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Growing up, I worked my summers in East
Texas doing farm labor: hauling hay, clearing stumps, hauling
watermelons, and chopping weeds.
I joined the United States
Army in 1973 after graduating from
high school.
I worked deep nights at the
General Electric Plant in Tyler, Texas, building industrial
air conditioners. I worked there for five years to pay for my
college education.
Between college and law
school, I worked as a
petroleum landman securing oil and gas leases in the
Appalachian Mountains. I was running my own crew of ten when I
left to attend law school.
Through
Texas Tech School of Law, I worked representing indigent
families for the Palo Duro Legal Aid
through the Presbyterian Church in Lubbock, Texas. The cases consisted mostly of family law
matters. I was granted a third year practice license which
allowed me to go to court while still in law school.
As an
Assistant District Attorney, I tried all types of
criminal cases. I worked to keep robbers, rapists, and murderers
off the street. I argued my first appellate case, a capital
murder, before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1985.
As an attorney for the
State Bar of Texas,
I worked to restore honor and integrity to my profession. Across
the entire state, I prosecuted attorneys for misconduct. I
started as a senior litigator and became Regional Counsel for
the Dallas region covering 44 counties. I went back to Austin
and served as First Assistant and Chief of Litigation overseeing
all attorney misconduct litigation.
I left the State Bar in 1992 and opened a private law office in
Collin County where I practiced law until I took the bench.
As a Justice on the Fifth
District Court of Appeals, I have written over 1200
opinions. It has been an honor to have served the citizens of
Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman and Rockwall for the past
twelve years.