Creating new federal court benches is never easy, especially since Congress hasn’t passed an omnibus courts bill doing so in two decades. But judges and politicians alike are hopeful that the Emergency Judicial Relief Act of 2011, introduced May 17, will give Texas three new federal benches: two new benches in the Western District and one in the Southern District. The bill, which is pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee, is co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas, among others. “Texas courts are experiencing huge surges in their caseloads. And a lot of that has to do with their proximity to the border. This was a negotiated proposal. It’s bipartisan, primarily focusing on the border states,” says Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It will be a difficult bill to pass, given Congress’ budget constraints, but it is necessary, he says. Fred Biery , chief judge of the Western District, says he needs the help. Earlier this year, Biery said his district was close to reaching a “judicial emergency,” because the caseloads in his district were nearly double the average weighted caseload for the nation. “It certainly would be wonderful if it happens,” Biery says of the bill’s potential approval. But Biery notes that two trial court vacancies in his district remain unfilled: “Even if we got the two vacancies filled and the two new ones, we’d still be above the national” weighted caseload average, he says. The new benches will probably be located in the Del Rio, El Paso or Midland/Pecos Divisions, which all have high criminal caseloads, Biery adds. Ricardo Hinojosa , chief judge of the Southern District of Texas, also says his district could use another bench, but he declines to speculate as to where that new bench would be located. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Marina Garcia Marmolejo , a partner in Austin’s Reid Collins Tsai , to fill a vacancy in the Southern District.
Time for a Change
Dallas lawyer Paula Fisette Sweeney plans to bring her plaintiffs personal-injury practice to Slack & Davis as of June 1. Sweeney, a partner in Howie & Sweeney , will join Slack & Davis as an of counsel lawyer and work in the Dallas office. Sweeney and Slack & Davis partner Michael Slack each say the timing was right for Sweeney’s move. “They wanted to grow their Dallas office, and I’m happy to be part of a team again,” Sweeney says. She notes that she has known lawyers at Slack & Davis for as long as 30 years and the firm took over Howie & Sweeney’s aviation practice after John Howie passed away in 2002. Slack says Sweeney is a good fit for his Austin-based firm because of her pharmaceutical and med-mal practice and because the firm wants to expand in Dallas. “We’re just buzzing with excitement with it,” Slack says about Sweeney’s pending move to his firm. With Sweeney, Slack & Davis will have eight lawyers, Slack says. Sweeney says Howie & Sweeney will close its doors; the only other lawyer at Howie & Sweeney is Frank Sweeney , her husband, who she says practices in Montana.
