Obama Nominates Three to Federal Judgeships in Texas

© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.

By Mark Curriden – (June 27) – President Obama has nominated three lawyers to fill federal judgeships that have been vacant for up to six years, including one nominee who would be the first openly gay U.S. District judge in Texas.

The Obama administration announced Thursday that he has sent the names of U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman of San Antonio, Texarkana lawyer Robert Schroeder III, and Sherman Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant III to the U.S. Senate for confirmation to U.S. District Court judgeships in the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas.

The three nominations would still leave six open federal trial judgeships in Texas. Legal experts say the appointments will help relieve crushing caseloads that have burdened two of the nation’s busiest federal court districts.

Pitman, a University of Texas School of Law graduate, is openly gay and would fill a San Antonio-based judgeship that opened in 2008 when then U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson took senior status. Pitman is currently the top federal prosecutor in the Western District of Texas, where he previously served as a federal magistrate for eight years.

Furgeson, who is now dean of the University of North Texas College of Law, told The Dallas Morning News that Pitman is “an outstanding choice.

“At every juncture, he has performed brilliantly,” said Furgeson. “He works hard. He is very balanced and has excellent temperament. And he is a very decent, honorable and humble person.”

Former U.S. District Judge T. John Ward of the Eastern District said the nominations of Mazzant and Schroeder will help ease the heavy caseload in the Eastern District, which is known nationally for its patent litigation docket.

“I could not be more pleased with these nominations,” says Ward, who is now a partner at Ward & Smith in Longview. “The district is very fortunate to have them as judges.”

Mazzant, a 1990 graduate of Baylor Law School, has served as a federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Texas since 2009. He was a justice on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas from 2004 to 2009. He received his J.D. from Baylor University School of Law in 1990

Schroeder is a partner at Patton, Tidwell, Schroeder & Culbertson, where he handles complex civil litigation. He worked in the Office of the White House Counsel as Associate Counsel to the President in 1997 and as Assistant Counsel to the President from 1995 to 1996.

“These are excellent choices,” says Clyde Siebman, a partner at Siebman, Burg, Phillips & Smith in Sherman. “They are smart lawyers with extraordinary temperaments and will make great federal judges.”

Nina Cortell, a partner at Haynes and Boone in Dallas, said that Mazzant is “very bright and very hard working.

“He was highly regarded when he served on the Dallas Court of Appeals and he displayed a wonderful demeanor as a judge,” says Cortell.

© 2014 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.

If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.