--- title: "Wendy Baldwin Vitter | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/wendy-baldwin-vitter" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Wendy Baldwin Vitter 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: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana · role: Chief Judge · start date: 2025-05-15 · notes: Chief judge 2025-present per FJC; cites May 15 2025 press release - Judge, District Court, E.D. Louisiana, 2019-present - Wendy Baldwin Vitter (née Baldwin; born 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, a position she assumed on May 15, 2025 - court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana · role: Judge · start date: 2019-05-29 · notes: Nominated by Donald J. Trump on 2019-01-23 to seat vacated by Helen Ginger Berrigan, confirmed 2019-05-16, commission 2019-05-29 - Associate Attorney — Abbott & Meeks Law Firm · start year: 1992 · end year: 1993 - Chief of Trials — Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office · start year: 1990 · end year: 1992 - Assistant district attorney, Orleans Parish, LA, 1987-1992 - Assistant District Attorney — Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office · start year: 1987 · end year: 1992 - Deputy Chief of Trials — Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office · start year: 1989 · end year: 1990 ### Education - Tulane University of Louisiana — J.D. (1986) - Tulane University Law School — Law — J.D. (1986) - Sam Houston State University — B.A. (1982) ### Additional information - Commissioned on May 29, 2019. - Joined the federal bench by President Donald J. Trump on January 23, 2018 for the seat vacated by Judge Helen Ginger Berrigan, and confirmed by the Senate on May 16, 2019. - General Counsel — Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans · start year: 2013 · end year: 2019 - Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, 2012-2019 - Project Director — Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans · start year: 2012 · end year: 2013 - Private practice, New Orleans, LA, 1992-1993 - Date of birth: 1961-01-01 - As Chief Judge, she presides over court sessions she attends and leads the court’s administrative operations, including budgetary and reporting responsibilities - Birth place: New Orleans, LA ## 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/6455091) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6455091) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6455091) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8646/wendy-baldwin-vitter/) - [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/8646/wendy-baldwin-vitter/) - [Wikidata: Wendy Vitter](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47488333) - [Supplied Louisiana biography research](https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/wendy-baldwin-vitter) - [Supplied Louisiana biography research](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Vitter) - [Supplied Louisiana biography research](https://ballotpedia.org/Wendy_Vitter) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8646/wendy-baldwin-vitter/) - [Wikidata: Wendy Vitter](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47488333) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/wendy-baldwin-vitter", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/wendy-baldwin-vitter", "name": "Wendy Baldwin Vitter | KnowJudges", "description": "Wendy Baldwin Vitter, U.S. District Court for the Eastern 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.