A week of significant turbulence in the Texas appellate courts was extended Thursday when state Supreme Court Justice Phil Johnson announced he is retiring at the end of the year.
Johnson, who turned 74 last month, has served on the state’s highest court for 13 years. He was on the Amarillo Court of Appeals for the seven years before joining the Texas Supreme Court.
“Justice Johnson has been a clear conservative and strong conservative voice on a conservative Texas Supreme Court,” said Chad Baruch, an appellate law partner at Johnston Tobey Baruch. “He’s also served as the liaison to the State Bar board, where he was a calming voice and influence, even during some turbulent times.”
Johnson’s resignation comes two days after Democratic candidates for the state’s appellate courts in Austin, Dallas and Houston won stunning election victories.
In a statement released by the Texas Supreme Court, Johnson said he felt like he could “make a difference” on the bench.
“The law is the superstructure of society, the framework for doing what we can do,” he said. “I’ll miss that I was contributing. That’s what I’ll miss about it.”
Johnson’s retirement becomes official Dec. 31. The governor will appoint a replacement to fill his seat on the bench until the 2020 election.
Johnson was viewed as the “voice of West Texas,” said Christopher Kratovil, an appellate law partner at Dykema in Dallas.
“He has been an important justice on oil and gas and land owners rights space,” Kratovil said.
Chief Justice Nathan Hecht said Thursday that Johnson “has made a vast and indelible contribution to Texas law.”
“Justice Johnson is greatly beloved and admired by the Court and its staff, and we will miss his wise and steady leadership greatly,” Hecht said.
Johnson grew up in Lubbock and earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Texas Tech. He joined the Air Force immediately after college. He was a decorated Air Force fighter pilot in Vietnam and earned the Silver Star for his service. In 1972, he enrolled at Texas Tech School of Law.
After graduating with a law degree in 1975, Johnson joined Crenshaw Dupree & Milam in Lubbock. He was a partner there when he was elected to the Amarillo Court of Appeals in 1998. He is board-certified in personal-injury and civil-trial law.
“Justice Johnson has been such a valuable member of the court in large part because of his experience as a double-certified personal injury and civil trial specialist,” said Jeff Nobles, an appellate law expert at Smith Nobles in Houston.
“He understands the justice system at a deep level from his time in the trenches,” Nobles said. “His questions from the bench and his judicial writing were informed by his understanding of the rules of procedure and evidence, but also by the human element of litigation — the fact that the parties in lawsuits aren’t abstractions, but are human beings who have placed their trust in the courts.
“These days, when jury trials are not so common, he’s almost one-of-a-kind,” he said.
Dallas appellate lawyer Chad Ruback said Johnson is “the paradigm of a high court judge.”
“He works hard. He treats everyone with respect. He earnestly tries to follow the law without regard to his own personal beliefs about what the law should be or the outcome of a case should be,” Ruback said. “While he is an effective politician – in that he has continued to get re-elected – he is masterful at leaving politics at the door when he enters the courthouse.
“I’ve never heard a negative word about Justice Johnson,” he said.
Kratovil said that Johnson’s retirement comes at an interesting and opportunistic time for Gov. Greg Abbott to appoint a replacement – two days after more than a dozen Republican appellate court judges were voted out of office.
“Gov. Abbott has an embarrassment of riches from which to choose Justice Johnson’s replacement from a group of recently unemployed Texas appellate court judges,” Kratovil said. “There are some great candidates out there.”