[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] 
[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_text]By Michelle Hartman
(Oct. 12) – Judge Carolyn King celebrated her 36th year on the bench this year. President Jimmy Carter nominated her to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on April 30, 1979, based on the recommendation of Texas U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen.
Aside from the countless awards that have been bestowed upon Judge King at both the state and national level, she counts among her triumphs serving as the first woman Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and chairing (again as the first woman) the Executive Committee, which oversees the whole Federal Judiciary.
She approached both positions with the grace and steadiness we have come to expect from her — spearheading a $6 billion cost containment strategy for the Federal Judiciary during her tenure on the Executive Committee, and leading the Fifth Circuit successfully through critical times marked by hundreds of judicial employees displaced following hurricanes Katrina and Rita and by overloaded courts along the Southwest border. Her legacy in that regard will be as the single most important figure in guiding the courts through one of its worst financial crises.
Judge King is known for being a brilliant, prolific jurist and a self-described workaholic. She is recognized for writing with transactional precision and biting wit, and for interrogating lawyers until they are loathe to speak.
She has been the vocal dissent on important topics, such as sovereign immunity and consumer protection rights, and — over time — her dissenting opinions have become circuit precedent and have also been cited and discussed by federal courts across the country, laying testament to her inspiration.
Judge King has been the principal writer on issues of first impression that, as with her dissenting opinions, have inspired the standard followed throughout the country, including in civil rights, constitutional law, and securities space.
Because of an opinion she penned, disability-based harassment claims are recognized under the federal disability act in the Fifth Circuit, and because of her numerous standing and securities decisions, clarity is provided throughout the country on issues such as the requirements for pleading securities fraud claims and the causation requirements for Article III standing.
But when I think of Judge King’s legacy, I see her selfless devotion to mentoring women and serving those in need—traits that may be linked to past experiences in her legal career.
She is a mother of three boys and worked as a corporate lawyer at a large Texas firm in the sixties. She was passed over for partner for the stated reason that the law firm had assumed she would get pregnant and quit. And she was turned down for an assistant United States attorney position in Harris County for the stated reason that the then-United States attorney was not ready to hire a woman.
I believe these and other discriminatory events experienced early in Judge King’s legal career molded her with a unique perspective on which to adjudicate.
I can still hear her measured chuckle, made without smiling, as she reminisced on those early years of practice in the 1960s, like the time she recalled fashioning a homemade sling so she could carry two of her children and still hold a briefcase. And I recall how heavily the responsibility of public service weighed on her — particularly when considering writs of habeas corpus from inmates awaiting death sentences.
During her time as chief, her narrow white couch would serve as her bed on nights when an execution was scheduled for the following day, and, while clearly stating that her religious views are not part of her judicial rulings, she is known for her belief that “the assessment of the death penalty, however well designed the system for doing so, remains a human endeavor with a consequent risk of error that may not be remediable.”
Judge King is fond of claiming herself a beneficiary of the Civil Rights Act. But those of us who worked with her know better. Her determination is unmatched and has inspired me and legions of similar women to remain committed to legal and judicial careers.
Michelle Hartmann is a securities litigation partner at Sidley Austin in Dallas and clerked for Judge King in 2002-2003.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]