When Judge T. John Ward–the man most closely associated with turning the Eastern District of Texas into a patent litigation hotbed–retires in October, his likely successor shouldn’t have much trouble finding his new workplace.
After all, James Rodney Gilstrap, the 54-year-old Marshall, Texas, lawyer nominated last month by President Obama to succeed Ward, works right across the street from the federal courthouse where Ward presides, at the offices of Smith & Gilstrap, the law firm he co-founded in 1984.
