WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, R-Texas, today applauded the President’s nomination of James Rodney Gilstrap to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall.  With assistance from their bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, Senators Hutchison and Cornyn recommended Mr. Gilstrap last year to the President for nomination to the federal bench.  

“Rodney Gilstrap’s nomination to the federal bench will continue the strong judicial history of the Eastern District of Texas.  His legal credentials are excellent and we hope that the Senate will move quickly to confirm his nomination,” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. 

“The President has made an excellent choice in his nomination of Rodney Gilstrap. He brings a wealth of experience as both a private practitioner and a distinguished public servant. It is easy to see why Mr. Gilstrap was the consensus candidate recommended to the President by myself, Sen. Hutchison and our Democrat colleagues in the Texas Congressional Delegation. I’m confident he’ll be well received in the Senate, and I look forward to his swift confirmation,” Sen. Cornyn said. 

Biography of James Rodney Gilstrap:

James Rodney Gilstrap has been a partner at the law firm of Smith & Gilstrap in Marshall, Texas, since 1984, where his practice is broad and covers a wide range of issues, including oil and gas, real estate, and probate law.  From 1989 until 2002, Gilstrap also served as County Judge in Harrison County, Texas.  Prior to founding Smith & Gilstrap, Gilstrap was an associate at the law firm of Abney, Baldwin & Searcy from 1981 to 1984.  Gilstrap received his J.D. in 1981 from Baylor University School of Law and his B.A. magna cum laude in 1978 from Baylor University.