Term Ends: 2026
Party: D
Veronica E. Henry is the Chief Judge of the First City Court in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her 2010 election to the bench followed a distinguished 26-year career practicing law in the city of New Orleans. In 2016 and 2022, Chief Judge Henry was re-elected without opposition.
Chief Judge Henry attended the University of New Orleans where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama/Communications. Her broadcasting career started in radio at WWL-AM in New Orleans where she worked as an on-air producer. Thereafter, Chief Judge Henry worked in television at WWL-TV and WDSU-TV in New Orleans where she worked as a public affairs programmer, producer, and host.
In 1984, Chief Judge Henry obtained her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law. In 1985, Chief Judge Henry worked as an associate attorney with the law firm of Jones, Nabonne and Wilkerson. Under the mentorship of the late United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Okla Jones, II and the late Civil District Court Magistrate, Walter “Jeff” Wilkerson, Chief Judge Henry honed her skills as a successful attorney and litigator. Her practice centered on personal injury, insurance, medical malpractice, and energy regulatory litigation.
In 1987, Chief Judge Henry became partner in the law firm of Wilkerson & Henry, LLC and managed a successful practice until elected to the position of First City Court Judge in 2010.
Chief Judge Henry became Chief Judge of New Orleans First City Court in January 2020. As Chief Judge, she worked to implement best practice tools and strategies to make First City Court more accessible and user friendly – – all with the goal of ensuring equal and meaningful access to justice for each litigant.
In January 2021, Chief Judge Henry collaborated with community stakeholders, including the city of New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, and established Louisiana’s first Eviction Diversion program. In October 2021, the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Access to Justice Commission awarded First City Court the 2021 Legal Service Innovation Award. The award honors a public interest organization that has developed an innovation in delivering legal services to people with unmet legal needs. Through the First City Court’s community collaborations, tenants in imminent danger of eviction are identified and prioritized as it pertains to emergency rental assistance programs; on-demand legal assistance is available during eviction hearings; and, an Eviction Help Desk is available to landlords and tenants.
In July 2022, Chief Judge Henry was invited by the White House to participate in a summit titled, “Building on Emergency Rental Assistance to Ensure Long-Term Eviction Reform”. The virtual event focused “on the need to build on the American Rescue Plan’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program to ensure long-term eviction reform, including highlighting model innovations across the country.” Chief Judge Henry’s presentation was part of the panel on Visionary Court-Led Eviction System Reform, and included Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice; Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack, Michigan Supreme Court; Chief Justice C. Shannon Bacon, New Mexico Supreme Court; and Chief Judge Veronica Henry, First City Court of New Orleans.
Chief Judge Henry is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, National Bar Association, New Orleans Bar Association, Louisiana Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, American Judges Association, Fourth Circuit Judges Association, Fourth and Fifth Circuit Judges Association, Louisiana City Judges Association, National Association of Women Judges, A.P. Tureaud Inn of Court, New Orleans Bar Inn of Court, Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, the Association of Women Attorneys, and a former hearing committee member of the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board.
Chief Judge Henry served on the Executive Committee of both the Louisiana City Court Judges Association and the New Orleans Bar Inn of Court. Additionally, Chief Judge Henry serves as a committee member of the Greater New Orleans Community Partnership Panel of The Louisiana Bar Foundation. The panel seeks to identify and assist qualified organizations that are directly addressing the needs of “legal deserts”.
Chief Judge Henry is a member of The Links, Incorporated, an international women’s service organization, which, for over 75 years, has provided transformational and sustaining programming to underserved communities.