Texas was once again at the forefront of some of the biggest legal stories of the year. The following are the state’s top stories of 2022 as determined by the staff of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.  

Full Throttle Waco Patent Court Forced to Pump the Brakes

At the start of 2022, Waco was fast becoming the patent litigation hub of the country, thanks in large part to U.S. District Judge Alan Albright.  

A veteran patent litigator, Judge Albright wasted no time turning his court into the go-to destination for U.S. patent litigation following his 2018 appointment by then-President Donald Trump. And by 2021, nearly a quarter of new patent cases were being filed in the Western District of Texas, and his courtroom regularly featured tech behemoths duking it out.  

Despite his short tenure on the bench, Judge Albright is viewed by both plaintiffs and defendants as being fair, knowledgeable, and efficient.  

“Judge Albright, in my opinion, is exactly what you want in a judge,” said Karl Rupp, a Waco-based partner with the law firm Sorey & Hoover LLP. “He calls the balls and strikes exactly as he sees them regardless of which side that’s for.”  

That admiration is not universally shared however, with some Congressional feathers being ruffled by the concentration of patent lawsuits in Judge Albright’s court. As a result, his red-hot caseload changed in July when Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia issued an “equitable distribution” order. The ruling forced the random assignment of patent cases to judges throughout the Western District, while allowing for the possible reassignment of cases “by mutual consent” of judges. However, with Judge Alia Moses taking over as Chief U.S. District Judge in November, more change could be forthcoming.