Over the past few years, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore of Houston says she has written a number of short stories about humorous situations in her life. Gilmore collected some of the essays in a new self-published book, “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Tales From a Judicial Diva.” The book came out the week of Dec. 6. Gilmore says her previous book, “A Boy Named Rocky: A Coloring Book for the Children of Incarcerated Parents,” is on a serious subject, so she decided to write a light-hearted book this time. Gilmore, who was appointed to the bench in 1994, says people often ask her if the humorous stories she tells about her life as a federal judge are true, and her answer is that she can’t possibly make it up. Among various situations, Gilmore says she writes about the many letters she has received from would-be suitors who contact her from prison. That includes an inmate who asked Gilmore to fill out a questionnaire so he could determine if she is worthy to date. One man even mailed her handmade cards for special occasions and sent them to her church, Gilmore says. Gilmore says she always tries to find the humorous side, even in situations where people are rude. For instance, Gilmore says, she writes about a man who approached her at an event and suggested she quit telling people she is a federal judge because it’s just too unbelievable. The “judicial diva” reference in the title came from a posting on the Above the Law blog, which called her a “Delicious Judicial Diva” in a 2007 post. Gilmore says she has to be able to laugh at things that happen in her life. “I’m a glass-half-full person,” she says. “I try to look at the light side of things.”
Time to Let Go
In September 2009, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Everingham IV of the Eastern District of Texas denied a motion for a change of venue in a patent infringement case. But that decision has failed to pass muster with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In a Dec. 3 decision in In Re: Acer America Corp., et al., a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit granted a petition for writ of mandamus to defendants in the underlying patent infringement case, MedioStream Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., et al. The Federal Circuit’s opinion in Acer America provides the following background on the underlying suit: MedioStream, which is headquartered in the Northern District of California, sued 12 hardware and software companies in the Eastern District of Texas, where none of the parties is headquartered. The defendants filed a motion to transfer the case to the Northern District of California. The Eastern District denied that motion based largely on the presence of defendant Dell Inc. in Round Rock, which is outside the Eastern District and located about 300 miles away from Marshall, where the suit was pending. In granting mandamus, the Federal Circuit determined that the convenience of the parties and witnesses, the location of sources of proof and other factors all significantly weigh in favor of transferring the case. “Meanwhile, no factor remotely favors keeping this case in the Eastern District of Texas,” Federal Circuit Judge Alvin A. Schall wrote for the panel. The panel ordered the Eastern District to vacate its order and to direct transfer of the case to the Northern District of California. An assistant for Everingham says the judge declines comment. Byron W. Cooper , MedioStream’s attorney and a partner in Goodwin Procter in Menlo Park, Calif., declines comment on the decision. Elaine Y. Chow , Acer America’s attorney and a partner in K&L Gates in San Francisco; Scott Partridge , Dell’s attorney and a partner in Baker Botts in Houston; and George F. Pappas , Microsoft’s attorney and a partner in Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., each did not return a call seeking comment.
