The chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court said the court has a “work ethic problem.” 

In a lengthy interview, News 8 asked Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson about the court’s backlog of cases, a perennial gripe among Texas lawyers.

“I think the court could do better," he said when asked if the court has a work ethic problem. "And so to an extent, I would say yes. We could get our opinions out more quickly than we do, and we’re doing that.”    

The interview is part of an analysis of the court by News 8 and the Austin public interest group Texas Watch.

In its just-released annual study of the court’s backlog, Texas Watch found that the court  took 25 percent longer to dispose of cases in 2006 through 2007 than it did during the same period the year before. Texas Watch measures court output from July 1 through June 30.

In the 2006 through 2007 period, the court took an average of 2.3 years to dispose of a case, according to Texas Watch. As a whole, the nine justices took 14 months to write the opinions they issued.

The slowest justice was Dale Wainwright, who authored only four opinions, taking nearly two years to write them. The next slowest was Nathan Hecht, who averaged 20 months to author the six opinions he authored last year, the study said.

Flying Justice                                 

News 8 asked for the 2007 office calendars of all nine justices in an effort to determine how much time they spent in the office last year. Five justices keep their calendars personally, so the information is not public record. Four justices produced the calendars that their staff kept for them. Of those four, Justice Wainwright’s calendar stood out for the amount of time he was away from the court.

After meeting with News 8, Justice Wainwright agreed that he had been gone from Austin 29 workdays during 2007. Among his destinations included a three-day Gulf Cruise with the Houston Young Lawyers, a three-day Texas Association of Defense Counsel meeting in Lake Tahoe and an American Bar Association meeting in Tucson.  

That did not include seven trips the justice made during the court’s “hiatus,” which is a six-week period of reduced activity when many justices take vacations. The majority of the trips were paid for with campaign donations, which is legal, but a point of concern for court critics.

Wainwright said he has to travel a lot because he “essentially” oversees the State Bar of Texas as part of his Supreme Court position, which takes him out of town. He said it doesn’t keep him from casework.

“I’m always carrying work with me," he said. "I work in transit. I work at the location where I’m staying.” 

Wainwright said he puts in 50 to 60 hour weeks. 

“In the five years that I’ve worked on the court, I can count on one hand the number of weekends that I’ve not worked for the court,” the said. “The only holiday I do not work is Christmas.”

Wainwright disagreed that he issued four opinions last year. He said the number is 12, which included four authored cases, three concurring or dissenting opinions and five per curiam cases, which are unsigned opinions that at least six justices agree on.

Campaign records showed that Justice Nathan Hecht also used campaign funds to buy more than two dozen tickets for air travel last year, the next highest number besides Justice Wainwright. Since his personal calendar was not available, he was not interviewed.

Chief  Disputes

The Texas Supreme Court historically does not respond to Texas Watch evaluations, but Chief Jefferson said the court's output is getting better, not worse. 

In a one-hour interview in the courtroom, the chief described a 21 percent surge in productivity last year, which he said is accelerating.  

“You know, it takes some time, but we’re getting there and I’m proud of the progress we’re making,” Jefferson said.

Because of the complexity of cases and different fiscal years used by the court, evaluating court productivity is difficult by any measure. Texas Watch uses the same fiscal year as the Office of Court Administration. The court itself measures output by fiscal year.

Jefferson’s been a justice since 2001. That year was the beginning of an unprecedented turnover on the other seats of the court. Eighteen justices left during seven years, which made it difficult to establish the continuity to interpret the state’s laws, he said. Five justices must agree to produce a decision, a process which involves law, personalities and interpersonal politics. 

Jefferson said he can’t make the justices punch a time clock, and that there have never been court rules on vacations. Until recently, not all of the justices lived in Austin, and the legislature does not require them to.

The chief justice said he is trying to find the levers to make the court interpret the law faster. One device he hopes is working is leading by example. 

“They know what my work ethic is, and if we could get that same level from all eight, we would be in great shape,” he said.

Another impediment to the process, Jefferson said, is judicial elections.

Texas Supreme Court judges must campaign for re-election every six years, a drain on their time.

“You force judges to run with the bulls and it’s a dirty game,” he said of elections. “And it’s not pleasant and it doesn’t serve the public well.”