Mark Melton

Sober as a Judge: One Year Without a Drink, and What Came Back

For most of my career, drinking wasn't a problem I had. It was a skill I was known for. I did my law school homework in the back booth of a pub. I've recruited lawyers over long dinners, courted reporters over scotch and raised the seed money for a nonprofit around my backyard fire pit while a bottle of whiskey made the rounds. A friend once described me, fondly: “Mark may be the drunkest guy in the room by blood alcohol content, but he'll appear as sober as a judge.” In our profession, that's practically a letter of recommendation. Nobody worries about the lawyer who never slurs, never misses a deadline and outworks the room.

That is the trap, and it is our profession's trap, specifically.

August 12, 2026 Mark Melton

And Justice for All … of Those Who Can Afford It

A new bill was recently filed in the Texas House to ease the burden of landlords that want to evict a tenant. It provides for sweeping reforms to the Texas Property Code, all of which are aimed at removing due process protections and denying tenants access to justice, such as getting help from legal aid lawyers. Afterall, it’s much easier to evict tenants that can’t defend themselves. And if you can’t win in a fair fight, then simply make sure the fight is rigged.

I’m not arguing that eviction is inherently wrong. Private property owners should be paid for the use of their property. But I am saying that evictions should be executed lawfully. It’s only the unlawful evictions I have a problem with. It just turns out, that describes most of them. And by the way, we only win the cases where the landlord proceeded unlawfully.

We shouldn’t fix this problem by making lawful what is currently unlawful. And we certainly shouldn’t fix it by removing due process and accountability from the system so that landlords can return to an environment where noncompliance with the law is simply overlooked and the poor can be denied their rights as a matter of course.

March 3, 2025 Mark Melton