Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently appointed Jackson Walker senior counsel Carmen Symes Dusek to the 51st Judicial District Court.
Dusek, who received her law degree from Texas Tech, will preside over the state court – which covers Coke, Irion, Schleicher, Sterling and Tom Green Counties – for a term that runs through 2020. She replaces Judge Barbara Walther, who has retired.
“I am honored to have been chosen by Governor Abbott from a pool of well-respected applicants who are all outstanding trial attorneys, and I am humbled to succeed Judge Barbara Walther, one of the most respected and experienced trial judges in Texas,” Dusek said in a statement.
In 2008, Judge Walther appointed Dusek as the chief legal coordinator of the biggest child custody case in U.S. history. Earlier this year, The Texas Lawbook profiled Dusek’s successful representation of more than 400 children seized from a West Texas polygamist group.