© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(Sept. 7) – The Trump Administration announced Thursday morning that it has nominated five lawyers to fill opened seats on the U.S. District Courts in Texas, including two attorneys previously nominated by President Obama. The president sent the nominations to the U.S. Senate to fill two judgeships in the Northern District of Texas and one nominee for each of the Eastern, Southern and Western Districts.
Here are the nominees:
Carter Scholer principal Karen Gren Scholer has been chosen for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Scholer, a former Dallas County District judge and former litigation partner at Jones Day, also serves as co-managing partner in the Dallas law firm. Her practice focuses on complex business, tort, and other civil litigation in state and federal courts.
Scholer was elected to the Dallas state court bench in 2000 and re-elected in 2004, where she presided over thousands of cases, including more than 100 cases tried to jury verdict. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Rice University and her J.D. from Cornell University Law School.
Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, who is Deputy General Counsel to First Liberty Institute and a former federal prosecutor, is nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Kacsmaryk’s current legal practice focuses on religious liberty litigation in federal courts and amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court. From 2008 through 2013, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Texas, where he was lead counsel in over 75 criminal appeals and co-counsel in high-profile criminal and terrorism trials. Kacsmaryk received the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in 2013 in “Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security” for his work in United States v. Aldawsari.
Jeff Mateer, who is the First Assistant Attorney General of Texas, has been nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Mateer currently supervises the state’s active litigation matters. He was general counsel and executive vice president of the First Liberty Institute, where his practice focused primarily on defending religious liberty.
Mateer graduated from Dickinson College and earned his law degree with honors from Southern Methodist University School of Law.
Rodriguez previously led similar efforts against the sexual abuse of children in Bolivia. Before joining International Justice Mission, he was a partner in the Dallas office of Baker Botts LLP, where his practice focused on commercial litigation. From 1997 to 1998, he served as a briefing attorney for then-Justice Nathan L. Hecht on the Supreme Court of Texas. Rodriguez earned his B.A. from Yale University and his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law.
United States Magistrate Judge Walter David Counts, III has been nominated to the district judgeship in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Judge Counts also serves as a Judge Advocate in the Texas National Guard, where he holds the rank of Colonel and saw active duty in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Before his elevation to the bench eight years ago, Judge Counts served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, rising to serve as Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Unit. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Judge Counts served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and as an associate in private practice. Judge Counts earned his B.A. from Texas Tech University and his J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law.
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