Chief Judge Susan Chehardy, J.D. ’85
plans. She enrolled at the College of Law because Eddie talked her into it. “He wanted to open a ‘Mom and Pop’ law firm after graduation,” she explains. “I told him I’d give law school two weeks. But I ended up falling in love with the law and just knew that this was my niche.” After working as an assistant district attorney for a number of years, Knoll grew tired of trial work and the long hours it entailed. So she decided to pursue a judgeship in order to have more time to spend with her family. Knoll notes that her singing was wonderful preparation for becoming a judge. “Singing was superb training for adversarial law,” she says. “You sang to be critiqued; it was an extremely stressful experience. And it also helped prepare me for the rigors of campaigning.” Guidry-Whipple was drawn to the legal profession while working for a local newspaper after receiving her undergraduate degree. “It was then that I realized what a large impact lawyers have on society—how they shape policies and procedures throughout the world. Also, I wanted to do
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LOYOLA LAWYER • Spring 2013
something meaningful while still being able to have a family life,” she says. After practicing for 10 years, Guidry-Whipple felt prepared to work at the appellate level. “I have a great passion for reading and writing, and these skills are constantly used by judges,” she says. Chehardy sought a judgeship for two somewhat related reasons: first, her family had instilled in her a deep commitment to public service, and second, being a judge gave her the opportunity to help people on a broader stage. “As a judge, your reach goes further than when practicing law,” she says. All three women have made, and continue to make, many notable accomplishments as practicing lawyers and as judges. Knoll observes that her most notable case occurred during her early days of practice, when she was assigned a case involving an indigent defendant—State v. James. Mr. James was an African American ex-convict charged with raping a white woman, which was a capital offense. At that time, women were not allowed to serve on juries. Thus, the jury was comprised of all men, only one of which was African American. At trial, Knoll proved who the actual perpetrator was and obtained an acquittal. During jury deliberations, the district attorney offered her client a plea—a misdemeanor. She told Mr. James of the offer, but said if he took it, she would withdraw from the case because she believed so much in the strength of his case. Since being elected in 1982, Knoll has authored approximately 1150 opinions, 286 of those while serving on the Louisiana Supreme Court. Guidry-Whipple highlights the tremendous caseload, both civil and criminal, at the First Circuit Court of Appeal. “Although there is a heavy caseload, everyone I work with, from the judges to the staff, is wonderful,” she says. “All of the judges know each other really well, and my colleagues are interesting, creative, and extremely hardworking.” Guidry-Whipple also notes that recently, and for the first time in history, the court had an all-women panel of judges. When Chehardy was appointed ad hoc to sit in interim on the district court, she was thrilled because she knew that for the first few years she would be handling domestic cases. “I knew there was a better way for parents to handle custody disputes rather than ‘duking it out’ in the courtroom,” she says.