For use by Stonewall Democrats of Dallas

2014 Judicial Candidate Questionnaire:

(Note: Judicial candidates are asked to ONLY answer the Judicial Candidate
questionnaire,
and NO the Count! or "tate Le#el questionnaire$%
1. Why are you seekng the endorsement from Stonewa Democrats of Daas? I have
seen frst hand the mportant roe ths organzaton has n seectng and supportng
Democratc canddates for offce. I beeve ths organzaton s one of the most
mportant Democratc Organzaton n Daas County and woud be honored to be
endorsed agan as I was n the ast two eectons.
2. What are your pans to partcpate n a coordnated campagn n the genera
eecton? Athough I am unopposed n the prmary or genera eecton n 2014, I
pan to bock wak, phone bank and fnancay contrbute to the coordnated
campagn. I was unopposed n the genera eecton n 2010 and I dd a of these
actvtes to assst n the coordnated campagn n that year. In 2006, I heped
spearhead our efforts and was asked to speak at the Texas Democratc Party press
conference on the day after the eecton. I aso was asked to speak to the Harrs
County Democratc Party about our effort n Daas County.
3. W you use the Stonewa Democrats of Daas endorsement n or on:
a) your webste-Yes.
b) your campagn terature and maers-Yes.
c) your soca meda assets (Twtter, Facebook, etc.)-Yes.
d) your campagn advertsements-Yes.
4. When eected, how w you recrut, retan, and create a frendy envronment for
LGBT and LGBT-frendy staff? I am the ncumbent |udge for ths court. I have
consstenty recruted, retaned and created a frendy envronment for LGBT
frendy staff.
5. Woud you be wng to appont a ason to meet wth the LGBT communty on a
ongong bass? If not, why? I woud. It sounds ke a great dea.
6. Understandng that admnstratve matters can take up a sgnfcant percentage of
your work day, what are some deas for poces or procedures that you thnk you
can mprove court operatons for the court whch you are seekng offce? What are
the most mportant poces or procedures you've dentfed as needng
mprovement?
As the ncumbent for ths poston, I woud ke to focus on my accompshments on
the bench.
Overvew - Sgnfcanty mproved effcency n court, deveoped an
nnovatve program to address home equty forecosures, provded
eadershp nsde and outsde the courthouse and presded over numerous
hgh-profe, compcated cases.
I. |udca effcency and farness
a. Proven effcent case management - In the ast annua budget
report by Daas County, the 68
th
Dstrct Court had the owest
pendng case count, owest tota expenses, and second owest
case cost per dsposton among the thrteen cv dstrct
courts.
b. Reduced watng tme for hearngs - The 68
th
Dstrct court has
ncreased the number of hearngs schedued on the hearng
docket, whch has cut the watng tme for hearngs by haf.
Worked cosey wth the assocate |udge who s assgned to
the court to process defaut |udgments more expedtousy.
c. Respected by the ega communty - Hods one of the hghest
approva rates among the Cv Dstrct |udges n the most
recent Daas Bar Assocaton |udca Evauaton Po. Rated
as "quafed" by the b-partsan Commttee for a Ouafed
|udcary n both of my |udca eectons (quafed s the
hghest eve attanabe by ths organzaton).
II. Leadershp Insde the Courthouse
a. Presdng |udge of the Cv Dstrct |udges for 2014-Eected
by my feow Cv Dstrct |udges to serve as the presdng
|udge among the Cv Dstrct |udges.
b. Presdng |udge of the George L. Aen Courthouse Centra |ury
Room (2009) Eected by the other twenty-two |udges at the
George Aen Courthouse to serve as the presdng |udge of
the Centra |ury Room. Spearheaded the mpementaton of
new |ury servces software that aows |urors to regster for
|ury servce on the nternet; t aso aows for more frequent
updates of the |ury "whee." Impemented a new program for
|udges to address the Centra |ury Room about the mportance
of |ury servce. Led a group of |udges and attorneys n
creatng the frst new |uror orentaton vdeo n over 20 years
n Daas County.
c. Asbestos Lason (2007 - 2013) - Eected by the thrteen other
Cv Dstrct |udges to serve as ason between the Asbestos
MDL |udge, the fve County Court at Law |udges, and the 13
Cv Dstrct |udges.
d. Cerk- Coordnator Semnar Co-Char (2009 - 2013) and
Organzer (2007 - 2011) - Organzed the Cerk-Coordnator
semnar for a the state and county courts n Daas County.
Average 100-150 attendees each year for the ast four years.
III. Leadershp Outsde the Courthouse
a. Daas Bar Assocaton, Board of Drectors Eected by over
10,000 members of the Daas Bar n December 2010 and
2012 to serve as the ony |udca representatve among
eected members of the DBA Board of Drectors. Served as
ason from Board of Drectors to ADR Secton and Lega
Ethcs commttee.
b. CLE presenter and organzer - Partcpated n and presented
for dozens of Contnung Lega Educaton (CLE) actvtes. The
most notabe of these CLE semnars was the Daas
Assocaton of Young Lawyers (DAYL) |ury Seecton- Tps and
Trcks - CLE organzer, presenter, and mock tra |udge. Over a
dozen |udges, twenty senor awyers, sxty young awyers, and
seventy aw students partcpated n ths program. Presented
wth Mchae Hurst and Lsa Bue. Ths program receved the
1
st
pace Servce to the Bar award for the 2008-2009 Loca
Affate Awards from the Texas Young Lawyers Assocaton
and an Award of Speca Recognton from the Amercan Bar
Assocaton Young Lawyers Dvson.
c. |udca Internshp Program - Named Outstandng Mentor by
Texas Young Lawyer and Daas Assocaton of Young Lawyers
n 2012. Extensve nvovement wth the Amercan Bar
Assocaton |udca Internshp Opportunty Program (ABA |IOP)
and the Daas Assocaton of Young Lawyers program.
Supervsed over 100 aw students, eght economcay
dsadvantaged hgh schoo students, ffteen new awyers, and
a sma number of pre-aw students n my court. Recruted
|udges to partcpate n the ABA |IOP program for mnorty and
economcay dsadvantaged students. Presented to aw
students at the courthouse (Unversty of Texas, Texas Tech,
and Bayor aw schoos) and at aw schoos (Unversty of
Texas, Bayor, and Southern Methodst Unversty) about these
programs. Ony |udge to be provded an Award of Recognton
from the DAYL for work wth the |udca nternshp program
durng the ast four years. Served as the |udca ason to the
DBA Student Law Intern Program for DISD hgh schoo
students for the ast four years. Conducted tours of the
courthouse and made presentatons durng the ast two years
for that program.
d. Vson 2020 Commttee |udca Lason - Seected as the soe
|udca ason to the Vson 2020 Commttee. Ths commttee
s charged wth deveopng a ong term pan for the Daas Bar
Assocaton. Personay charged wth estabshng a commttee
of |udges to map out the chaenges facng the |udcary over
the next decade. The commttee prepared a report that w
provde the bue prnt for the future of the Daas County
|udcary.
e. DBA Ad Hoc Commttee on Update to Loca Rues, Co-Char -
apponted by feow Cv Dstrct |udges to expore updates to
Daas County Loca Rues. Commttee created draft of
proposed amendments to Loca Rues whch have been
approved by the Cv Dstrct |udges and are currenty under
consderaton by the County Court at Law |udges.
I, __|udge Martn Hoffman___, am seekng an endorsement from the Stonewa Democrats
of Daas.
Sgned____Martn Hoffman_______________________________ Date___12-29-
2013._____________