PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

By ROCKY ROBINSON Andrews Kurth LLP

It Is Time For A Judicial Pay Raise

Our judges are the pillars of our system of justice. Without them, our system grinds to a halt and is relegated to chaos. We are all aware that there are critics of our courts and the system of justice under which our society thrives. Some of their criticisms are legitimate; others are the product of cynicism tied to the promotion of other agendas. Yet, show me a better way to resolve the disputes of a civilized society than the system under which we currently live. It is not perfect and there is room for improvement; and reasonable minds can differ as to the manner and methods on how that improvement can best be achieved. There is, however, one area for improvement of our system of justice upon which I would hope there is no serious or credible basis for disagreement. That area is judicial compensation. Plain and simple, our judges need a pay raise. Without one, we run the risk of losing qualified jurists at all levels of our judicial system and in every part of Texas.

Consider the following:
The average tenure of an appellate judge in the State of Texas is less than one full term of six years.
The salary and compensation package of a fresh-out-of-law school, first year associate at some of our larger law firms exceeds the salaries of our District Court judges, Court of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals and Supreme Court justices.
The recently published Survey of Judicial Salaries informs us that among the 50 states, Texas ranks 39th, 34th and 27th for judicial pay in the highest courts, intermediate appellate courts and trial courts, respectively. More significantly, according to the National Center for State Courts, among the ten largest states by population, Texas ranks tenth in judicial compensation. The gap between ninth, Ohio, and tenth, Texas, is not close. Moreover, the median judicial salary in the ten largest states is $153,750 for the highest courts, $144,100 for intermediate appellate courts, and $136,546 for trial courts. By comparison, our Supreme Court Justices make $113,000, our Court of Appeals Justices make $107,350, and our District Court Judges bring up the rear at $101,700.
In 2004 dollars, a Texas Supreme Court Justice makes less than he or she made in 1990.
There are other examples I can cite. The empirical and anecdotal data is overwhelming, but I think you get the point. Do you see something wrong with this picture? I do.
Make no mistake, our judges make decent livings when compared to the population as a whole. Further, when they decided to ascend the bench and take the oath of office, they entered public service. But they had a reasonable expectation that their compensation would not fall woefully behind that of their peers in other states, not to mention their fellow lawyers in the private sector. It is virtually a given that almost any of our jurists could leave the bench and easily double or triple his or her current salary in the private sector.
I have been privileged to practice law in Texas for over 25 years. I have seen one generation of judges replaced by another. We had an outstanding judiciary when I began my practice. As a whole, they each had several years of experience on the bench. It was that judicial experience, when coupled with other qualities such as temperament, integrity and intellect, which contributed significantly to their reputations.
Our current generation of judges similarly gets high marks for temperament, integrity and intellect. Judicial experience, which in my opinion is no less important than the other characteristics I just mentioned, of course, takes time to accrue. Without an experienced judiciary, we run a substantial risk of a loss of institutional continuity which is necessary to the efficient operation of our judicial branch. Low judicial salaries in our state contribute to higher turnover in the ranks of our judiciary. Our judicial salaries must be high enough to attract able attorneys to the bench and to retain them once they are there.
My father spent his career as a high school principal and superintendent. I can remember him frequently lamenting the loss of some of his best teachers to the private sector because of low teacher salaries. The situation in Texas with our judges is strikingly similar. We are losing good judges who simply cannot afford to serve. If we do not do something now, we will continue to lose outstanding judges and our system will be in trouble.
Our legislature is now in session. The Senate Committee on Jurisprudence has recommended a pay increase for our judges. If adopted by the Legislature and not vetoed (as happened in 2001) by the Governor, the salaries of our Texas judges would be brought closer to the median judicial salaries of the judges in the ten largest states. As citizens and practicing lawyers in Texas, we deserve a highly qualified and experienced judiciary. If we do not increase our judicial salaries now, we will continue to lose good judges. If the status quo is maintained, our judicial branch will suffer. If that happens, then we all lose.

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