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ATJ Commission Position: Board of Directors of the LBF

JUDGE CYNTHIA CLAY GUILLORY took the bench on January 4, 2021. A native of Lake Charles, she received her Juris Doctorate Degree from Southern University Law Center in 1982 and in 1983 opened her practice concentrating in the areas of Personal Injury, Successions, Divorces, Custody and Child Support Cases. She was hired by the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office in 1985 and moved through the ranks as an Assistant District Attorney in the Misdemeanor, Felony, Severe Child Abuse, and Juvenile Divisions. She served for several years as the Supervisor of the Child Support Division, leaving that position to begin working at the Louisiana District Attorneys Association in 1997 as the IV-D Coordinator. She was instrumental in advising legislators regarding re-writing the Child Support Guidelines, as well as laws affecting children and families both on the state and national levels. She further negotiated the Child Support Budgets and Contracts for the 40 DA’s and the Department of Social Services-Support Enforcement Services.

Judge Guillory became the first African American Juvenile and Family Court Judge in the newly created Division J of the 14th Judicial District Court in 2020. She was also the first African American woman to serve as President of the Assistant District Attorney Board of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, and the first African American hired as the IV-D Coordinator for the Louisiana District Attorneys Association.

Judge Guillory is a member of and volunteers with The Father’s House, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, St. Thomas More Society, Xavier University of Louisiana Lake Charles Alumni Chapter, Southern University Alumni Chapter, Southwest Bar Association, Louis A. Martinet Society and many other local, state and national service organizations. In 2021 she received the Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. Community Award.


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