The Honorable Jerry Edwards JD'05
2025 VLGSAA Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient
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Jerry Edwards, Jr. graduated with a Juris Doctor from Vermont Law School in 2005. He clerked at the First Judicial District Court in Caddo Parish, Louisiana for Judge Scott Crichton and Judge Jeanette Garrett from 2005 – 2006.
Judge Edwards was an associate from 2006 – 2014 and then a shareholder and director from 2014 – 2019 at Blanchard, Walker, O'Quin & Roberts, A.P.L.C., in Shreveport, Louisiana where he maintained a diverse civil litigation practice focusing on tort defense, collections, and creditors’ rights in consumer bankruptcies.
In 2019, Judge Edwards joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division in Shreveport, where he primarily defended federal agencies in tort actions, employment litigation and appeals of agency decisions. He served as Chief of the Civil Division from 2020 – 2022 and later as First Assistant United States Attorney from 2022 until his appointment to the bench.
On June 8, 2023, Judge Edwards was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana. He was confirmed on December 14, 2023, and began his service on the bench on December 23, 2023. Upon his appointment to the bench, Judge Edwards became the first African American to serve on the Western District of Louisiana.