Louis Moreau Lislet (1767–1832), attorney and judge, was born in Cap Français on Saint Domingue and educated in law and languages in France. He settled in the Orleans Territory about the time of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1805 Moreau Lislet was among the counsel who won a judicial decision continuing the use of Roman civil law in Louisiana. He argued frequently before the highest territorial and state courts and opposed Edward Livingston in the case of the Batture Sainte Marie. Moreau Lislet collaborated with James Brown on a Digeste des lois civiles maintenant en vigueur dans le Territoire d’Orleans (New Orleans, 1808), joined Henry Carleton in selecting and translating The Laws of Las Siete Partidas which are still in Force in the State of Louisiana, and, with Derbigny and Livingston, prepared the Civil Code of the State of Louisiana . Moreau Lislet served as judge for the parish of New Orleans for a number of years, declined an 1808 appointment to the territorial superior court due to its meager salary, and in 1817 served briefly as state attorney general before resigning to become a state senator.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 20:26:40 +0000