PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

By GLENN A. BALLARD, JR. Bracewell & Giuliani LLP

Protecting The Third Branch of Government

The third branch of government, our judiciary, is to provide checks and balances in connection with our legislative and executive branches. But who protects and promotes the judiciary? I suggest that the Houston Bar Association has a continuing responsibility in this regard.
Our constitution mandates that the association work to promote the administration of justice, provide access to legal services for all, and improve the law. As the fifth largest metropolitan bar association in the nation, we have a powerful and persuasive voice. We need to continue to use that voice to protect and promote our judiciary.
In 2005, the Houston Bar Association passed a resolution supporting a pay raise for the Texas Supreme Court justices, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals justices, the Appellate Court justices and the State District Court judges. Salaries went up from $107,000 to $135,000 for justices in the state’s 14 intermediate appellate courts, and went to $150,000 from $113,000 for our justices in the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals. But through a quirk in the system, the salaries of our district court judges here in Houston actually went down. Many judges and justices in Texas still make less than first year associates in some of our law firms. That’s not right.
We have filed briefs in support of reasoning that would maximize the latest judicial pay raises. We have also worked with local legislators to insure that our judges get their fair share. Very simply, this must be a continuing effort so that we can hold on to our good judges. We have seen some of our experienced judges leaving the bench to return to higher paying law practices. The average age of a Harris County Civil District Court judge dropped from 58.5 in 1978 to 44 in 2002. While we have persuaded some of our best and brightest to ascend to the bench, we have to work with them and for them to help them stay there.
Salaries are not the only problem. More of our judges are under attack around the country. My colleagues at the recent American Bar Association Annual Meeting told me horror stories of groups using the press to vilify judges for their rulings and to push for replacements that would better suit their particular ideology. One of the great attributes of our judiciary is the ability to judge independently. This ability must be preserved and protected at all costs.
We must also keep the legislature from going overboard with tort reform. Whether you are a plaintiff’s lawyer or a defense attorney, we are all affected by tort reform, and so is our judiciary. I am told by some of the lawyers from the plaintiff’s bar that Texas is now being used as a model for tort reformers, but that reform is hurting everyone down at the courthouse. We have all heard about the one lawyer town, but that town would be even poorer without strong and experienced judges to make decisions.
More recently, I have heard that some in the legislature are moving on from tort reform to court reform. The way we select juries is now in their sights. We just had a president, Randy Sorrels, who put together a program to promote the jury system, and he was rightfully given a statewide award for that program. The Supreme Court of Texas has just signed an Order on July 11, 2006 creating a task force on jury assembly and administration. Two of our judges, including the Honorable Mark Davidson and the Honorable Levi Benton, are on that task force. Let’s give them our ideas and our support.
Finally, the Statewide Judicial Conference was held in Houston in September. We hosted judges and justices from around the State, and we held a reception for them in our new Harris County Civil Courthouse. That gave us a chance to show off not only our beautiful new courthouse and our technology, but also our continuing support. The judiciary needs and deserves this support.

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