T. John Ward, Sr., the federal district court judge credited with turning Marshall, Texas (population: 23,000) into an unlikely hotspot for patent litigation, stepped down from the bench on Friday. But Ward isn’t leaving the law. On Monday, he returned to private practice at Ward & Smith, the Longview, Texas-based law firm co-founded by his son, T. John (“Johnny”) Ward, Jr.
“I enjoyed [being a judge] a great deal and would have taken senior status and stayed as long as my health is good,” says the elder Ward, who is 68. “But my son made me a great offer.”
