La. Stat. tit. 13 § 1147
The judges of the civil district court may adopt rules regulating the allotment, assignment and disposition of cases, and the proceedings in such trials, and may sit en banc for the purpose of testing the bonds and sureties of the clerk of the court, the recorder of mortgages, the register of conveyances, and the civil sheriff; for the trial and removal of the clerk and civil sheriff, or either of them, for the selection of jurors, and in other cases when the action of the court as a whole is required. When sitting en banc the judge who has been longest in continuous service in the court, and in his absence the judge longest in service of those present, shall preside; and when a certificate or authentication from the court is required such judge shall be authorized to sign the same as presiding judge. The court may, by its rules, grant the presiding judge further authority not in conflict with these provisions. In rendering judgments en banc, the court shall conform, as far as practicable to the rules and practice of the supreme court.
La. R.S. § 13:1147