Leonard Davis

Leonard E. Davis (born 1948) is an American lawyer and former judge. He served as Chief Justice of the Twelfth Court of Appeals of Texas, from 2000-2002, and was nominated by George W. Bush on January 23, 2002 to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas until his retirement May 15th, 2015. Background Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Davis received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1970, and his Master of Arts degree from Texas Christian University in 1974. Davis was also in the Texas Army National Guard from 1970 to 1973, and worked as a computer programmer and systems analyst for the Texas Electric Service Company prior to entering law school in 1974. He graduated cum laude and first in his class from Baylor Law School with a Juris Doctor in 1976, where he was editor-in-chief of the Baylor Law Review and a member of Baylor's interscholastic moot court and mock trial teams. At Baylor Law, he also received American Jurisprudence Awards for Excellence in Contracts and Federal Courts. Davis was in private practice as a civil trial attorney in Tyler, Texas, for 23 years, from 1977 to 2000, and was Chief Justice of the Twelfth Court of Appeals of the State of Texas from 2000 to 2002. Judicial service On January 23, 2002, Davis was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated by Paul N. Brown. Davis was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 9, 2002, and received his commission on May 10, 2002. He was sworn in on May 15, 2002. He served as Chief Judge from 2012 to 2015. He retired from active service on May 15, 2015. He was primarily assigned patent lawsuits in the U.S. district court.