Barbara M. G. Lynn (born September 19, 1952) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (in case citations, N.D. Tex.) is a United States district court. Its first judge, Andrew Phelps McCormick, was appointed to the court on April 10, 1879. The court convenes in D ...

, with chambers in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas.

Early life and education

Born in Binghamton,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Lynn received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Virginia in 1973. She received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 1976.

Professional career

Lynn was in private practice from 1976 to 1999 at the law firm Carrington Coleman in Dallas. Lynn was the firm's first female associate (1976–1982) and then became the firm's first female partner (1983–1999) prior to joining the bench.

Federal judicial service

On March 25, 1999, Lynn was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the

vacated by Harry Barefoot Sanders, Jr. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 17, 1999 and received her commission on November 22, 1999. On May 1, 2016, she became the chief judge of the Northern District of Texas, the first woman to hold the position. Her term as chief judge ended on September 6, 2022.

Notable cases

Dallas Mayor corruption

Lynn was the presiding judge in the case of former Dallas Mayor

Pro-Tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum, locum tenens'' ( ...

Don Hill. Hill, and his wife Sheila Farrington Hill were sentenced on February 26, 2010 after being convicted on

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

charges. Don Hill was sentenced to eighteen years in prison while his wife was sentenced to nine years in prison. The judge called the actions "a betrayal to our city".

Lyrick Studios vs. Big Idea Productions

In 2001, film studio Lyrick Studios filed a lawsuit against

Big Idea Productions Big Idea Entertainment, LLC (formerly known as Big Idea Productions, Inc. and Big Idea, Inc.; also simply as Big Idea) is an American Christian animation company, best known for its computer-animated ''VeggieTales'' series of Christian-them ...

, creator of the Christian show VeggieTales, for "breach of contract." The judge assigned to the case was Lynn, who denied Big Idea's request for summary judgement, thereby allowing the case to go to trial in April 2003. Lyrick argued that they had a binding though unsigned agreement with Big Idea to distribute VeggieTales for the company, and that Big Idea had breached the deal by moving to Warner Music at the end of 2001. A jury ruled against Big Idea Productions and Lynn awarded Lyrick $11M as well as legal fees, causing Big Idea to file for bankruptcy. Big Idea appealed Lynn's ruling and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned the judgement in August 2005, ruling that faxes and memos set out by Lyrick were not sufficient under the law; therefore, Lynn should have granted Big Idea's request for summary judgement.

Duncan v. Bonta

Sitting with the 9th Circuit, Lynn dissented when the 9th circuit blocked California's law limiting gun magazine capacity to 10 bullets. The ruling was made on August 14, 2020. On November 30, 2021, the 9th circuit in a 7-4 decision, sitting ''en banc'', reversed the prior decision and upheld the law, thus affirming Lynn's dissent.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Barbara M. G. 1952 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges Dedman School of Law alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Lawyers from Binghamton, New York United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton University of Virginia alumni