Richard G. Perque (born 1978) is an American attorney who practices in civil litigation in the New Orleans metropolitan area. He is a frequent media commentator on local legal issues.
Perque founded DivorcePlus in 2022 to address the gap in support between the legal system and litigants.
Early Life and Education
Perque was raised in Louisiana and graduated from Assumption High School in Napoleonville in 1996. He earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from Loyola University New Orleans in 2000, studying for a period at the University of Paris IV, and received his J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2006, along with a certificate in common law.
He comes from a family of lawyers and judges. His grandfather was Risley "Pappy" Triche, a Louisiana attorney and former state legislator. His mother, Jane Triche Milazzo, serves as a United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Family
Perque belongs to a family with three generations in Louisiana law and politics. His maternal grandfather, Risley Claiborne "Pappy" Triche (1927-2012), was an attorney from Napoleonville who became mayor of the town at 24, then the youngest mayor in the state, and served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1955 to 1976, acting as floor leader under governors Jimmie Davis, John McKeithen, and Edwin Edwards. Triche was inducted into the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame in Winnfield in 2010. During his legal career he later handled high-profile criminal defense work, including the BriLab corruption case.
Perque's mother, Jane Triche Milazzo, served as a judge on Louisiana's 23rd Judicial District Court before President Barack Obama appointed her to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 2011. His uncle Martin Triche has served as president of the Assumption Parish Police Jury. Perque began his legal career practicing at the family firm alongside his grandfather, uncle, and mother.
Career
Perque was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 2006 and began his career practicing alongside his grandfather and mother at the family firm.
He was later admitted to the Texas bar (2016), the Massachusetts bar (2017), and the bar of the United States Supreme Court (2014).
He served as counsel of record in Robicheaux v. Caldwell, the case challenging Louisiana's same-sex marriage ban, which was ultimately resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges(2015).
In 2023 he was appointed an assistant bar examiner for Civil Code I, and he founded DivorcePlus, an online platform offering divorce-related services and coaching.
Judicial Service
The Louisiana Supreme Court appointed Perque Judge Pro Tempore of the Orleans Parish Civil District Court twice: to Division B in 2022 and to Division G, effective May 1, 2023.
Public Service
In 2014, New Orleans City Council member Jason Williams nominated Perque to the City of New Orleans Human Relations Commission, where he served until 2016. That year, Governor John Bel Edwards nominated him, and the Louisiana State Senate confirmed him, as a commissioner on the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights representing the 2nd District, a post he held until 2022. He has also served on the board of the Morris Jeff Community School and the Dinerral Shavers Educational Fund.
