When custody, divorce and child support cases bogged down the courts in Livingston, St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes, a legislator for the area, state Rep. Sherman Mack, came through with a fix.

He sponsored a bill in 2013 to create a family court for the 21st Judicial District, a move applauded as long overdue by judges, lawyers and others looking for a streamlined system. The passage of the bill was a win for Mack’s district, but it was also a personal win for Mack, whose law firm often juggles dozens of family law cases at a time.

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Deborah Rhode, the director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Stanford Law School, said judicial ethics codes across the nation are clear that judges should avoid an appearance of conflict. The relationship between Mack and Oglesbee is problematic in that regard, she said.

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“Boy, does this create an appearance,” she said. “You’re not going to be able to be dispassionate and disinterested when it’s your former partner.”