About 300 lawyers and court personnel, including at least one Texas Supreme Court justice, plan to party in San Antonio on Friday to celebrate the retirements of two longtime district judges.
Jimmy Allison, executive director of the San Antonio Bar Association, says he’s personally planning the retirement bash because he appreciates what 37th District Judge David Berchelmann and 166th District Judge Martha Tanner have contributed to San Antonio’s legal community.
“Their legacy is that they are honest judges. They are true to their profession,” Allison says, adding, “When lawyers come before the judges, they get an honest ruling from them. They greet them [lawyers] with respect and cordiality. Not everyone can say that.”
Supreme Court Justice Paul Green says he’s attending the party and he learned to respect both judges because, when he practiced law in San Antonio, he tried cases before them.
He says about Berchelmann, “He works very hard. He rules when he needs to. I think the lawyers really appreciate that.”
Green adds about Tanner, “Marty was one you can always feel you’re getting a fair shot, whatever side you’re on.”
Berchelmann and Tanner didn’t return two telephone calls each seeking comment.
According to Tanner’s biography on the Bexar County District Courts website, she operated her own firm from 1968 to 1992, and took her current bench in 1992.
Bexar County District Clerk Donna Kay McKinney writes in an email that Berchelmann worked in the Bexar County District Attorney’s office from 1973 to 1980. He was judge of the 290th Criminal District Court from 1981 to 1989. He was appointed and served on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals from 1989 to 1990, and then he served as a visiting judge from 1991 to 1993. He’s presided over the 37th District Court since 1993.
-- Angela Morris
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