JudicialProfile
by Perry J. Cockerell
United States Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cureton
U
nited States Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cureton in the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, built his career on establishing long-lasting relationships and training himself professionally to handle civil and criminal matters in both federal and state court. Now, seven years into his first eight-year term, he considers being a Federal Magistrate Judge “the best job I have ever had.” Born in Dallas, Judge Cureton grew up in Euless, Texas, and graduated from Trinity High School in Euless in 1986. His father worked for three decades for the City of Dallas Water Utilities Department, and his mother ran a distribution center in the fabric industry. He has one older sister who still lives in the area. He chose Baylor University for both his undergraduate degree in psychology and his law school degree and refers to himself as a “Double Bear.” Judge Cureton worked the summer before law school as a laborer on a construction team in Waco, Texas, and while he enjoyed the physical work, “It made me appreciate the value of an indoor career in Texas.” After law school, Judge Cureton accepted the position of briefing attorney for legendary Fort Worth federal judge Eldon Mahon. This experience and his personal relationship with Judge Mahon were critical to his formative legal career and shaped his philosophies. It was during law school that Judge Cureton met his future wife, Leticia (Letty) Martinez, also a “Double Bear” with an undergraduate degree in piano performance and a law degree from Baylor. They married in May 1994, shortly after her law school graduation, in a civil ceremony conducted by Judge Mahon in San Antonio, Texas. Letty then joined Cureton in Fort Worth by taking a job with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office under long-time D.A. Tim Curry, where she remained until this past year when she joined the criminal defense firm Varghese Summersett here in Fort Worth. After the briefing attorney position ended, Judge Cureton worked for approximately one year with the Fort Worth firm of Friedman, Young Suder, PC. Then, in 1995, Cureton joined his wife in the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office. “I decided that if I was ever going to learn to try a case, I better do it while I’m still young - I got so
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much experience, it was great.” He recalls that on his very first day at the office, he met attorney Steve Gordon, and the two tried a case together beginning that same day. He remained at the DA’s office for the next two years handling misdemeanor and felony court cases, trying approximately fifty-five jury trials to verdict during his stint with the District Attorney’s office. “Being an ADA was some of the best experience that I could ever have, and I got to be in trial with and against some of the very best trial lawyers in Tarrant County, such as Tim Evans and Ward Casey.” One evening during a dinner at Joe T. Garcia’s restaurant in 1997, Judge Mahon asked Cureton if he was interested in returning to serve as a career law clerk for Judge Mahon. “It made a lot of sense in that I wanted to transition to civil practice, and when someone of that caliber asks you to work for them, you have to do it.” After another three years with Judge Mahon, Cureton decided to return to private practice. He took an associate position with the Fillmore Law Firm in Fort Worth. “At that time the firm was handling nursing home litigation and some insurance defense. They taught me a lot about handling civil cases and discovery practice, and I value my time with them.” In 2003, Judge Cureton joined with Steve Gordon and Bruce Beasley to form the law firm of Beasley, Cureton & Gordon LLP with offices in the Mallick Tower in Fort Worth. In this firm, he handled federal and state civil and criminal litigation. “It was good for me. From my experience, I was able to handle any state or federal civil or criminal case that came through the door – it’s everything that I do now. It was a good mix to prepare me for my judicial career.” From 2006 to 2010, the firm continued as Cureton and Gordon LLP, and he and Steve Gordon purchased an office building, near Airport Freeway, that they still own and operate. In 2010, when U.S. Magistrate Judge Bleil retired, Cureton applied for the open position and was “fortunate to be selected.” The duties of a magistrate judge are numerous and varied. A typical day includes appointments with United States Attorneys and federal agents over criminal complaints, search warrants, and all types of applications for email and phone records warrants. He conducts initial appearances on arrested individuals and persons accused of supervised release violations and all detention hearings. “If a criminal defendant is arrested one day, they will usually be