U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle of the Northern District of Texas announced Thursday that she is taking senior status effective Oct. 1.
Judge Boyle, a former state and federal prosecutor who has served on the federal bench for more than 21 years, is the second federal judge in Dallas to take senior status this month. U.S. District Judge David Godbey made the same announcement last week. And multiple sources have told The Texas Lawbook that two more federal judges in the Northern District of Texas may take senior status in the next few months.
In an interview Thursday with The Lawbook, Judge Boyle said being a federal judge has “been the best job there is in law” and that she plans to have “the minimum” caseload possible as a senior status judge.
“I love this job — I can’t believe I ever got this job — but I am 70 and I can’t believe I waited this long to make this decision,” said Judge Boyle, who has been recovering from what she described as extremely painful shoulder surgery.
Asked what she plans to do with her upcoming free time, Judge Boyle said, “Just rest.”
A 1981 graduate of the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, Judge Boyle served as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District from 2002 to 2004 and was then nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate 99-0.
Her fellow Northern District of Texas jurist, U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer, called Judge Boyle “a trailblazer and a source of inspiration for all women across our country.”
“I have admired Judge Boyle for decades and I am incredibly honored to be her colleague on the federal bench,” she said.
Retired U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn, who served in the Northern District of Texas for more than 25 years, said she wishes Judge Boyle “the absolute best.”
“She’s one of the finest judges and one of the greatest people I’ve ever known,” she said. “She’s been a huge asset to the people of the Northern District of Texas.”
And retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Barbara J. Houser of Dallas echoed that.
“I’ve known Judge Boyle for years,” she said. “She’s a wonderful judge. Her decision to take senior status is a loss for the Northern District, but I understand that she intends to remain active as a senior judge, and that’s a big plus for the district.”
Jeff Tillotson of Tillotson Johnson & Patton called Judge Boyle “one of the very best jurists I have ever practiced before.”
“She’s one of the most respected jurists, not just in North Texas, but in the country,” he said. “I will miss her very much.”
In her more than two decades on the bench, Judge Boyle said she enjoyed presiding over criminal cases and trade secret disputes but was quick to name one area of the law that was her least favorite: cases involving the Fair Labor Standards Act. One of her more memorable recent cases, she said, was the murder trial of Holly Ann Elkins and her fiancé, Andrew Beard. They were convicted of orchestrating the 2020 murder of Beard’s ex-girlfriend, Alyssa Ann Burkett, the 24-year-old mother of Beard’s daughter.
Beard and Elkins wanted Burkett to give them custody of the child, but Burkett refused, which led to stalking, harassment and, eventually, to Burkett’s murder.
“Beard was an engineer who dressed in black and shot his ex-girlfriend in the face with a shotgun,” Judge Boyle said. “When that didn’t kill her, he stabbed her 43 times.”
Judge Boyle said she has been “a conservative judge who had no agenda.”
Lawyers who tried cases before Judge Boyle said she has been a judge who calls balls and strikes.
“I’ve always tried to do the right thing [in deciding cases],” she said. “The rule of law is so incredibly important. It is why we survive.”