by Kevin F. Risley, Thompson Coe

Justice Wanda McKee Fowler has retired from the Fourteenth Court of Appeals after serving on the Court for almost fourteen years. The hundreds of opinions authored by Justice Fowler include:

Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 988 S.W.2d 415 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 1999), rev’d, 39 S.W.3d 191 (Tex. 2001), in which the Texas Supreme Court followed her suggestion to revisit and modify standards for determining the finality of judgments;

Arce v. Burrow, 958 S.W.2d 239 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 1997), aff’d in part and modified, 997 S.W.2d 229 (Tex. 1999), which involved the scope of the duty owed by a lawyer when settling claims involving multiple plaintiffs;

In re Arthur Andersen, L.L.P., 121 S.W.3d 471 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 2003, orig. proc.), in which the court conditionally issued a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to allow Arthur Andersen to join financial institutions as third-party defendants in a case brought by Enron investors;

Brocail v. Anderson, 132 S.W.3d 552 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 2004, pet. denied), an important personal jurisdiction case that has been cited with approval by the Texas Supreme Court; and

Robinson v. Crown Cork & Seal Co., 251 S.W.3d 520 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 2006, pet. granted), which upheld the constitutionality of the statute limiting successor liability for asbestos claims that was passed as part of House Bill 4 in 2003.

Justice Fowler was named Appellate Judge of the Year by the Houston Chapter of the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists in 2003 and has taught Appellate Advocacy at the University of Houston Law Center. She was a frequent and popular CLE speaker throughout her time on the bench.

Justice Fowler has joined the Houston firm of Wright, Brown, and Close. L.L.P.