Chief Justice Nathan Hecht
TCJL will hold its 37th Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 9 in Austin. The meeting will take place at the Headliners Club, beginning with our annual luncheon from 11:30 to 1:30, followed by a board meeting from 1:30 to 3:30.
In addition to delivering the keynote address at lunch, Chief Justice Nathan Hecht will receive the George E. Christian Award for Lifetime Achievement, honoring his immense contributions to the Texas judiciary in his 35 years of service on the Texas Supreme Court. TCJL has given this award only once before: to former Senator and Texas Tech University System Chancellor Robert Duncan. We look forward to hearing Chief Justice Hecht’s reflections on his lifelong devotion to the administration of the justice and the challenges facing the judiciary today and in the future.
Rep. Jeff Leach
This year TCJL created an award honoring the late Rob Looney, a stalwart supporter of TCJL and its mission who long served as our chairman. We are pleased and excited that our inaugural recipient of this award is Representative Jeff Leach, who for the past three legislative sessions has chaired the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee. Chairman Leach has carried several pieces of landmark legislation during his tenure, including reforms to the Texas Citizens Participation Act, the Pandemic Liability Protection Act, trucking litigation reform, and, most recently, judicial transparency and education legislation. Chairman Leach has dedicated his legislative career thus far to strengthening the Texas judiciary and the civil justice system, and we are proud to recognize him for his outstanding leadership.
Lauren Young
Drew Tedford
Andrea Stingley
Also for the first time this year, TCJL will give Legislative Super Staffer Awards to three longtime Capitol staffers without whose expertise, wisdom, and counsel we could not have achieved so many important successes. The awards will go to Drew Tedford, former Legislative Director for Senator Bryan Hughes and currently Committee Director for the Senate Committee on State Affairs; Andrea Stingley, a 25-year Capitol veteran who currently serves as Chief of Staff for Rep. John Smithee and former policy director for both the House Insurance and Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committees; and Lauren Young, who has served on Chairman Leach’s staff since 2014 and as his chief of staff since 2016. Each of these professionals is not only dedicated to their respective bosses, but to upholding the highest standards of integrity and devotion to the legislative process.
We look forward to seeing our friends and members on November 7 as we recognize these leaders of the civil justice system.
