Meet John and Carola
John was born in Roundup, Montana, the fourth of six children.
John’s Parents
His Dad, Mark Milkovich, was born in 1922, in the coal mining community of Roundup and Klein, Montana, and was raised on his grandparents’ homestead ranch in Montana during the Drought of the Depression. Mark was stationed in Alaska with the U.S. Air Force in World War II, where he served with the 7th Ferrying Command that transported bombers from Alaska to England and Russia, to fight the German War Machine. Mark then forged his own way for 50 years, as a trusted financial adviser and family friend to generations of Montana farmers and ranchers.
John’s Mom, Lura Belle Pearson, was born in Butte, Montana, in 1927. From her earliest youth, Lura was a devout Catholic Christian, deeply imbued with a love for Christ, and a reverence for Mary and Joseph. Lura started her teaching career instructing grades 5 through 8 in one room of a 2 room school house, at the age of 18, and without a college degree, a War Time exigency. She later taught Grade School for 10 years at Ennis, Montana and volunteered to teach Native American children in Head Start in Great Falls. Lura began painting at an early age, before becoming in her adulthood, an accomplished Western Artist. Lura was fiercely loved by her husband, children and grandchildren.
John’s Mom, Lura, died in January, 2020, at the age of 92. John’s Dad, Mark, died in August, 2020, at the age of 98, both in the Ennis-Jeffers Community, founded by pioneers in the 1860s in Southwestern Montana. At the time of Lura’s death, they had been married over 71 years.
John was honored to eulogize both of his parents. He found the experience of depicting the life of these two, larger-than-life, people, from an earlier era, in a 30 minute message, humbling. John says he learned from the experience. “I understood that we spend our entire lives eulogizing the great people that went before us.” John said that what he learned from both parents was Perseverance, hard work, valuing people from all walks of life–– and helping others.
John graduated from Ennis High School. During his time there, he played football and ran track 4 years; played basketball; and rode bucking stock in several High School rodeos. He grew up working on Cattle Ranches in Southwestern Montana, and working for a roofing and painting Contractor from Jeffers, Montana.
He graduated from University of Montana cum laude. He attended LSU Law School, where he finished his freshman year of Law School in the top 10% of his Class, and was named to the Louisiana Law Review, before graduating in 1982.
In 1985, he married Carola Mamoulides, to whom he has been married for over 35 years.
Carola’s mom, Savilla Lamboussy Mamoulides, was the daughter of Greek Immigrants who owned and operated their own Restaurant in Jennings, Louisiana. Savilla graduated from University of Southwestern Louisiana (now ULL), and became a grade school teacher.
Carola’s father, John Mamoulides, was also the son of Greek immigrants, who owned and ran their own Restaurant in Crowley, Louisiana. John Mamoulides served in the United States Air Force, before becoming the District Attorney of Jefferson Parish for 24 years, where he modernized the Office, and transformed it into a national model of efficiency. He earned a reputation for the diligent prosecution of violent crime, was elected President of both the Louisiana District Attorneys and the United States District Attorneys Association. John Mamoulides was ahead of his time. He provided “open file” discovery to defendants; demanded that his subordinates maintain the highest ethical standards; and believes in DNA testing to clear innocent people. Says his son-in-law John Milkovich, “My father-in-law did not serve as District Attorney to stack up his record for convictions. Instead, he was guided by the Conviction that where Truth is Honored, Justice will be served.” John and Savilla Mamoulides have been married for over 66 years.
Carola graduated from LSU with a Degree in French, before obtaining a Law Degree from LSU. She worked as a Judicial Clerk for the Second Circuit Court of Appeal in Shreveport, and then for Federal Judge Buddy McNamara in New Orleans. She later obtained an Elementary Teaching Certificate through LSUS and Baptist Christian University. She taught 5th Graders for several years at Evangel Christian Academy, before teaching at the Junior High and High School level. She has practiced Law alongside her husband in their private practice, for over 34 years. John states that his wife Carola is not only his best friend, but “the best Christian that I know.”
Sarah
John and Carola’s daughter, Sarah, now 28, was Student of the Year for Northwest Louisiana as a 5th Grader; graduated from Evangel as Co-Valedictorian, Student Body President and Captain of the Wings Dance Line. She subsequently graduated from Harvard Magna Cum Laude; graduated from Duke Law School, where she was an Executive Editor of the Duke Law Journal; published one of the Leading Law Review Articles on Election Law in America in 2019. Sarah is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts. As she works for the Boston Law Firm of Ropes and Gray, she works to get Justice for the wrongly convicted. States her dad, “Sarah always has a heart for the underdog, for seeing that Justice is served.”
