Civil Court at Law
Republican Judge Clyde R. Leuchtag balances legal experience with compassion.
Harris County Civil Court at Law 1 doesn’t handle the big-money issues that are bread and butter for white-shoe law firms. But for the people who do come before that court, the cases can feel as important as a multimillion-dollar suit. Low-level civil disputes, property condemnation cases and evictions and appeals from justice of the peace cases fill the docket for this midlevel court. People will often appear without lawyers and cases can mean the difference between homelessness and a roof over one’s head.
Judges need to be well-versed in the law, but also harbor a healthy compassion for the people who find themselves unprepared and ill-equipped to navigate the legal system. In his meeting with the Houston Chronicle editorial board, incumbent Judge Clyde R. Leuchtag demonstrated an impressive balance between these attimes conflicting drives.
“I feel strongly that I need to follow the law,” Leuchtag said. “But at the same time I think within the law I can help people who are underdogs make sure that they get their day in court.”
Leuchtag emphasized how, as a judge, he could do things like connect pro se litigants with legal aid, help people with mental illness get the assistance they need, or ensure that people aren’t being evicted from their homes merely because they failed to respond to a letter.
Leuchtag, a Republican, also said that he views mediation as an important tool to help people, especially those without attorneys, settle disputes instead of fighting in court.
Before being appointed to this seat in June 2015 to fill a vacancy, Leuchtag, who will be 54 on Election Day, had a diverse career that included 15 years at the Harris County Attorney’s Office where he served not only as a trial division chief but also as legal counsel to the county engineer. A graduate of Rice University and the South Texas College of Law, Leuchtag also had stints at the Baker Botts law firm and at Shell as a litigator. He exhibits the steady judicial temperament possessed by the best judges. No wonder that we only heard words of praise from his Democratic opponent, George Barnstone.
“If I wasn’t running in this race, I’d probably vote for Clyde,” he told the editorial board.
Barnstone is as amiable a candidate as we have seen, but he can’t match Leuchtag’s experience. Vote for Judge Clyde R. Leuchtag in Civil Court at Law 1.
Early voting runs from Monday, Oct. 24 through Friday, Nov. 4. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.