Elmer Gordon West

Elmer Gordon West (November 17, 1914 – November 2, 1992) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

Education and career

Born in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, West received a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University in 1941. He received a Bachelor of Laws from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1942. He was in the United States Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1945. He was an attorney for the Louisiana State Department of Revenue from 1945 to 1946. He was an inheritance tax collector for the State of Louisiana from 1948 to 1952. He was in private practice of law in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from 1946 to 1961.

Law partnership with Senator Long

In 1946, West opened the law firm of Long & West, with soon to be United States Senator Russell B. Long. At LSU, West met Long. Both men served in the Navy during World War II. According to West, "uring the invasion of Sicily, my ship hit a mine. We were torn up pretty bad. We came back; the ship was half underwater. They towed us back to northern Africa. I got a message that another ship was going to have a moving picture in their hold." West went on to say, "he picture had already started. When I got down to the hold of the ship my eyes got acclimated to the dark and I looked around, and two seats down was Russell Long. Well, as far as we both were concerned, that far away from home, anyone from home really looked good. And so that was the beginning of our real wonderful friendship. Russell and I became such very good friends, and when we got out we decided to go into law practice together. So, we formed the firm of Long and West in January 1946."

Death and legacy West died on November 2, 1992, aged 77. Upon his death, Senator Long stated, "The Lord never made a better man that Gordon West. He was fair, hard working and had a heart that was compassionate to all."

United States District Judge Frank Joseph Polozola remarked that West was one of the "most scholarly judges I ever met...there was no question that he had a very strong belief in the Constitution."