Houston voters do not have an incumbent candidate to consider as they cast their ballots for the next judge in Harris County’s 80th District Court.
Democrat Jeralynn Manor defeated the incumbent, Larry Weiman, during primary season — part of a trend that emerged in Harris County judicial primaries as women of color defeated male Democratic incumbents.
Manor now faces Republican Sharon Hemphill in the general election.
Manor has spent her 18-year legal career practicing law in a multitude of areas, including personal injury, mass tort, civil rights, immigration and employment law. She spent her early career as a closing attorney for three major title companies and now runs her own law firm in Houston. Public service appears to run in her blood: Her mother was a nurse and her father was a career officer with the New Orleans Police Department, and even became the first African American counter-sniper for the SWAT department and the first African American diver on the dive team.
Hemphill, who also runs her own general practice law firm in Houston, has been running for office in the Harris County district courts since 2012. Most recently, in 2018, she lost the race for the 189th District Court to Democrat Scot Dollinger. Hemphill entered the legal profession more than 30 years ago as a single parent supporting her two young children.
Manor did not respond to multiple requests for an interview or to fill out a written questionnaire prepared by The Texas Lawbook, but Hemphill’s responses are below.
Sharon Hemphill
Q: What led you to practice law?
A: As a child, I was always intrigued by lawyer shows and movies because they were always so interesting. When I was faced with having to raise two young children as a single parent, I discussed it with my young children and my children agreed that I should go to law school to be a lawyer.
Q: What led you to enter this race?
A: I did not have a case in this court at the time, so there would be no conflict of interest. Further, I had no personal relationship with the sitting judge.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your career and how your previous experience would help you during your service on the bench.
A: I was a single mom who raised two young boys while I had to scrimp and save to go to law school. I sacrificed for my children and for my education, so I appreciate everything I have been able to accomplish.
I graduated from my paralegal school with the rank of No. 1. I was ranked about No. 6 of about 325 after my first year of law school and invited onto the Law Journal (later the name was changed to Law Review).
During my first semester on Law Review I was chosen to be executive editor of the Law Review. After graduating, I was selected to be a briefing attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas. I went on to get a master’s degree in Law, and I am board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
After my tenure on the Supreme Court, I returned to Houston to be the executive director for A.A. White Dispute Resolution Center, where I developed training for attorneys to become attorney mediators. Since I trained mediators in negotiation and reality testing, that experience provided a basis for developing a practice to prepare for trial and in addition to prepare for mediation in order to achieve the best possible outcome for my clients.
I find the practice of law challenging and rewarding. I work all night on cases often because each case is like a puzzle and it is important to me to try to do the best possible job for my clients.
What do you wish you’d been taught in law school that you were not?
A: I wish I had more experience in the practical, everyday experience of litigation and in law office management.
Q: What are one or two of the most significant cases you have handled as a trial lawyer?
A: I’ve had numerous; however, to me the case I appealed and tried to save the life of a dog ordered put to death was significant because I was able to prove that the alleged injury was not a bite but where the dog, which was a large puppy, simply jumped up in excitement catching his dewclaw which caused the injury. Therefore, I was successful in having the label marking him as an animal with vicious propensities removed, his life was spared, and he was returned to the loving home and children who loved him.
Another case was where seven very capable and experienced trial lawyers representing property owners all lost in the trial court in a case against a property owners association. I was retained, and when I took over as the lead counsel I drafted essentially all appellate documents, and after I won a remand back to the trial court. I had to appeal that case a second time, and I ultimately prevailed winning the case for all the property owners.
Q: How often do you practice before the civil courts in Harris County?
A: In regard to trying cases in Harris County, until about a year or two prior to Covid-19, I was in court for evidentiary hearings almost on a daily basis in Harris and other counties. Often I had to appear in two or three evidentiary hearings in the same day. Although I practice in most all the counties around Harris County, and throughout the state as well as some other states, Harris remains my preferred county on the basis that it has been my experience that most courts have sought information regarding duration from the lawyers, and, if possible, the courts have adopted the agreed time limits.
Q: How many cases have you tried before a jury in your career?
A: Over the 30 years that I have litigated cases, I regularly set essentially all my civil cases for jury trials; however, only a few have actually gone to trial before a jury because mediation is generally always required and the decision to agree to accept offers of settlement posed in mediation belongs primarily to the client.
Q: What kind of change would you like to see in the courthouse, and what would you do to promote change if elected?
A: I would like to see the promotion of attorneys to associate on a nonlitigation basis and more access to judges. If elected, I would try to have an area of my court, away from the public, where lawyers could congregate over coffee if they so choose. It should be a comfortable court, and I would try to have a box for anonymous suggestions for improvement. My staff would be reminded that they work for the lawyers and the public and to be more accessible. Responses to lawyers should be important and urgent calls should have very high priority.
Q: What sets you apart from your opponent?
A: I do not know my opponent personally. From the little I know, I feel she is very accomplished. I feel we may even have a lot in common. However, we are in different parties and the platforms of our parties primarily distinguish us. I believe that black lives and all lives matter. I support law enforcement; however, I also volunteer my time for those low-income litigants in civil cases, as well as those who cannot afford representation who are charged with crimes.
Q: One of the biggest challenges civil courts are facing right now is the backlog of jury trials due to COVID-19. What would you do to combat that challenge?
A: My experience is that most civil cases have been mostly ongoing and litigated via Zoom or other platforms on a continual basis. Actually, I find that Zoom hearings and trials are far more efficient and more safe for all involved, because litigants can remain in the safety of their own environment. They can see and hear probably as well or better than in court. I prefer to continue those if litigants prefer them. I would also continue hearings via Zoom and/or telephonic. However, I also feel it is important to be sensitive to those who are not technologically adept or comfortable with the virtual platforms to be in court when safe.
Q: There is a significant problem with (a) jury attendance and (b) jury pool diversity. Less than one in five people summonsed to jury service shows up. Those who do show up do not seem to be a representative cross-section of the community. How is this impacting the administration of justice in Texas and what can be done about it?
A: My experience with jury pools has actually been quite positive. The jury pools to which I have been exposed have been very proportional in regard to numbers representative of races, as well as income and class, low income and moderate income, minorities and non-minorities.
In regard to jury attendance, rather than any type of punishment, I feel it would be more productive to give those to appear potential benefits. Possibly have an array of options from which people could select, including but not limited to: possibly pairing with local businesses to offer potential discounts. Seek from the jury pools themselves as to what could help them feel that they would like as option.
Q: No matter what you say here, some voters will vote against you simply because they’re straight ticket voters and you’re on the wrong side of their ballot. There is another group of voters who are inclined to do the same, but could be convinced otherwise. What would you say to them? Why should they vote for you even if your political party doesn’t match their values?
A: Straight ticket voting has been extinguished. While I am running for a civil bench, and I support victim rights, I also represent quite a few deserving criminal clients because they need representation also. In fact, I am fighting for the ability for attorneys to have direct access to their clients in TDCJ and all incarceration, subject to reasonable medical restrictions such as for COVID-19. I continue to represent persons less fortunate especially in very low-income areas because we are all brothers and sisters.
Q: Is there anything else you would like voters to know?
A: If elected, one of the things I would like my court to impart to litigants would be to communicate my respect and admiration for the law, its history and the practice of law. I would hope that litigants in my court would be inspired in regard to the practice of law.
Editor’s Note: Candidate responses may be edited to comply with Texas Lawbook style guidelines.
Publisher’s Note: This coverage of the 2020 judicial elections by The Texas Lawbook is being made available outside our paywall courtesy of Thompson Coburn and Carter Arnett.