Judge Payne was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia (with distinction) in 1974 and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Louisiana State University Law School in 1977, where he graduated Order of the Coif with Phi Kappa Phi honors and also served as an Associate Editor on the Louisiana Law Review from 1976 to 1977, and where he published the Note Due Process for Drivers under the Louisiana Revocation Statutes, 36 La.
852 (1976) and later the article The Coconspirators’ Exception to the Hearsay Rule: The Limits of Its Logic, 37 La.
[4] Payne practiced with the law firm of Blanchard, Walker, O’Quin & Roberts in Shreveport, Louisiana in the areas of insurance defense, products liability, tort law and commercial litigation from 1980 to 1987.
[6][7][8] Payne further served as the Chairman of Northwest Louisiana Legal Services from 1985 to 1986, was the President of the Harry V. Booth American Inn of Court from 1996 to 1998, was a member of the Hearing Committee for the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board in 2008, served as the Vice President of the Shreveport Bar Association in 2008 and the President Elect of the same organization in 2009.
[9] Also, according to Lex Machina, Docket Navigator and research done by patent law scholars, Judge Payne ranks among the top five federal judges, either Magistrate or District, who have conducted the most Markman hearings (aka claim construction hearings) of all time.