---
title: "Lance M. Africk | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/lance-m-africk"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Lance M. Africk

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana · Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
- State: Louisiana
- Role: Judge
- Service status: senior
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- Judge, District Court, E.D. Louisiana, 2002-present
- position: Senior Judge · court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana · start year: 2024 · senior status date: 2024-10-01
- position: Judge · court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana · start year: 2002 · end year: 2024 · appointed by: George W. Bush · nomination date: 2002-01-23 · confirmation date: 2002-04-17 · commission date: 2002-04-17
- position: U.S. Magistrate Judge · court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana · start year: 1990 · end year: 2002
- In 1990, Africk was appointed a United States magistrate judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, serving until 2002
- position: Assistant U.S. Attorney — Eastern District of Louisiana · start year: 1982 · end year: 1990
- He returned briefly to private practice (1980–1982) and then became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1982 to 1990
- position: Director, Career Criminal Bureau — Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office · start year: 1977 · end year: 1980
- Began in private practice in Louisiana (1976–1977) before serving as Director of the Career Criminal Bureau for the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office from 1977 to 1980
- position: Law clerk — Hon. James Gulotta, Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Judicial Circuit · start year: 1975 · end year: 1976
- Early in his career, he clerked for Judge James Gulotta of the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals from 1975 to 1976

### Education

- University of North Carolina School of Law — Law — J.D. (1975)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in — B.A. (1973)

### Additional information

- Instructor, University of New Orleans, 1986-present
- Since 1986, he has also been a part-time instructor at the University of New Orleans
- Africk assumed senior status on October 1, 2024, retaining a full staff and docket as a senior judge
- received his commission on April 17, 2002.
- On January 23, 2002, he was nominated by President George W. Bush to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, filling the seat vacated by Edith Brown Clement.
- position: Instructor — University of New Orleans · start year: 1986
- position: Private practice — Louisiana · start year: 1980 · end year: 1982
- position: Private practice — Louisiana · start year: 1976 · end year: 1977
- Lance Michael Africk was born on December 1, 1951, in New York City.
- Date of birth: 1951-01-01
- focusing on repeat offenders.
- Confirmed by the Senate
- Birth place: New York, NY

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### civil remote testimony

Scope: courtwide

In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.

Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.

[Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### criminal recording and broadcasting

Scope: courtwide

Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.

Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.

[Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391471)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391471)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391471)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/63/lance-m-africk/)
- [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
- [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/63/lance-m-africk/)
- [Wikidata: Lance M. Africk](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6483463)
- [Supplied Louisiana biography research](https://professionals.justia.com/profile/lance-africk-1350172)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/63/lance-m-africk/)
- [Wikidata: Lance M. Africk](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6483463)

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## Federal civil docket activity

Dataset updated through 2026-06-30.

| Period | Assigned cases | Terminated cases | Median disposition (months) | Median sample |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 1y | 115 | 3 | Not available | 3 |
| 2y | 247 | 59 | 3.1 | 59 |
| 5y | 1301 | 1076 | 6.8 | 1076 |
| 10y | 2213 | 1988 | 6.3 | 1988 |

Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/


## Published courtroom rules

### Shared court rules

- [Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-651872d6e45e0d82319ecccc) — Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
- [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
