Hon. Lance M. Africk, U.S. District Judge, USDC-EDLA

Judge 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 Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina Law School at Chapel Hill in 1975, where he served as governor of the student bar association, a judge of the moot court board, and as a member of the Order of Barristers, a national moot court honorary society.  Following a clerkship with the Honorable James Gulotta of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal and several years in private practice, Judge Africk served as an Orleans Parish assistant district attorney and as the Chief of the Career Criminal Bureau for the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office from 1977 to 1980.  He also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and the Chief of the Criminal Division for the United States Attorney’s office in New Orleans from 1982 to 1990.  In 1990, he was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.  On April 17, 2002, he was confirmed as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Judge Africk has authored articles in the area of criminal law and civil procedure, and he has served as a lecturer at the FBI Academy, numerous law schools, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission.  Judge Africk has served on the faculty of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, and he has lectured at numerous programs, including those presented by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, U.S. Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, and Louisiana State Bar Association.  Judge Africk previously served as an adjunct professor of law at Tulane University Law School.  He has served as a reviewer of Moore’s Federal Practice, Criminal Procedure, Third Edition. 

Judge Africk is also a member of the Allstate Sugar Bowl having served as president and executive committee board chairman of that organization.  He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the March of Dimes and Federal Bar Association.  He has served as Master of the New Orleans Bar Association’s annual Masters of the Courtroom program.  Judge Africk currently serves on the Judicial Council of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and he is the co-chair of the Fifth Circuit Committee on Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions. 

Judge Africk was previously appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to the Judicial Conference Committee on Criminal Law and he was reappointed to that committee by Chief Justice Roberts.  Judge Africk’s term on that committee ended on October 1, 2011.  He was inducted into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame in July, 2011.

Hon. Brandon S. Long, U.S. District Judge, USDC-EDLA

Brandon S. Long was sworn in as a U.S. District Judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana on December 21, 2023. He began his legal career in private practice in Washington, DC, specializing in white-collar criminal litigation and corporate compliance. In 2010, he joined the U.S. Justice Department, first as a federal prosecutor in Washington, DC, then as a federal prosecutor in his hometown of New Orleans. In these roles, Judge Long directed the investigation and prosecution of fraud, public corruption, narcotics offenses, and violent crimes. In 2020 and 2021, Judge Long moved back to Washington, DC, to serve as the Deputy Chief of Staff and Acting Chief of Staff at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As the Acting Chief of Staff, he was the primary advisor to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and worked closely with him and other senior leaders at the Justice Department on criminal, national security, and internal operational matters. He received his B.A. (Government) and B.B.A. (Accounting) degrees cum laude from The University of Texas at Austin and his J.D. degree cum laude from Duke University School of Law, where he was a member of the Duke Law Journal.

Hon. David I. Courcelle, U.S. Attorney, EDLA

After being nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate, David I. Courcelle was sworn in on December 29, 2025, to serve as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.  As the U.S. Attorney, Mr. Courcelle serves as the chief prosecutor for the Eastern District, which consists of the following thirteen (13) parishes: Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne and Washington.

Mr. Courcelle leads and supervises the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the United States has an interest.  Along with the dedicated prosecutors and staff in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Courcelle and his team are tasked with the mission to protect and serve all residents of Southeast Louisiana through enforcement of the laws of the United States.

Mr. Courcelle has practiced law for over 30 years and has handled a wide variety of cases with extensive experience in federal criminal and civil law. Additionally, he has served as City Attorney and Prosecutor for the City of Harahan, and as Parish Attorney for the Parish of Jefferson. Mr. Courcelle has served proudly in public service since 1998. Most recently, Mr. Courcelle managed the Law Office of David I. Courcelle, LLC in Metairie, Louisiana, handling criminal and civil matters, and also represented the Parish of Jefferson.

Mr. Courcelle is the proud son of a U.S. Navy veteran and his Japanese wife.  Mr. Courcelle graduated from De La Salle High School in New Orleans and from the University of New Orleans with a B.A. in Political Science.  He obtained his Juris Doctor from Loyola University College of Law in 1995.  Mr. Courcelle also played baseball for Delgado Community College under the late legendary coach, Louis “Rags” Scheuermann.

Mr. Courcelle is committed to carrying out the mission of the United States Department of Justice and is focused on making the Eastern District of Louisiana a safer place to live and work.

Claude J. Kelly, Chief Federal Public Defender, EDLA

Mr. Kelly is a New Orleans native and a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Tulane Law School. From 1987 to 1990, he worked as an Assistant District Attorney for Orleans Parish, serving as a Senior Trial Attorney. Thereafter, he was the general manager of Kolb's German Restaurant. In 1992, Mr. Kelly became an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Eastern District of Louisiana, and held that position until 2000, when he rejoined the private sector. After working as the Director of International Sales for Optimal Healthcare in Miami, Florida, and Legal Counsel for the International Exchange Group in Washington, D.C., Mr. Kelly returned to New Orleans in 2006 and went into the private practice of law. He also worked at the Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana. In addition, he served as a panel attorney of both the Criminal Justice Act in the Eastern District of Louisiana and the Fraternal Order of Police. In June of 2014, Mr. Kelly was appointed by the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to serve as the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Louisiana. In 2016, Mr. Kelly was nominated by President Barack Obama to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. While the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved him, his nomination expired with the end of the 114th Congress. Mr. Kelly is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and was the inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Holy Cross Lawyers Association. In 2023, Mr. Kelly was awarded the Camille Gravel Public Service award by the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.