Justice Scott A. Brister shares his reasons for resigning

Texas Supreme Court Justice Scott A. Brister today announced his resignation, effective Sept. 7. He says he chose Andrews Kurth, where he practiced for seven years in the 1980s, for his return to private practice because, “I wanted to go to a place where they can help me with the transition.” Brister says he has some concerns about returning to private practice after two decades on the bench. Brister says he has never actually filed a brief, he doesn’t how rainmaking works, and he hasn’t had to answer to clients for a long time. Once he made the decision to return to private practice, Brister says, he wanted to leave before his term expired, so a replacement appointed by the governor would have time on the bench before having to seek the voters' approval. Money, Brister says, was a factor in his decision to leave. (My earlier blog notes that a Texas Supreme Court justice’s salary is $150,000 a year, while average profits per partner in 2008 at Houston-based Andrews Kurth were $907,000.) “I don’t want to complain about a salary that was a lot more than what a lot of people make in this state,” says Brister. But he notes that he has four daughters who he expects to send to college, two of whom who will start next year. Andrews Kurth was looking for somebody with "gray hair with experience," Brister says, and he has both — and plenty of courtroom experience. Judging as an occupation? Brister says: “It was a dream job.”
-- Miriam Rozen