--- title: "Robert Rees Summerhays | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-r-summerhays" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Robert Rees Summerhays U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana - State: Louisiana - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, W.D. Louisiana, 2018-present - American judge serving on the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana since September 19, 2018 - U.S. District Judge: Appointed by President Donald J. Trump on January 24, 2018, to replace Judge Rebecca F. Doherty, who assumed senior status in 2017 - Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Louisiana, 2006-2018 - Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana - 2006 to 2018 - Adjunct Professor of Business Law — B.I. Moody College of Business Administration, University of Louisiana at Lafayette - from 2013 - Associate, Partner — Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Dallas office - 1995 to 2006 - Law Clerk — Judge W. Eugene Davis, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - 1994 to 1995 ### Education - J.D. — The University of Texas at Austin — 1994 - University of Texas School of Law — Law; with high honors, Order of the Coif, Associate Editor of Texas Law Review — J.D. (1994) - B.A. — University of Texas at Austin — 1989 — with high honors, Phi Beta Kappa ### Additional information - He has also held the role of an adjunct instructor in business law at the B.I. Moody College of Business Administration, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (2013–present) - Nominated by President Donald Trump Jan 24 2018, confirmed by voice vote Sep 6 2018, received commission Sep 19 2018, seat vacated by Judge Rebecca F. Doherty, Lafayette division. - Chief Judge 2009-2017. - Summerhays joined the Federalist Society in 2016. - Private practice, Dallas, TX, 1995-2006 - Date of birth: 1965-01-01 - As a district judge, Summerhays presides over a wide range of federal cases in the Western District of Louisiana, including civil, criminal, and bankruptcy matters. - Birth place: Fort Worth, TX ## 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 ### courtroom technology Scope: judge specific Judge-specific source Evidence excerpt: 9. Please contact Judge Summerhays’ Courtroom Deputy, Chrissy Craig, should you need any assistance on exhibit submission or Courtroom Technology Training at (337)593-5021 or email Chrissy_Craig@lawd.uscourts.gov. *Please use an alpha-numeric naming system when saving your exhibits to the flash drive. [RRSexhibitguidelines.022425.o.cf_.pdf](https://www.lawd.uscourts.gov/sites/lawd/files/RRSexhibitguidelines.022425.o.cf_.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### 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/5197996) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/5197996) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/5197996) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8639/robert-rees-summerhays/) - [RRSexhibitguidelines.022425.o.cf_.pdf](https://www.lawd.uscourts.gov/sites/lawd/files/RRSexhibitguidelines.022425.o.cf_.pdf) - [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/8639/robert-rees-summerhays/) - [Wikidata: Robert R. Summerhays](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47488346) - [Supplied Louisiana biography research](https://www.fjc.gov/node/2389516) - [Supplied Louisiana biography research](https://ballotpedia.org/Robert_Summerhays) - [Supplied Louisiana biography research](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_R._Summerhays) - [Supplied Louisiana biography research](https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-kennedy-applaud-judicial-nominations-for-western-and-eastern-districts-of-louisiana/) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8639/robert-rees-summerhays/) - [Wikidata: Robert R. Summerhays](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47488346) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-r-summerhays", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-r-summerhays", "name": "Robert Rees Summerhays | KnowJudges", "description": "Robert Rees Summerhays, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. 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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.