Paul Leche (July 19, 1857 – August 28, 1938) was a justice of the

Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (; ) is the supreme court, highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The Supreme ...

from 1917 to 1919, and again from 1923 to 1925, the first time by appointment to fill the unexpired term of another justice, and the second time in a temporary seat to address an excessive case load.

Early life, education, and career

Born in

Assumption Parish, Louisiana Assumption Parish (, ) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 21,039. Its County seat, parish seat is Napoleonville, Louisiana, Na ...

to J. B. and Rose Emma (Bourg) Leche.Alcée Fortier, ed., ''Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form'', Volume 3 (1914)
p. 633-634
Leche graduated from

Spring Hill College Spring Hill College is a private Jesuit college in Mobile, Alabama. It was founded in 1830 by Bishop Michael Portier of Mobile. Along with being the oldest private college or university in the state of Alabama, it was the first Catholic college ...

, near

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, in 1877. After educating himself in law, he passed an examination before the state supreme court, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1879. Leche was for Mayor of

Donaldsonville, Louisiana Donaldsonville (historically ) is a city in, and the parish seat of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Ascension Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located along the River Road of the west bank of the Mississippi River, it is a part of the Baton ...

from 1894 to 1899,"Judge Leche, 81, Dies in Baton Rouge", ''The Alexandria Town Talk'' (August 29, 1938), p. 10. and was also Superintendent of schools of Ascension Parish from 1888 to 1898.

Judicial service

When Walter Guion left the Assumption-Ascension-St. James district bench in 1900 to become attorney general, Leche was elected as his successor. Leche served as district judge for twelve years, until 1912, when he was elected to the court of appeals to succeed L. P. Caillouet of Thibodaux."Local Jurist Honored", ''The Donaldsonville Chief'' (June 9, 1917), p. 2. In June 1917, Leche was appointed to the Louisiana Supreme Court as the interim successor of the late Justice Alfred D. Land, whose unexpired term had approximately eighteen months remaining until a new justice to be elected in November 1918 would take the seat in December. Leche then returned to the circuit court until October 1, 1923, when he was again temporarily appointed to the supreme court, alongside David N. Thompson, this time to two additional seats created for the purpose of assisting in clearing the docket of some 500 pending cases."Will Clear Docket, Louisiana High Court", ''Chattanooga Daily Times'' (September 23, 1923), p. 1. Leche returned from this assignment to the circuit court in 1925, where he remained until his retirement in 1930.

Personal life and death

On February 4, 1880, he married Louise Willoz, daughter of Henry and Alice (Skates) Willoz, of New Orleans. They had one son, Carl. He was a member of the Roman Catholic church and was a state deputy Supreme Knight in the Knights of Columbus. He died at the home of his son Karl, in Baton Rouge, at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leche, Paul 1857 births 1938 deaths People from Assumption Parish, Louisiana Spring Hill College alumni U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court State Deputies of the Knights of Columbus