Applications for the new business court system are slowing down even as planning gears up ahead of the courts’ opening sessions Sept. 1.
According to records from the governor’s office and independent research, at least seven new applications for the 10 trial judge positions were submitted in recent weeks compared to nine received earlier. Interest in three positions on the new Fifteenth Court of Appeals also tapered off, with six new applicants joining 15 who previously applied.
While many of the latest aspirants have judicial experience and others show litigation and state agency work, the pool appears lacking the transactional lawyers that proponents of the business court had hoped to attract.
Byron Egan, a corporate and securities lawyer at Jackson Walker who spent nearly a decade working on the legislation creating the courts, said deal-making lawyers have the expertise to hear complex shareholder suits, securities claims, governance and financial disputes.
“If you’ve been doing transactions for a period of time, you’ve invariably come across controversies. You’ve been involved in litigation. You may not be a litigator but you’re going to understand what the litigation process is, you’re going to understand what the consequences of decisions are, the importance of making quick, informed, convincing judgment of these cases,” said Egan.
Initial appointments to the two-year terms are critical as those district court judges, who will preside in five urban regions, will be writing the opinions that develop precedents for deciding cases. Egan said he is confidant that Gov. Greg Abbott, a former justice on the Texas Supreme Court, has a plan to fill the benches, the first in Texas to be selected by the governor with Senate consent rather than by voters.
“The governor’s going to be getting a variety of approaches and the key is to me to find people who can write, who can explain what they’re doing so we can understand what they’re doing, and are dedicated,” he said.
Abbott’s press office did not respond to an inquiry about when he might begin filling the new judicial positions.
Abbott also will be naming a chief justice and two justices for the new court of appeals, which will have statewide jurisdiction over appeals from the business courts and appeals involving state entities. After the initial appointments, those jurists will have to stand for election.
The applications were provided in response to an open records request from The Texas Lawbook. New entrants for the business courts include:
Joseph M. Cox, a litigation partner in the Dallas office of Duane Morris. Cox presided over more than 100 trials as a judge in the 160th District Court from 2002-2006. He previously worked at Bracewell and Patton Boggs and teaches professional responsibility at the Southern Methodist University law school.
Grant Dorfman, who was appointed by then-Gov. Rick Perry to two different district court benches in Harris County. Between appointments he was the in-house attorney in charge of litigation for Nabors Industries. He was deputy first assistant attorney general for Ken Paxton from December 2020 to March 2024.
Daniel D. Pipitone, a Munsch Hardt shareholder in Houston who practices maritime and labor law. He previously worked at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.
Michael R. Parker, founding and managing partner at Parker PLLC in Fort Worth. Prior to starting his law career, Parker worked as a private investigator and insurance investigator. Gov. Abbott recently re-appointed Parker to the board of the state’s OneStar Foundation, which supports volunteerism and community service efforts.
Byron C. Keeling of Wimberley’s Keeling & Fredrickson, who also applied for the new statewide court of appeals. He handles commercial litigation and appeals and has written articles on oil and gas royalties. He previously worked at Clements, O’Neill before its merger with Howrey Simon Arnold & White.
Angus E. McSwain of Waco’s Beard Kultgen. He has tried a variety of cases and been involved in over 80 appeals in state and federal court.
Stephen C. Rogers, judge of the 268th District Court in Fort Bend County since 2023. Rogers also applied for the new court of appeals. He previously represented clients in civil and criminal matters and worked as general counsel to title and real estate companies and oil services firms.
Previously reported applicants for the business court include Sylvia A. Matthews, who served 10 years as a district court judge in Harris County and now presides over the multidistrict litigation in Harris County stemming from Winter Storm Uri, and David M. Gunn, a longtime appellate practitioner at Beck Redden.
Gunn also applied for the 15th COA, along with Scott Brister, a former Texas Supreme Court justice who co-leads the appellate practice group at Hunton Andrews Kurth, and Jennifer Caughey, a Jackson Walker partner who served for the First Court of Appeals, among many others previously reported. (See Here)
Others seeking a position on the intermediate appellate court, according to the newly released records, are:
Roy B. Ferguson, who presides over the sprawling 394th District Court in West Texas. Ferguson has written five opinions as a visiting justice on the Eighth Court of Appeals.
Seth B. Hopkins, a special assistant attorney for Harris County. He has been involved in appeals over elections, Covid-19 orders, and wrongful convictions. He previously worked as a commercial litigation associate at Raley & Bowick.
Jessica M. Jaramillo-Moreno, who practices criminal, family and probate law and works as a public-interest attorney at the South Texas College of Law.
Christopher L. Taylor, judge of the 48th District Court in Tarrant County. Prior to his appointment by Abbott in 2023, he worked as an assistant in the civil division of the Tarrant County Criminal D.A.’s Office and as an attorney at Barlow Garsek & Simon and Kelly Hart & Hallman.
Egan said he thinks the $140,000 base salary for the business court positions – similar to those of other district court judges – is factoring into the relatively low number of applications. One applicant, Pipitone, said in his application paperwork that he was motivated by public service and expected a substantial financial loss if selected for the business court.
“I think that’s a major league problem,” Egan said, adding that the Legislature should increase judicial pay. “Obviously, if we can make it less of a financial burden on people the better it would be so qualified people can afford to apply.”
Time is running out to staff the courts, Egan said, and he urges quick appointments so the future judges can wind down their judicial dockets or legal practices and adopt new local procedural rules if needed. The Texas Supreme Court is working to finalize the general rules for the new system.
“We’re trying to get really talented people to be our judges because we want outsiders to have confidence that we have a good system of courts starting up and why,” he said. “We want people to choose to be Texas entities and that means you need to have confidence in our judiciary.”