COURT: EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
AGE: 55
CONFIRMED: DECEMBER 2011
APPOINTED BY: OBAMA
Though the Eastern District of Texas used to be the busiest patent venue in the country, in recent years it’s lost ground to other courts. That’s why local lawyers are looking to Judge James Rodney Gilstrap to help the district regain its lead. The newest judge on our list, Gilstrap joined the federal bench in December 2011. Presiding in Marshall, Texas, he took over the docket of former judge T. John Ward, who had the biggest patent caseload in the Eastern District. While Ward was once known for having a “rocket docket” for getting patent cases to trial within a year, the pace slowed as his reputation grew, according to local lawyers. “The docket became so popular that it pushed back the time to trial,” says Carl Roth of Roth Law Firm in Marshall.
