San Antonio’s largest law firm Cox Smith announced this week that Justice Phylis J. Speedlin has joined the litigation department of the firm. Justice Speedlin served 10 years as an appellate Justice on the Fourth Court of Appeals and three years as a Bexar County Civil District Court trial judge.
She also served for three years as District Court Judge of the 408th Judicial District Court in Bexar County before becoming an appellate justice. After retiring from the Fourth Court of Appeals, she had been working as a mediator, arbitrator and private judge.
At Cox Smith, Justice Speedlin joins her former colleague Mayor Phil Hardberger, who was an Associate Justice for four years and Chief Justice for six years at the Fourth Court of Appeals.
During her tenure as an appellate justice, Speedlin presided over a variety of issues covering property rights, family law, insurance law, personal injury, medical malpractice, employment law, probate, construction law, oil and gas and criminal law. Prior to becoming a judge and during her work as a trial attorney, Speedlin had represented clients from a variety of industries with primary focus on the health care industry. She had represented doctors, nurses, hospital administrators and other health care stakeholders on medical malpractice and medical product litigation.
Speaking on her arrival to Cox Smith, Deborah Williamson, managing director of the law firm said, “We are honored to have Justice Speedlin join the firm and we look forward to sharing her practical approach and strategic insight with our clients.”
On her part, Justice Speedlin said about Cox Smith, “I’ve worked with their attorneys for years and have observed first-hand the firm’s unparalleled commitment to client service and legal strategy.” She further observed, “Cox Smith assists clients on a wide variety of issues throughout the state and I’m looking forward to becoming part of the team to help our clients with their litigation and appellate matters.”