by Perry Cockrell Judge Mark Pittman is the newest District Judge in Tarrant Coun-
ty having been appointed to the 352nd District Court by Governor Rick Perry on January 8, 2015. He succeeds Judge Bonnie Sudderth, who was appointed to the Second Court of Appeals. His background as an attorney is unique and quite remarkable. As a practicing lawyer, Judge Pittman went from trying some of the smallest of cases in local Justice of the Peace Courts to trying some of the largest damage cases in united States history in the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. Judge Pittman grew up in Rising Star and Cooper, Texas, “where lawyers spent most of their time at the courthouse practicing anything they could,” he said. After graduating magna cum laude from Texas A&M university in 1996, he was accepted to the university of Texas School of law and graduated in 1999. After law school he moved to Fort Worth to join Kelly, Hart & Hallman. He was only at the firm for a year before Federal Judge eldon Mahon tapped him to be his law clerk. He could not pass up the opportunity, realizing that it was the only chance to work for such a distinguished judge, who would become his mentor and inspiration. “Tarrant County is the best place to practice law and Fort Worth is the best kept secret in the country, Judge Mahon would always say, and i agree with him.” He kept in contact with Judge Mahon after his retirement. After his federal clerkship ended in 2001, he went back to Kelly, Hart & Hallman and practiced state and federal litigation, including significant appellate litigation in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. in 2004 his career changed drastically when he moved to Washington, D.C. to join the Department of Justice’s Commercial litigation Branch– national Courts Section and practiced before the Court of international Trade in new York, handling complex international import-export cases, and the Court of Federal Claims,in D.C., handling sophisticated multi-million dollar lawsuits involving financial institution failures and government contract disputes. His first case had damages of over $250 million. A colleague’s advice to him was, “That is a small case for this office. Just handle it. You will be fine.” He did and won the case after many months of intense days in trial. in 2006, life in Washington D.C. would change for him as his wife Katrina had her first child and this later prompted them to return to Fort Worth to raise a family. looking back, he said that he “couldn’t think of a better way to get experience than working for the united States.” His time in D.C. was memorable and he “never imagined that he would represent the united States in a federal court across the street from the White House or in new York City.” in 2007, Judge Pittman joined the Civil Division in the u.S. Attorney’s Office in Fort Worth, handling trials and appeals ranging from wrongful death, malpractice, employ-
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ment litigation, immigration, false claims, and products liability. in 2009 he moved to the Federal Deposit insurance Corporation in Dallas, where he conducted investigations, prosecuted administrative claims, and served as lead counsel in significant prosecutions involving bank failures. in 2011, he joined the Securities and exchange Commission in Fort Worth where he worked on securities enforcement cases. Then in 2014, he was detailed as a criminal prosecutor in the economic Crimes Division of the u.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas to prosecute complex financial crimes. All of his experiences with the federal government were marked with consistent outstanding performance and rewards for jobs well done. Judge Pittman and his wife, Katrina, now have three children and enjoy living in Fort Worth, where he always liked practicing law with the collegial and professional attorneys in Tarrant County. “The attorneys in Tarrant County are a great group of lawyers who fight tooth and nail for their clients, but when it’s all over they are cordial and treat each other with respect.” How does he know that Tarrant County is the best place to practice law? “Because i have practiced in so many other jurisdictions.” He noted that attorneys in Tarrant County “don’t have to read the Dondi opinion. We know how to treat each other. i expect the same thing for myself as i do attorneys: Show up at hearings on time, be prepared, and treat each other with respect.” ■