Practicing Law to Help People
John began his Legal Career as a Judicial Clerk for Judge Fred C. Sexton, Jr. of the Second Circuit Court of Appeal. Before he was elected Judge, Sexton was an Assistant District Attorney who was a Strong Law Enforcement Advocate. However, states John, as a Judge, Sexton also strove for judicial integrity, and was willing to reverse the lower courts if he believed that Justice had been denied. Notes John, “I will always value Judge Sexton’s mentorship, of me, and the larger than life legacy he left in our Community.”
John and Carola have spent their private Law Practice, in the representation of working families, Small Businesses, Family-Owned Businesses, seniors, veterans, wage earners and professionals. Together, they have performed thousands of hours of free legal work to help Citizens get Justice. States John, “I learned early on, that the Government and Large Corporations could run right over ordinary working people–– even when working people were in the right–– simply because the Government and Large Corporations possess enormous resources, and political clout. But Carola and I believe that the working people of Louisiana are just as entitled to Justice, as international conglomerates. I have a passion for taking on the odds, to help working people get Justice.”
Adds John, “Some people undervalue the importance of representing working people in the Judicial System. I have found quite the opposite— that the working people of Northwest Louisiana are honest, hardworking and God-fearing, and it is a privilege to represent them.”
John and Carola spent over 8½ years without pay, representing airman, James Monds, who was unjustly convicted in Bossier Parish in 1986, of a murder he did not commit. John was physically assaulted twice in the Courthouse; their lives were endangered by their investigation of the real killers, members of a violent drug ring; and they were vilified by corrupt Officials. The case was featured by Diane Sawyer and 60 Minutes, in a news story broadcast in the fall of 1987. Ultimately, John and Carola got James acquitted on Appeal in 1994, after serving 8 ¾ years in jail from a crime he did not commit. As John states, “We give credit to Christ, and the members of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, who had the courage to do the right thing, and allow this innocent young man to get on with his life.”
The Milkoviches also used their legal abilities to fight the illegal construction and operation of a Strip Club in downtown Shreveport, in the early 2000s. The Milkoviches fought the approval of the Club for several years in the Courts.
Observes John, “The City Government’s Approval for the Strip Club to operate in Shreveport, constituted an invitation to the Porn Mafia to inhabit our City. The Strip Club, formerly Déjà vu, is now Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club. It is an assault on the moral fabric of our City; an attack on family; a blight on downtown Shreveport; a disgrace to our City’s founders; an affront to Our City’s Pastoral Leadership. Several murders have been associated with the operation of the Strip Club and/or its employees’ activities. The Strip Club perpetuates a paradigm of the treatment of women, which is the diametric opposite of the way our Community should honor women.”
John further notes that “The people were against the operation of the Strip Club, but Politicians and Bureaucrats pulled strings behind the Scenes to get it approved.” Still, John holds out hope that the City Government will someday resolve to remove the Strip Club from Shreveport. States John, “The late Dr. David M. Graham, decorated Viet Nam Vet, esteemed Dental Surgeon and courageous Community Leader, envisioned that the Building be transformed into an Museum to honor the accomplishments of women of the Ark-La-Tex: In Honor of Women, To the Glory of God.”
John also handled the land mark case in which the Louisiana Supreme Court recognized that women that suffer sexual harassment, have a Cause of Action to seek redress, under Louisiana Tort Law. Bustamento v. Tucker, 607 So.2d 532 (La. 1992)
John has successfully handled cases in the State District Courts of multiple parishes in Northwest Louisiana; the State Appellate Courts; the Louisiana Supreme Court; United States District Court; and the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. He has been recognized by SB Magazine as one of the Top Lawyers of Shreveport-Bossier for over 15 years.
Church
John and Carola have been members of Shreveport Community Church, formerly First Assembly of God, for over 34 years. The Rev. Denny Duron and his wife, Pastor DeAnza Duron, are the Senior Pastors. John has served on the Board of Directors of the Church, for over 22 years. During his time at the Church, John has worked in Youth Ministry, Prison Ministry, Homeless Ministry, Hospital Ministry, Nursing Home Ministry, Hospice Ministry. At his own Church, John taught Sunday School to 5th Graders for over 5 years; and worked in Children’s Ministry Church for over 9 years. He served on the Board of Directors of the Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission; led Chapel Services at the Rescue Mission; preached at the Caddo Parish Juvenile Detention Center; and helped Conduct Church Services at the Rutherford House over a period of 5 years.
John has done volunteer work with children and Youths, for a period of over 20 years.
