Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, is profiled in “Rosenthal rules federal courts in Houston region with firm hand, “ by Gabrielle Banks in the Houston Chronicle:
In her early days as a trial lawyer, Lee Rosenthal contemplated what it took to be a great judge.
You had to be thoughtful, efficient, compassionate, creative, practical and independent. But above all, she's often said, a judge had to be fair to all.
"I saw how much good a good judge could do and how much worse a bad judge could make any case," said Rosenthal, 65. "I guess I'm grateful to both."
She brought her experience as a lawyer and 25 years on the federal bench to a series of high-profile cases last year that drew national attention.
Her rulings backed disenfranchised citizens and triggered bitter rebukes from local civic leaders in a Voting Rights Act challenge that upended the Pasadena city elections and in a suit that led to sweeping revisions of the Harris County bail system.