| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
| |
|
|
WHEREAS, The Honorable Leonard Davis is retiring as chief |
|
|
judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District |
|
|
of Texas in May 2015, concluding an exemplary 15-year tenure on the |
|
|
bench; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Appointed as a U.S. district judge in 2002, Judge |
|
|
Davis has gained recognition as one of the nation's top |
|
|
intellectual property law jurists; the patent docket in the Eastern |
|
|
District has grown on his watch from under 10 cases in 2002 to more |
|
|
than 1,100 in 2015, and he has personally handled more than 1,700 |
|
|
intellectual property cases, including as many as 11 patent jury |
|
|
trials in a single year; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Many of his cases have become landmark decisions of |
|
|
the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court, and they have a high |
|
|
affirmance rate on appeal; Judge Davis has been invited to sit by |
|
|
designation on both the United States Federal Circuit Court of |
|
|
Appeals and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and he has served on |
|
|
the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the |
|
|
Federal Circuit Advisory Council Committee on Case Management; |
|
|
moreover, he has served as co-chair of the Federal Judges Committee |
|
|
of the Federal Circuit Bar Association; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Previously, Judge Davis served as chief justice of |
|
|
the Twelfth Court of Appeals of the State of Texas; before taking |
|
|
the bench, he distinguished himself as a trial lawyer in East Texas |
|
|
for more than two decades, and from 1983 to 1988, he was general |
|
|
counsel to the Republican Party of Texas; he served by |
|
|
gubernatorial appointment on the Judicial Districts Board and the |
|
|
State Ethics Advisory Commission, and he has served the State Bar of |
|
|
Texas on its Legal Publications Committee; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, Judge Davis |
|
|
was named 2013 Jurist of the Year by the Texas Chapter of the |
|
|
American Board of Trial Advocates; in 2012, he received the |
|
|
prestigious Baylor Lawyer of the Year Award from his alma mater, |
|
|
where he graduated first in his class in 1976; he also holds a |
|
|
bachelor's degree in mathematics from The University of Texas at |
|
|
Arlington and a master's degree in management science from Texas |
|
|
Christian University; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Leonard Davis has set high standards of excellence |
|
|
throughout his career, and his contributions to his profession have |
|
|
earned the respect and admiration of the legal community in Texas |
|
|
and across the country; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby congratulate Leonard Davis on the occasion of |
|
|
his retirement as chief judge of the United States District Court |
|
|
for the Eastern District of Texas and extend to him sincere best |
|
|
wishes as he embarks on the next exciting chapter of his life; and, |
|
|
be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for Judge Davis as an expression of high regard by the |
|
|
Texas House of Representatives. |
| |
|
|
Hughes |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Speaker of the House |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 2052 was adopted by the House on May |
|
|
21, 2015, by a non-record vote. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |