Biography
Biography ContentTranscript
Attorney, Appellate Attorney, General Civil Litigation. Law Clerk for Judge Steger. Judge McKee, Judge Fisher. Judge Parker- Ahearan v. Fireboard (my maxell tape?), John Doe HIV Case, 70 year old female drug trafficking case. Trial: Rex Cobble, Cowboy mafia of Dallas, Rico case, Daubert v. Merril Dow Interviewee is Glenn Thames, and the interviewer is Karen Colleen Conn.
Interview with Glenn Thames at Potter-Minton Law Finn on April 23, 2002.
Interview began at 2:40pm and ended at 4: 10 pm.
KC: What is your name?
GT: Glenn Thames.
KC: Where did you attend college?
GT: I did my undergraduate work at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and I attended Baylor Law School in Waco.
KC: Where do you currently reside?
GT: I live in Tyler, across from UT in the Woodlands subdivision, at 3316 Oak Village Dr., Tyler, Texas 75707.
KC: What is your present position and how long have you worked here?
GT: I am currently an Appellate Attorney in General Civil Appeal Litigation Practice. I have been in this practice since 1994.
KC: How did you come to work for Judge Steger?
GT: Judge Steger prefers to get his law clerks from Baylor. He generally hires straight people straight from law school.
KC: What did you job with Judge Steger entail?
GT: I was responsible for the research and writing of motions and pleas. I would research the law dealing with each motion or plea and then would write a memo to Judge Steger. In the memo I would recommend a decision based on the research and I drafted a proposal. Judge Steger used this information to rule on the motion. Some judges will end a case by the decision made on a motion. Cases that go to trial before a jury are another responsibility for Judge Steger's law clerks. The law clerks for Judge Steger draft the jury instructions. In addition the law clerks worked out the jury charge with the lawyers on the case. The jury charge was submitted to the Judge. Law clerks for Judge Steger are also the go between for the lawyers with the Judge. The lawyers can visit with the law clerks about a case or how the Judge prefers things to be done, but the merits of the case cannot be discussed. Not all law clerks are given such responsibilities.
KC: How has Judge Steger influenced your career?
GT: He hired me from Baylor Law School. I had planned to work in Dallas or Houston, but working here for Judge Steger caused me, and my wife, to want to stay in Tyler. While in Tyler I have gotten to know people and other lawyers.
KC: What do you do now and how has Judge Steger influenced your career?
GT: I am in appellate practice .... it is complex litigation that is done in Federal court. The work I do now is a result of my research and writing experience.
KC: What was Judge Steger like?
GT: He is a very direct person and expects lawyer to be prepared and wants briefs to be concise. He really helped me with my writing, I write motions and proposals much more concisely than when I began working for Judge Steger in 1990. Judge Steger is a trial court Judge in a Federal Court, which hears cases of diverse jurisdiction. Most cases such as these are product liability, injury cases with a local plant whose home office is located elsewhere. Criminal cases are also heard in the Federal Court such as weapon, felony in possession, wire fraud, racketeering.
KC: What cases have been influential?
GT: Judge Steger was the first judge to try Rex Cobble. The Cowboy Mafia of Dallas, it was the Rico Case. A big deal here.
KC: What types of cases does Judge Steger prefer?
GT: Really he does not prefer one case or another. He likes cases based on the proficiency of the lawyer. If he did have a preference I guess it is product liability or serious injury. Judge Steger really believes in the jury system .... that the jury is right most of the time.
KC: How has Judge Steger and the Court affected the community?
GT: I am really the most recent, uh ... previous law clerks probably know more and have more stories. Judge Steger presides over important cases. He presided over a Federal Car Jacking trial-The Luger case. Judge Steger also has jurisdiction over Smith County Jail. His decisions affect population. Justices control the Texas Prison System. Judge Steger was an early Texas Republican when the party was not popular in Texas. During this time he ran for governor. He was also appointed U.S. District Attorney by President Eisenhower before he became a judge. As U.S. District Attorney he did land condemnation work which had influence with local lakes.
KC: How has the law changed as a result of the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Texas?
GT: Regarding developments in the law? Well Judge Steger had cases, which dealt with expert witnesses. One specific case involved a pharmaceutical company, Merrill Dow. Merrill Dow was the defendant. The company manufactured Bendectin and claims were made that the drug caused birth defects. In 1994 the U.S. Supreme court decided on the Daubert versus Merrill Dow Bendectin case. This case set the standard for admissibility of an expert witness. Judges make decisions on whether an expert witness will be allowed based on the standard set in the Daubert v. Merrill Dow case.
KC: Is Judge Steger active, proactive?
GT: Judge Steger is not an activist judge. He believes a trial court judge should follow the law as intended by those that made the law. Judge Steger believes in fair trials and the public's right to know about what is occurring in their court. There was this case brought by an adult who wanted to case to proceed anonymously. He wanted to be referred to in the court and media as John Doe. Judge Steger said "no". Steger felt that the man's request was outweighed by the public's right to know what was occurring in the courthouse. The man appealed Steger's decision in the Fifth circuit which disagreed and reversed Steger's decision. The reversal was based on the fact that the man had contracted HIV and at the time HIV was disreputable not that it is looked upon okay now.
