Judge Schlegel was recently elected to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal and took office on August 21, 2023. During Judge Scott Schlegel’s decade on the trial court, he designed and managed “what may be one of the most advanced courts in the country for delivering justice online,” according to one leading legal tech journalist.

Judge Schlegel currently serves as the Chair of the Louisiana Supreme Court Technology Commission and was recently appointed to the Advisory Council of the ABA Task Force on the Law and Artificial Intelligence. He is the Immediate Past President of the Louisiana District Judges Association (LDJA) and serves on many other committees. Judge Schlegel has received numerous awards including the National Center for State Courts’ 26th Annual William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, one of the highest judicial honors in the country. Judge Schlegel was also featured on the cover of the American Bar Association Journal and is a nationally recognized speaker on legal tech and the modernization of the justice system.

Prior to his election to the bench, Judge Schlegel was one of the top felony prosecutors in the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office. He practiced civil law with an emphasis in products liability before becoming a prosecutor. Judge Schlegel graduated with honors from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where he served as the President of the Student Bar Association. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Representative Laurie Schlegel, for nearly 25 years and has one son in college.