Jean-Paul "JP" Morrell was born on September 2, 1978 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He was the third, of what was to be four, sons of Arthur and Cynthia Morrell.  JP grew up at 4925 Moore Drive, near Mirabeau Gardens by Gregory Junior High School.

JP began his education at Saint Francis Cabrini School which he attended from Kindergarten through the 3rd Grade. He finished his Elementary Education at McDonogh #15 Creative Arts Magnet School at which his mother, Cynthia Morrell, was the principal.  In the 6th Grade, JP secured an Academic Scholarship to Metairie Park Country Day School, which he attended through Junior High and High School.

After High School, JP attended Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.  While at Spring Hill, he helped start a colony of a national Fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and used it as a vehicle in which he helped create the most ethnically diverse organization on campus.  Additionally, he became the Attorney General of the Student Government Association, in which he revived a previously dormant Student Judicial Board, which allowed for student accountability in disciplinary proceedings for the first time in nearly a decade.  These activities lead him to be recognized as a “Who’s Who in Student Government” in 2001.  He graduated from Spring Hill in May 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and was accepted to Tulane University Law School.  Through out college, JP spent his summers working at the Art Without A Roof Program, part of the New Orleans Public School Homeless Education Program, where he taught Creative Writing to homeless children.

The summer preceding law school, JP served as a Staff Intern with Louisiana Senator John Breaux in Washington, D.C.  During his period on the Senate staff, JP worked on the controversial Patient Bill of Rights Legislation and served as an assistant on the Special Council on Aging.  While in D.C., JP was able to experience the first hand the trials and tribulations of legislative process and the differences between the two on a State and Federal level.

JP attended Tulane University Law School from August 2001 through May 2004.  While in law school, JP was a member of the Black Law Student Association and served on the Student Bar Association.  In 2003, JP was elected as first African-American President of the Tulane Graduate and Professional Studies Association (GaPSA) which the governing student organization over all Tulane Graduate Programs.  JP graduated from Tulane Law School with a Juris Doctorate and Certification in Civil Law (the Code/Law System utilized in Louisiana).

Since law school, JP has worked in the law firm Morrell & Morrell, LLC, which he co-founded with his father, Arthur Morrell.  In this capacity he has primarily practiced in the fields of Criminal Defense, Plaintiff Personal Injury and Domestic Relations.  Additional, JP works part-time as a member of the Orleans Parish Office of Indigent Public Defender Program (OIDP) where he serves as the Public Defender for Magistrate Court under Judge Gerard Hanson, providing free legal assistance to those unable to afford a private attorney.