In a socially-distanced ceremony, civil litigator John G. Browning of Rockwall was sworn in Monday as a justice on Dallas’ Fifth Court of Appeals.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced his appointment of Browning to the bench last week as a result of the unexpected death last month of Browning’s predecessor, Justice David Bridges, who died in a car crash. Before his death, Bridges had been the longest-serving justice on the Dallas Court of Appeals.
Browning’s term is set to to expire at the end of the year, so he will face off against Dallas County District Judge Craig Smith in the November election to try to keep his new role.
While the short timeframe of the race is “hardly ideal,” Browning told The Texas Lawbook that he is already known to voters in the six counties of the Fifth District through previous campaigns in 2017 and 2018. Browning secured the Republican nomination for place 11 of the Fifth Court of Appeals in the 2018 midterm elections, but lost to Democrat Cory Carlyle.
“In addition, I enjoy name recognition from my activities in the legal community and from being active as a speaker for the Republican grassroots organizations since 2018,” Browning said. “Because my experience on the campaign trail was so recent, it was not that difficult to ramp up again into ‘campaign mode.’ Within days of being selected to be on the November ballot, I already had so much of my campaign infrastructure in place and had already attended Republican gatherings in five of the six [Fifth District] counties.
“It is always better to run as the incumbent, and I’m very grateful to Gov. Abbott for appointing me,” Browning added.
Until yesterday, Browning had been a partner in the Plano office of Spencer Fane, where he had worked since last September. For the past nine years Browning has also served as an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, where he teaches social media law.
Throughout Browning’s 31-year legal career, he has gained experience in trials, appeals, arbitrations and summary judgments for litigation involving wrongful death, product liability, commercial, intellectual property, employment, defamation and other disputes.
“I’m also grateful and humbled at the opportunity to put my 31 years of appellate experience to work as I hit the ground running and do my best to contribute to the important work that the Fifth Court does as the biggest and busiest appellate court in Texas,” he said.
Browning said his first duties as the Fifth Court of Appeals’ newest justice include completing paperwork, getting his security pass issued and preparing for his first slate of oral arguments next week.