KC: Did Judge Steger shape his times or was he shaped by them?
GT: Certainly Judge Steger shaped his times. Channel 7 even did a story on Judge Steger as East Texas of the Week once. He has always been on e of patriotic involvement and a concerned citizen. He served in World War II as a fighter pilot and flew several combat missions. He served as an U.S. Attorney here in Tyler and has been a judge since 1970. Judge Steger will not avoid a challenge or public scrutiny that can result from a difficult decision. Judge Steger finds criminal cases interesting, in drug cases there are many motions such as to suppress secret compartments. There was one case I think the name was Lipscomb. She sold drugs, she was a 70-year-old lady, that she took from the pharmacy she worked at in Dallas. She lived in Quitman. She was prosecuted and sentenced for trafficking drugs. This lady was really paranoid, she had lots of guns at her house. In fact the undercover agents tried to get her to buy a gun and because she touched the gun the government tried to get her convicted on possession of machine gun, it did not work. She was only convicted of drug trafficking.
KC: What is Judge Steger like? Does he have good working relationships? Is he a good boss?
GT: Well, he is very personable and easy to work for. He gets along well with most everyone but still runs a very tight ship. He usually eats with certain attorneys, uh Mr. Flock is one, he is about the Judge's age. There used to be a breakfast group, I don't know if they still do that. Uhhhhh. He is an avid fisherman and fishes with lots of people. He is very loyal to his staff, they are all like a family, he lost a son that was in his early twenties and he gets close to his law clerks kind of adopts them. The Judge is just close to his clerks. The Judge's clerks are young men straight out of law school. Each year there is a birthday party for Judge Steger and lawyer from all over come and wish him well. Every fifth year on the bench there is an anniversary party and all of the clerks help with the party. The staff and former staff attend. Judge Steger is highly respected. Rarely does anyone miss this event, they usually drop whatever and come from all over, some live out of state now and they come to this affair. This is not done for all judges. Judge Steger is the only one I know of. I mean this may happen for others but it is not common knowledge. Everyone values and respects Judge Steger and we all plan to attend the birthday and anniversary parties. A lot of justices hire clerks from Non-Texas Schools like California, Harvard. Steger started in Beaumont. He worked with Justice and Parker. Parker presided over a three and a half billion-dollar class action lawsuit. It was an asbestos claim. Ahearan v. Fireboard. The lawyer intervened and objected to Parker. He wanted to recuse Parker, kick him off the case; judges usually decide this for themselves. Parker however, asked Judge Steger to make the decision and that motion was given to Judge Steger. This is an example of Parker's respect for and trust in Judge Steger. During my second year as clerk, Judge Hall became ill and eventually died. During the illness, Judge Steger took over Hall's docket. At the time Hall did not have two clerks. This added to Steger's clerk's workload. Later hall's clerk came to work for Steger too. Overall it was a better docket for Judge Steger. There were intellectual property cases. It did require travel to Marshall, several cases were tried in Marshall; often were traveled to choose juries. Judge Steger would preside over jury selection. Judge Fisher liked this area and would come to Marshall to fish. He would try cases during his two weeks in Marshall. One case in particular dealt with the theft of trade secrets. The plaintiff asked for a $300 million settlement. In the terms this was technically the value of the secrets. Fisher settled the case for $30 million.
KC: What changes have occurred in the Federal District Court over the years?
GT: The greatest changes have been the use of technology. When I was a clerk there was DOS and word perfect 5.1, there was no Internet. We had to use Lexus, Westlaw. Westlaw was an online legal research. New legal research is Internet driven.
KC: W-E-S-L-A-W?
GT: No. W-E-S-T-L-A-W. West is the publisher of most law books. There is not a lot of email. Currently email relates to Bar Activities. The clerks do things in a more automated way. Judges Steger now uses computers often to keep up with current events or so I am told, he looks at various news websites.
KC: Are things done the same way?
GT: Judge Steger has cut down on his caseload to some degree. He has senior status. He still leads the district in the state for the number of cases closed.
KC: What do you think the public perception of the court is?
GT: Hopefully the public has very high regard for the Federal Court System. Anyone with business there should be very proud of how things run and the way the system of justice works. The federal courts are more formal than state courts. There is a more formal attitude in the behavior of judges and lawyers. Little time is wasted. Everyone is expected to be prepared and there is no winging it as is seen in state level court. Clerk, officers, and judge's staff are courteous to jurors and lawyers. The judges are strict but accommodating. The lawyer's schedule demands try to be given consideration. There used to be rules against cell phones and they were given to the Marshall upon entering the court. Now lawyers may have the phone, but they must be turned off, the same rule applies to jurors. On 9-11 there was a trial in progress. I think McKee was presiding. There was confusion among the jurors with regard to a threat to the courthouse. A day of trial was lost, jurors were turned away. People were also allowed to make personal phone calls. McKee stopped the trial to allow officers of the court to call their family; one lawyer was from Virginia and his wife worked near Capitol Hill. That McKee stopped the trial is uncommon because the judge normally pushes cases through. Overall hopefully perception is good. Judges make decisions that people do not always agree with politically. Judges do take care and concern with decisions they make. They are wonderful cordial people and extraordinary in other regards.
KC: Thank you for your time.
END OF INTERVIEW