May it please the -- who are you?

When lawyers get ready to argue a writ of mandamus in Clear Channel Communications Inc. et al. v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., et al. on Friday before the Texas Supreme Court, they’ll see two unfamiliar faces staring back at them from the bench. Gov. Rick Perry appointed Austin 3rd Court of Appeals Justice G. Alan Waldrop and 157th District Court Judge Randall W. Wilson of Houston to hear the case after high court Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson and Justice Dale Wainwright recused themselves. The issue is whether a $22 billion loan dispute between Clear Channel and several banks will be litigated in Texas or New York. The justices rarely explain the reasons for the recusals and didn’t this time. But Jefferson really didn't have to explain his reasons; the chief justice's brother Lamont Jefferson of Haynes and Boone represents the bank defendants in the case. Wainwright’s connection to the case is a little less clear. By tradition, justices at the high court recuse themselves from any case that was handled by a firm while they were still working at that firm or if they have a financial interest in the case. Wainwright worked at Haynes and Boone from 1996 until 1999. But he’s been away from the firm for so long it’s doubtful that’s the reason he’s declining to hear the mandamus.
-- John Council