TEXAS SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

(Left to right) Moderator Ben Mesches and panelists Luis Saenz of the Governor’s Appointment Office;Hon. Ken Anderson of the Texas Public Utility Commission; and Dealey Herdon of the A. H. Belo Corporation,formerly with the State Preservation Board.technology and processes into the twenty-first century. Commenting on former Chief Justice Phillips’s tenure,Jefferson remarked that “Tom Phillips saved the Court.” When Phillips took the bench in 1988 the Supreme Courtwas mired in national controversy but was once again nationally prominent when he retired in 2004.Incoming Society president Ben Mesches moderated an intriguing panel of current former heads ofthe Governor’s Appointment Office that examined the issues and process involved in gubernatorial judicialappointments with particular emphasis on those made to the Supreme Court.Former Supreme Court Justice Scott Brister moderated a riveting panel of attorneys who led the pitchedappellate battles in the 1987 landmark case of Pennzoil v. Texaco, which still stands as the largest verdict everupheld on appeal (roughly $8.5 billion). The panel discussed the fact that, even though the damages at issue wereunprecedented and an ancillary issue in the case had by that time already been argued and disposed of by the U.S.Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court nevertheless declined review.The program, which was cosponsored by TexasBarCLE, was held in conjunction with the bi-annual TexasSupreme Court Practice course. Richard Orsinger is the course director of that course and, along with WarrenHarris, was a co-course director of the Society’s history course.Return to Journal Index109