Jerry Buchmeyer

Who was Jerry Buchmeyer?

Jerry L. Buchmeyer was a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas, Texas.

Born in Overton, Texas in 1933, Buchmeyer received an Associates' Degree from Kilgore College in 1953, his Bachelor's Degree from University of Texas in 1956, and his LLB degree from University of Texas School of Law in 1957. He graduated from UT's law school with the highest grade-point average in its history—a position he held for 15 years. From 1958 to 1979, he was in private law practice in Dallas at the law firm of Thompson & Knight. He died in San Marcos, Texas on September 21, 2009.

On August 3, 1979, Buchmeyer was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to be a federal judge for the Northern District of Texas. Buchmeyer was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 4, 1979, and received his commission on October 5, 1979. He served as chief judge from 1995 to 2002.

Buchmeyer's approach to hiring law clerks was diversity driven: When choosing among his best candidates, one of his first tie-breakers was whether the applicant was from a law school from which he'd never had a clerk.