Saying she “never thought about going anywhere else,” recently retired U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn confirmed Friday that she is joining the law firm founded three decades ago by her husband, Mike Lynn. She will join Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann as a partner effective Sept. 2.
Judge Lynn, who served on the federal bench in the Northern District of Texas for more than 25 years, including six years as chief judge, said that she “tried to administer justice every day” and that she “loved presiding over jury trials.”
“Twenty-five years seemed like an appropriate time to make the move,” Judge Lynn said in an interview Friday with The Texas Lawbook. “It is good to have turnover on the federal bench. And I am still energetic.”
Mike Lynn — the couple met in college at the University of Virginia and have been married for 52 years — said Judge Lynn is joining the firm as a partner but “she wants nothing to do with management.”
“I was not part of the negotiation with Barb in her joining the firm — others handled that,” Lynn said. “She could have gone anywhere and made a fortune more elsewhere. It is going to be exciting and fun. She has more energy than anyone I know.”
Mike Lynn said the judge’s office is two doors down from his.
“Only [Lynn Pinker lawyer] Andrés Correa’s office is between, and I am sure he will act as a mediator between us sometimes,” he joked.
A 1976 graduate of the SMU Dedman School of Law, Judge Lynn said her practice will focus on mediation, trial consultancy on complex business cases and internal corporate investigations. Judge Lynn’s hourly rate will be $2,500 — up from $300 an hour when she left Carrington Coleman in 1999 after being nominated to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton.
“A couple of law firms heard that I was leaving [the bench] and wanted to become involved [in recruiting] — and I was flattered, but I never wanted to go shopping,” she said. “This was the only firm on my list.”
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Judge Lynn said that she doesn’t plan to be involved as a lawyer in many jury trials — “I feel it would be awkward to appear before former colleagues, especially in the Northern District” — but she said she has not closed the door on doing trials elsewhere and would definitely consider doing a trial with her husband.
Widely viewed as one of the best federal trial judges in the U.S., Judge Lynn repeatedly ranked at the top of the Dallas Bar Association member rankings of judges. She is one of the only lawyers in the U.S. to be elected chair of two different sections of the American Bar Association — Litigation and Judicial.
According to one publication, Judge Lynn handled more than 14,000 civil and criminal cases during her 25 years on the bench, including more than 600 patent cases, and oversaw more than 170 jury trials. In 2016, she became the first woman to serve as chief judge of the Northern District of Texas.
“Judge Lynn’s reputation for integrity, wisdom, and mentorship is unmatched,” Lynn Pinker managing partner Chris Schwegmann said in a press statement. “Her commitment to empowering the next generation of lawyers is something we deeply admire, and we look forward to learning from her, being challenged by her insights, and growing together as a firm. Having Judge Lynn with us is an honor, and we are excited for the future.”