprisonment, Who Dat trademark disputes, Hurricane Katrina class actions, medical malpractice, defamation, personal injury, property damage, custody and child abuse, excessive force by law enforcement and wrongful death.

Harris, the first college graduate in his family, credits his mother, a court reporter, and his father, a minute clerk and a Local Union 130 electrician, with giving him the foundation that has enabled him to seek elected office. He is eager to take his knowledge of the law and put it to work in a fair and impartial manner to serve the citizens of New Orleans. For more information email info@electhunterharris.com or call (504) 376-5111.