Devereux seeking Division K judgeship

Mary C. Devereux has announced her candidacy for the Division K seat of the 22nd Judicial District Court. Division K covers all of St. Tammany and Washington parishes and is one of two newly-created seats in the 22nd JDC that will preside solely over family law issues, such as divorce, child custody, property settlement and juvenile issues.

“This seat was created specifically to advance family law issues in St. Tammany and Washington parishes,” said Devereux. “ It’s extremely important that the judge elected to this seat has specialized in family law as a practicing attorney.”

Devereux has spent her 22-year professional career specializing in family law. She became a board certified family law specialist in 1995.

Devereux, 57, has lived and worked in St. Tammany Parish for 23 years. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Tulane University Law School in 1986 and received the American Jurisprudence award for criminal law. Devereux became a partner in the Magee and Devereux firm of Covington in 1987, where she continues to practice family law today. She is a certified collaborative divorce professional and educated in advanced family law mediation.

“As your family court judge, I will increase the number of family court dates, implement a scheduling system that reduces wait times and costs, apply the law consistently to all and eliminate as much as possible the damage done to children in the process,” Devereux said.

Devereux, a Republican for 33 years, has been selected two years running as a Louisiana Super Lawyer, a prestigious distinction recognizing the top 5 percent of outstanding attorneys in the state. She is currently a member of the Louisiana State and Greater Covington Bar Associations, a delegate to the Louisiana State Bar Association House of Delegates, a member of the Board of Governors liaison committee for the Louisiana State Bar Association and a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association Family Law Council.

Past professional affiliations include adjunct professor teaching family law and other courses for the paralegal studies program at Tulane University College and law course instructor at Delgado College. She has been chairwoman of the Family Law Certification advisory commission for two terms and was cochair of the committee appointed to study certification and recommend standards and qualifications to the Louisiana Supreme Court. Devereux was president, vice-president and secretary/treasurer of the Greater Covington Bar Association; a member of the Louisiana Law Institute advisory committee; and on the steering committee to organize the 22nd JDC Inns of Court of which she has been the administrator since its inception.

Devereux has served on the committee on Child Support and Mental Health for the Family Law Division of the American Bar Association, the Louisiana Supreme Court Task Force on providing legal services for the poor, Louisiana Legislative Task Force for providing funding for legal services and is a past board member of the Collaborative Professionals Group of Southeast Louisiana. She has also been president and vice president of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services.

She was a presenter at the only seminar given specifically to prepare attorneys to take the family law specialization examination. Devereux has also been a family law expert for the parish’s public access channel.

Devereux is also a member of the League of Women Voters and St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce and Tammany Together and a pro-bono volunteer since the pro-bono program began.

She has been a board member on the St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation and president, vice president and crusade chairwoman of the American Cancer Society. She was chair and vice chair of the Covington Housing Authority, serving on the board for five years, and president and vice president of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, serving on the board for 12 years.

Other past memberships include American Association of University Women, Northlake Republican Women’s Club, Professional Republican Women of St. Tammany, Leadership St. Tammany and Access to Justice committee

Devereux is married to her high school sweetheart, Brooks Trotter, and they live in Slidell. In her spare time she loves to cook and knit and is a percussionist in the Slidell Youth and Community Orchestra.

The primary election for this judgeship will be held Oct. 4.