About "EDTexweblog"
EDTexweblog.com is web log devoted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, with special emphasis on patent litigation. It is published by Michael C. Smith, a partner in the law firm of Siebman, Reynolds, Burg, Phillips & Smith, LLP, which has offices in Sherman, Plano, Lufkin, and Marshall. Michael manages the firm's office in his hometown of Marshall, Texas, where he specializes in assisting companies and firms involved in litigation in federal court, particularly patent and other complex commercial litigation.
Michael has appeared as counsel in over 250 cases in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas and has argued a number of cases at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a frequent speaker at seminars on topics including federal court practice, discovery, expert testimony, contribution and indemnity issues, and product liability and intellectual property litigation, and has been quoted on the subject of the Eastern District's patent docket in the New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, the Austin American Statesman, and legal publications including IP Law & Business, Texas Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, Lawyers Weekly, and numerous other publications.
Michael has served as chairman of the Local Rules Advisory Committee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas since 2000, and editor of O'Connor's Federal Rules * Civil Trials, a rulebook on procedure in federal courts, since 1998. He recently completed a three year term as an elected member of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors representing the 25 counties of district 1 (northeast Texas). He was recognized with the Outstanding Third Year Director award and a Presidential Citation for his work on the State Bar Board, where he chaired the Member Services and Education committee for two years. He is a past president of the Eastern District of Texas Bar Association, the Harrison County Bar Association, and the East Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He aslo currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Editors of the Texas Bar Journal and as Treasurer of the State Bar of Texas Litigation Section Council.
Michael received his bachelor’s degree from East Texas State University, his master’s degree in public administration from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and his law degree from Baylor University. During graduate school, Mr. Smith worked as an intern at several state and federal agencies in Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas, and prior to entering private practice was a law clerk for the late U.S. District Judge Sam B. Hall, Jr. of the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall and Texarkana Divisions. For additional information on Michael's legal experience, see his Litigation Record on Westlaw.
Michael has been active in community affairs in Marshall, including serving on the Marshall City Commission for three terms (1996-2002) as well as on numerous local boards and committees, including the Marshall Planning & Zoning Commission, the Courthouse Preservation Committee (courtroom renovation committee chair), the Citizens Advisory Committee (president, 2008-present) and the Marshall Chamber of Commerce board of directors. Michael is married to Jamie Noland Smith, who is currently serving her fourth four-year term as Harrison County Treasurer . Michael and Jamie have three sons, Grayson, 9, and twins Collin and Parker, 5. Michael is also the author of books on Essex and Independence class World War II aircraft carriers, and is an avid reader of history and DaVinci Code knock-offs of varying quality, all of which are discussed in detail that can only be described as excruciating on his personal weblog Puttering in the Study.
