Frank Alan "Pappy" Little Jr. (October 26, 1936 – March 31, 2024) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (in case citations, W.D. La.) is a United States federal court with jurisdiction over approximately two thirds of the state of Louisiana, with courts in Alexandria, Lafayette ...

Education and career

Born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, Little received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in 1958. In 1961, he obtained a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Tulane Law School The Tulane University School of Law is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. Campus The law school ...

. From 1961 to 1965, he was in private practice in New Orleans. In 1965, he moved his practice to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Rapides Parish Rapides Parish () () is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 130,023. The parish seat and largest city is Alexandria, which developed along the Red River of the South. ''Rapides'' is th ...

. He remained with the Gold, Little, Simon, Weems, and Bruser firm until he was appointed in 1984 to the federal bench.

Federal judicial service

On September 11, 1984, Little was nominated to the

by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

to fill the position vacated by the retirement of Judge

Nauman Scott Nauman Steele Scott (June 15, 1916 – September 19, 2001) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Education and career Born in New Roads, Louisiana, Scott received a Bachelo ...

, an original appointee of President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. Little was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on October 11, 1984, and received his commission the following day. He served as Chief Judge from 1996 to 2002 and then assumed senior status on May 30, 2002, serving in that status until his retirement from the bench on May 15, 2006. While in the Western District, Little sat on some 250 cases on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Sixth circuits.

Post judicial service

Upon retirement from the federal bench, Little was for nearly nine years the Chief Tribal Judge for the Coushatta Indian Tribe in Kinder, Louisiana. Little returned to private practice in Alexandria after his judicial tenure and specializes in

arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...

mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

, and appellate review. He also lectures on the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

and on topics relating to taxation. Little has written for the ''Tulane Law Review'', ''Tax Law Review'', and ''Hastings Law Journal.'' He is also the chief judge for the

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (Coushatta: ''Kowassaatiha'') is one of three federally recognized tribes of Koasati people. They are located in Allen and Jefferson Davis Parishes, Louisiana. The tribe hosts an annual pow wow during the sec ...

. Judge Little died at the age of 87 in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where he had relocated in 2022.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, F. A. Jr. 1936 births 2024 deaths American non-fiction writers Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Lawyers from Minneapolis Lawyers from New Orleans Louisiana Republicans People from Alexandria, Louisiana People from Houston Tulane University alumni Tulane University Law School alumni United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges