Honorable Dwight E. Jefferson

Judge Jefferson was appointed Judge of the 215th District Court of Harris County, Texas, (Houston) by the Governor of Texas in 1995. In November 1996, he became the first African American elected as a civil district court judge in Harris County, where he served until his retirement from the bench and return to private practice in 1999. As Judge of the 215th District Court, Judge Jefferson presided over all types of civil cases, including commercial, personal injury, mass torts and class actions. Prior to his appointment, Judge Jefferson was a partner in the Houston office of the Coats, Rose Law Firm. After leaving the bench, Judge Jefferson was a civil litigation partner and mediator in the Houston office of the Washington, D.C., firm Verner, Lippert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand, where he practiced from 1999 through 2003. In 2003, Judge Jefferson was one of the founders of the firm Maloney, Jefferson & Dugas, L.L.P., where he practiced civil litigation and mediation.

Judge Jefferson formed his own firm for the practice of arbitration, mediation and litigation in 2004. Judge Jefferson has mediated hundreds of cases since his retirement from the bench involving personal injury, labor and employment, commercial, toxic torts and mass torts. Judge Jefferson has arbitrated commercial, labor and employment, and mass tort litigation as a panelist for the American Arbitration Association and the National Arbitration Forum. Additionally, Judge Jefferson is certified in international arbitration skills from the University of Houston School of Law.  Judge Jefferson has also maintained a limited litigation practice that has included personal injury, wrongful death, labor and employment, environmental mass torts, and class action litigation.

Judge Jefferson graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1983 and began the practice of law in Houston with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in 1984.

Professional Experience
Judge Jefferson has completed approved advanced mediation training and is experienced in the practice of alternative dispute resolution. Judge Jefferson's litigation and judicial experience has enabled him to successfully mediate the settlement of many cases both as Judge of the 215th District Court of Harris County, Texas, and in private practice. 

Judge Jefferson successfully mediated settlement of the Harris County asbestos mass tort trial docket in 2001, including thousands of asbestos plaintiffs. Judge Jefferson has been a panelist with the American Arbitration Association since 2005 and the National Arbitration Forum since 2004. Judge Jefferson’s past experience make him well-qualified to serve as a mediator or arbitrator in complex and sensitive litigation.

Judge Jefferson has been called upon frequently to serve as an ad litem or special master in Harris County State Courts. Judge Jefferson's experience as ad litem has included the first fen-phen pharmaceutical case to go to trial in Harris County. Judge Jefferson has served as a special master in a shareholders' class action case and a major case involving an attorneys' fees dispute arising from a billion-dollar verdict.
 
Judge Jefferson has served as an expert witness in state and federal courts on a variety of topics, including reasonableness of verdicts, judicial issues, and attorneys’ fees in personal injury, commercial, construction, insurance and mass tort cases.  

Judge Jefferson was retained by the manager of the recording artist Destiny's Child in 2002 to defend him and his companies in multi-million dollar litigation brought by two former group members and the estate of the deceased co-manager of the group.

While the Presiding Judge of the 215th Civil Judicial District of Harris County, Texas, Judge Jefferson presided over the $1.3 billion jury verdict in a breach of contract, legal malpractice and patent infringement case, the nation's largest, in 1998.

Judge Jefferson presided over the first lawsuit to enforce the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act. This case and Judge Jefferson's rulings were matters of first impression by a Texas court.

Areas of Practice
Alternative/Dispute Resolution, Litigation

Bar Admissions
Texas, 1984

Education
The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, 1983, J.D.
The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 1979, B.A.

Classes/Seminars Taught
Discovery Issues in Arbitration, State Bar of Texas Advanced Evidence and Discovery Law Course, 2009
Work Product and Privileges Protecting Your File, State Bar of Texas Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, 2003 - 2004
Common Evidence Problems, State Bar of Texas Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, 1995
Pretrial Conference and Orders, State Bar of Texas
The Ultimate Trial Notebook - Personal Injury Law Course, 1998
Courtroom Ethics and Antics - Integrity in Advocacy, State Bar of Texas Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, 1998

Professional Associations and Memberships
Houston Bar Association, Member
State Bar of Texas, Member
American Bar Association, Member
American Board of Trial Advocates, Member
Houston Lawyers Association, Member
Greater Houston Partnership's Governmental Affairs Committee, Past Member
Board of Directors, Downtown YMCA, Member
American Diabetes Association, Member
Board of Directors, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Chairman, Finance Committee
Texas Pattern Jury Charge Committee, Standing Member
Past Member of the Federal Judicial Selection Advisory Committee - Texas, 2000 - 2004

Past Employment Positions
Maloney, Jefferson & Dugas, LLP, Partner, 2003 - 2004
Verner Lippert Bernhard McPherson & Hand, Partner, 1999 - 2003
215th Civil District Court of Harris County - Texas, Presiding Judge, 1995 - 1999
Coats Rose Yale Holm Ryman & Lee, Associate 1988-1992; Partner, 1988 - 1995
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, In-House Council, 1984 - 1988
Law Office of John C Kilpatrick, Associate Attorney, 1984 - 1987 (Captive firm Liberty Mutual Insurance Company)

Personal
Judge Jefferson has been married to his wife, Elaine, since 1984, and they have two sons.

Judge Jefferson attended the University of Texas on a football scholarship after being selected an All-State linebacker at Fox Tech High School in San Antonio in 1975. On the field at the University of Texas, the Judge played his sport with such distinction that he was selected the Outstanding Lineman of the 1978 Sun Bowl. Judge Jefferson was voted one of the Longhorn’s co-captains his senior year and he was also selected as the recipient of the Team Leadership and Spirit Awards by his teammates. After graduation from the University of Texas and prior to attending law school there, the Judge signed a free-agent contract with the Oakland Raiders football team, where he briefly tried out as a linebacker in 1979.