Charles McGarry began his legal career in 1982 as a Briefing Attorney for the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. Eleven years later, Governor Ann Richards appointed him Chief Justice of that Court, making him, at 35, the youngest chief justice in Texas history.

While on the Court, Chief Justice McGarry initiated the design and implementation of an innovative appellate mediation program, designed to encourage the settlement of cases on appeal and reduce what was, at the time, one of the largest caseloads in the nation. The program remains in effect to this day.

Chief Justice McGarry’s relatively brief tenure on the court was highlighted by a number of highly-acclaimed legal opinions. His revolutionary concurring opinion in Clewis v. State was adopted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, changing over 100 years of precedent to correct an inconsistency in constitutional interpretation between civil and criminal cases. The case, which has been reaffirmed over the years, has been the subject of numerous law review articles.

Clewis v. State, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Clewis v. State, McGarry’s original opinion

Forty Nuns Can’T be Wrong South Texas Law Review