Friday, March 20, 2020 View on the Campaign Judge Lance M. Africk Lance M. Africk received a Bachelor of Arts and Laws degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973, and his Jurist Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina Law School at Chapel Hill in 1975. Following a judicial clerkship, and several years in private practice, Judge Africk served as the Chief of the Career Criminal Bureau for the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office and the Chief of the Criminal Division for the United States Attorney’s office in New Orleans. In 1990, he was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge. On April 17, 2002, he was confirmed as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Judge Africk is an adjunct professor of law at Tulane University Law School and former president of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. He currently serves on the 5th Circuit Committee on Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions. Judge Africk was also a reviewing author for Moore's Federal Practice/Criminal Procedure Chapters, Third Edition. Judge Africk was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to the Judicial Conference Committee on Criminal Law and he was reappointed to that committee by Chief Justice Roberts, his term ended on October 1, 2011. He was inducted into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame in July, 2011. Judge Jane Triche Milazzo Jane Triche Milazzo was sworn in as a United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana on October 12, 2011. Judge Milazzo was nominated by President Obama on March 13, 2011 and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on October 11, 2011. Judge Milazzo graduated from Nicholls State University in 1977, and taught elementary school for several years. In 1986, she went to work for her father as his legal assistant and eventually found her way to law school. She graduated from LSU Law School in 1992. After graduation, she immediately went into practice with her family, Law Offices of Risley Triche, LLC, where she engaged in a general practice. In 2008, Judge Milazzo was elected to the 23rd Judicial District Court without opposition. She was the first female elected to that position. During her years in private practice, Judge Milazzo was active in several legal organizations and served as president of both the Assumption Parish Bar Association and the Twenty-Third Judicial Bar Association. She was also a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association House of Delegates where she served as a member of the Legislative Committee and as chair in 2007. As a state district judge she served on the executive committee of the District Judges Association. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the New Orleans Federal Bar Association. Judge Milazzo is married to John Milazzo, Jr. and has four children, Richard Perque, Anne Perque Schmidt, Jerome Perque and K. Joseph Perque, Jr. and two step-children, Jack Milazzo and Jennifer Milazzo Bailey; they have four grandchildren. She is the daughter of the late Risley “Pappy” and Clara Triche of Napoleonville. Jordan Ginsberg, Assistant U.S. Attorney-Eastern District of Louisiana William M. Ross William M. Ross is a member of Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford, LLC. He practices primarily in the areas of legal ethics and malpractice, judicial ethics, commercial litigation, and civil appeals in the state and federal courts of Louisiana. Mr. Ross graduated summa cum laude from Southeastern Louisiana University in his hometown of Hammond, Louisiana, in 1997. Mr. Ross went on to earn his J.D. from Tulane Law School in 2000, where he graduated summa cum laude first in his class and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. While in law school at Tulane, Mr. Ross served as a Managing Editor of the Tulane Law Review, worked as a Research Assistant for Professor A.N. Yiannopoulos, and received awards in Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Legal Profession, Obligations I, Obligations II, and Remedies.After graduation from law school in 2000, Mr. Ross joined Stanley, Flanagan & Reuter as an associate lawyer. He was elected to membership in the firm effective in 2008 and is a former Managing Member of the firm.Mr. Ross is also a frequent lecturer and presenter on issues of legal ethics at continuing legal education programs sponsored by organizations such as the American Bar Association, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Association, the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, and the Louisiana Association for Justice. Sharonda R. Williams Sharonda Williams serves as Special Counsel with Fishman Haygood following a distinguished career in public service and private practice. Sharonda served as City Attorney for the City of New Orleans from May 2013- November 2015. As City Attorney, Sharonda was the lead attorney handling the most comprehensive police consent decree in the history of the United States. At the same time, she represented the City in another consent decree aimed at reforming the Orleans Parish Jail, which was then-recognized as one of the worst prisons in America. Both of those consent decrees required Sharonda to engage in negotiations with the United States Department of Justice on a near daily basis. Sharonda also was the lead attorney representing the City in settling a more than 30- year dispute relating to back pay and pension issues for the New Orleans Firefighters. Sharonda had served as Chief Deputy City Attorney from October 2011 until May 2013. Prior to joining the City of New Orleans legal staff, Sharonda was a partner in the general litigation section of major New Orleans law firm, where she handled cases ranging from construction disputes, medical malpractice, insurance coverage disputes, entertainment law contract negotiations, intellectual property licensing issues, and bankruptcy adversary proceedings. Before her career as an attorney, Sharonda attended the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and she worked as a research laboratory technician there and at the Duke University School of Medicine. She graduated summa cum laude from Xavier University New Orleans in 1994, and earned her law degree from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law in 2001, where she was a member of Loyola Law Review. Sharonda is very active in legal and community organizations on the local and statewide level. She served as Chair of the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana from 2010-2011, and was also appointed to the Planning Committees for the National Association of Women Judges Conference in 2013 and the appellate Judges Educational Institute in for the 2012 Summit. Sharonda has served as President of the Board of Bridge House, and was a Grace House Women of Substance Honoree in 2009. Sharonda was also honored as Loyola University’s Young Alumna of the Year in 2011, and she was also recognized as an Honoree at the Greater New Orleans Urban League Gala in 2011. She served as past president of the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, Inc., from 2006-2007 and earned the organization’s prestigious A.P. Tureaud Award in 2014. She was also a member of the inaugural class of the Norman C. Francis Leadership Institute from 2012-2014, and has also served on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2010, she was locally recognized by Gambit Weekly as a “40 under 40” honoree. She was also one of the City Business Women of the Year Honorees in 2011. Sharonda has served as a Trial Advocacy Instructor at Tulane University School of Law, and also as a guest lecturer and Skills Course Instructor at Loyola University College of Law, New Orleans. She regularly lectures on the state and national level at seminars and continuing education events. View from the Bench Judge Jay C. Zainey Honorable Jay C. Zainey was appointed by President George W. Bush to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on February 19, 2002. He is the past President of the Louisiana State Bar Association. As State Bar Association President, he created the Community Action Committee and the Committee to Provide Legal Services for the Disabled. These two committees are purportedly the first of their kind in the nation. Jay is a 1969 graduate of Jesuit High School, and serves on the Board of Visitors of the Ave Maria Law School. Jay is co-founder of SOLACE, a Louisiana State Bar Association program, which provides services to members of the legal community and their families who experience tragedies, and who otherwise have special needs. In May 2004, Jay organized the Homeless Experience Legal Protection (H.E.L.P.) Program. In this program, over 450 attorneys provide legal consultation services and notary services at five homeless centers in New Orleans. He assisted in developing a Homeless Court in New Orleans, and is assisting in developing Veterans Courts in Jefferson Parish, St. Tammany Parish, Terrebonne Parish, Lafourche Parish and in Federal Court. Jay has also worked with the Louisiana State Bar Association Committee to Provide Legal Services for the Disabled in providing pro bono legal services to people with disabilities and their families, and has assisted Tulane Law School develop its Disability Law Society, one of the first of its kind in the country. In October, 2004 Jay and his wife Joy founded the God’s Special Children Program. The program includes a monthly mass for people with special needs, their families and friends. Jay and Joy co-founded St. Andrew’s Village, a faith-based long term living community for adults with disabilities. St. Andrew's Village will provide a loving environment for many of God’s special angels.