Add filling two more judicial vacancies to President Barack Obama ‘s to-do list. First up is 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jacques Wiener Jr. of New Orleans, who says he recently sent a letter to the White House stating that he will take senior status as of Sept. 30. “I just decided it was time. I’m not reducing my workload very much,” says Wiener, who was nominated to the 5th Circuit in 1990 by then-President George H.W. Bush. “I’ve been eligible since ’02 or ’04. I just decided to cut back a little. I’ll be 76 in October.” U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack of Corpus Christi, who has been on the Southern District of Texas bench since 1994, also will take senior status, but not until June 1, 2011. Jack, who was nominated to the federal trial bench by then-President Bill Clinton , turned 65 in May. She says she would like to reduce her docket. But when that will happen is uncertain, given that Obama has yet to seat a single federal judge in Texas and the vacancies are stacking up. Jack’s colleague, U.S. District Judge Hayden Head of Corpus Christi, took senior status in November 2009. “I don’t know what it’s going to mean if I don’t get a replacement,” Jack says. “I would rather know for sure that there are replacements for Hayden and I because there is no way I can desert the docket,” she says. “This is a public service job and I’m grateful to have had it. And I just can’t go off and leave it. It’s a truly wonderful job.”
Libel Per Se Suit Settled
Four Lubbock lawyers whose names were erroneously included on an online list of alleged misdemeanor offenders that a television station published in March have settled a suit filed against the station and other defendants in the 99th District Court. Lubbock solo Charles Dunn , attorney for the plaintiffs in Webb, et al. v. Gannaway Web Holdings L.L.C., et al. , says the settlement was finalized Sept. 17. Bob Craig , the defendants’ attorney and a partner in Lubbock’s Craig, Terrill, Hale & Grantham , confirms the settlement. “The terms and conditions of the settlement are confidential,” says Craig, who declines further comment. Dunn says the defendants, in settling, denied liability. Plaintiffs Ben Webb , an associate with the Rod Hobson Law Office in Lubbock, and Lubbock solos Rusty Gunter and Michael Montoya decline comment. Plaintiff James Gibbs , also a Lubbock solo, did not return a telephone call seeking comment. The plaintiffs alleged in their Aug. 11 original petition that the inclusion of their names on the list of persons charged with misdemeanor offenses constituted libel per se. As alleged in the petition, on March 16 KCBD-TV News Channel 11 published the erroneous list on its website. The station removed the list from the website the following day. The defendants in the suit are Gannaway, doing business as WorldNow; Raycom Media Inc., d/b/a KCBD-TV; and Dan Jackson, the station’s general manager. Four other lawyers filed a similar suitagainst the same defendants on July 26 in the 99th District Court. The plaintiffs in Martinez, et al. v. Gannaway Web Holdings L.L.C. — Frederick Stangl , a shareholder in Lubbock’s Chappell, Lanehart & Stangl , Lubbock solos Vince Martinez and Sara Moore , and Jody Myatt of Laney & Myatt in Plainview — and their attorney, David Lanehart , each did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Lubbock County District Clerk Barbara Sucsy says Martinez is pending.
