On Oct. 1, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson will step off the bench for the last time, leaving behind what has become one of the most efficient courts in decades and one that often speaks with one voice when resolving some of the state’s most important civil disputes.
Weeks before he left, Jefferson sat down in his chambers with Texas Lawyer senior reporter John Council to discuss why he’s leaving, what it was like watching significant tort-reform changes from a seat on the state’s highest civil court, whether Texas will ever change the way it selects judges, and what he considers a “stain” on the practice of law. The conversation has been edited for length and style.
