Courts5th Court of Appeals
5th Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals · Statewide
13 justices sit this bench. The docket leans criminal — 41,835 of 76,630 filings since 1980. 14,775 attorneys have appeared here.
The bench13 sitting · from directory snapshots
JudgeRoleTenureWhat the record says
A “by” date means the judge already sat when our first directory snapshot was taken — the year is the snapshot, not the appointment.
Filings by yearWe hold filings for this court from 1980 to present. 2026 is partial
1 thin leading year (8 filings between them) trimmed from the chart, as on the coverage pages; the last column is a partial year.
Attorneys who appear most in this court14,775 have appeared · 25-case floor
AttorneyCityMostlyCases
1Craig M. WatkinsDallasCriminal2,1042Susan McWithey HawkDallasCriminal1,2363April Elaine SmithMesquiteCriminal9314John Harbell HaglerDallasCriminal9155Allan L. FishburnDallasCriminal7296Lori OrdiwayDallasCriminal6297John Gregory TatumRichardsonCriminal6038Bruce Edward AntonDallasCriminal5029John Davidson NationDallasCriminal39410Lawrence B. MitchellDallasCriminal385Attorneys in private practice with 25 or more appearances in this court’s indexed filings. Bulk government filers are not listed.