Published May 19, 2022
The Fourth and Fifth Judicial Districts partnered with the University of Louisiana
Monroe Mock Trial Academy to provide training to north Louisiana public defenders.
More than 30 attorneys and students attended the four-hour professionalism and ethics
training on April 29 at the ULM Mock Trial Courtroom.
Panelists included John Albert Ellis, Fifth Judicial District chief public defender;
Peggy Sullivan, Fourth Judicial District supervisor; and Bob Noel, ULM political science
instructor and ULM Mock Trial head coach.
“The partnership between the legal profession and ULM is significant. ULM has been
providing training for lawyers and potential lawyers for decades. This is merely the
formal recognition of the need for ULM to cooperate more with the court system,” said
Noel.
ULM and the Northeast Louisiana Public Defense Districts are working together to provide
future trainings to enhance lawyers’ skills to provide services to the poor and to
solve issues surrounding crime.
“This is but another example of ULM fulfilling our role as the educational hub for
northeast Louisiana,” said ULM Chief Innovation & Research Officer Dr. John W. Sutherlin.
“Beside this level of education and training, anyone in the region who has ever served
on a jury has watched the orientation to service video ULM produced.”
