BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - U.S. District Judge James J. Brady, of Baton Rouge, has notified President Barack Obama that he will assume senior status at the end of this year.
By taking senior status, the 69-year-old Brady enables the president to nominate a third full-time judge to the Middle District of Louisiana, which has its headquarters in Baton Rouge.
The other judges are Chief U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson and U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, sworn into office earlier this year.
Judges who take senior status are permitted to shoulder a reduced case load.
Brady tells The Advocate he does not intend to slow down.
"My health is good," Brady said. "I feel good. Everything is fine. I intend to carry a full docket."
Following the death of Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph E. Tyson in July 2011, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., recommended Dick for the federal bench.
Dick, the first woman to serve as a federal district judge in Baton Rouge, was not sworn in until May.
Brady graduated from LSU's Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1969. He remained in private practice for the next 31 years.
In July 1999, Brady was nominated by President Bill Clinton for a federal judgeship in Baton Rouge.
He was confirmed by the Senate and sworn into office in May 2000.
The Middle District of Louisiana covers East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, Iberville, Ascension, Livingston, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes.