Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, on May 10, 2018. He was previously appointed by President George W. Bush to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on December 13, 2001, and became Chief Judge of that Court on October 1, 2015, serving until his appointment to the Fifth Circuit. He received a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1982 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and received his law degree from LSU in 1985. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Judge Engelhardt was a partner with the Metairie, Louisiana law firm of Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale, where his practice included all aspects of commercial transactions and commercial litigation, including real estate, bankruptcy, insurance defense and coverage issues, RICO, contract disputes, and construction litigation, along with some practice in the areas of personal injury litigation and white collar criminal defense work. In 1995, Judge Engelhardt was appointed by the Governor to serve a four-year term on the nine-member Louisiana Judiciary Commission; in 1998, he was elected by his fellow commission members to serve as Chairman. His work on the Judiciary Commission has been cited for its excellence by the Louisiana Supreme Court. In 2004, Judge Engelhardt was appointed by United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Rehnquist to serve on the Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction, where he served two terms. He also served on the U.S. Fifth Circuit’s Committee on Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions, charged with drafting and updating jury instructions for use throughout the Circuit. He is a member of several professional organizations including the Advisory Board of the New Orleans Chapter of The Federalist Society; the American Judicature Society; and previously the Board of Directors (and past president) of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. On October 17, 2019, he was elected to membership in The American Law Institute. He is also a Board member and past president of the Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans. Judge Engelhardt has been named Brother Martin High School Alumnus of the Year for 2023.