Judicial nomination hearing set for B.R. attorney next week

Baton Rouge attorney Shelly Dick has gotten another green light in her quest to become a federal district judge for the Middle District of Louisiana. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on her judicial nomination for Wednesday, and Dick could be confirmed by the full Senate before the end of the year. The announcement comes after Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter ended his block of her nomination. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, recommended Dick and two other possible nominees to President Barack Obama over a year ago to fill the judgeship left vacant by the death of Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson. Obama nominated Dick in April, but Vitter—citing the impending election—withheld his support in hopes of a victory for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Vitter threw his support behind Dick’s nomination one week after Obama won re-election. Dick, a Texas native, is a founding partner in Forrester & Dick, a boutique firm. She has extensive experience in complex, multiparty commercial litigation, labor and employment, and railroad litigation in both state and federal court. She has also served as an ad hoc hearing officer for the Louisiana Department of Labor to clear a backlog of worker’s compensation cases. In May, she was named one of Business Report‘s Influential Women in Business. To read her profile, click here. —Penny Font