Judge Albright, patent dispute magnet, leaving bench in August
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright. (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas photo)
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, known for overseeing a flood of patent cases, is stepping down from his position in the Western District of Texas in August and returning to private practice.
Since his appointment to the bench in 2018, Albright has overseen as much as 25 percent of federal patent cases, establishing his court as a magnet for tech disputes. Albright’s departure appears to open a new bench just after the Senate confirmed Trump’s picks for two other vacancies in the Western District.
“For the past year or so I’ve really missed being in the courtroom as a trial lawyer,” Albright said in a text message last week, according to a report by Bloomberg Law. “I’ve learned so much by being in the bench. I’m almost 67 and I felt like now was the right time to make the change.”
As of 2021, nearly one in every four patent lawsuits were filed in Albright’s one-judge division in Waco. After several senators and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts voiced concern, the Western District’s former chief judge issued an order requiring new patent suits filed in Waco to be randomly assigned throughout the district, according to a report by Law.com.
His departure creates a vacancy in the Austin division. Albright was transferred from Waco to Austin in 2024 so he could be closer to home.
Earlier in April, the Senate confirmed Andrew Davis, a partner at Lehotsky Keller Cohn, to the Austin division and Chris Wolfe, a state court judge in Fort Worth, to the Waco bench Albright left for Austin, according to Bloomberg Law.
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