The steady influx of business has brought significant financial benefits to the area. It's not hard to suspect the correlation has a negative impact on the court's impartiality.

In the case of Gilstrap's predecessor, there's a direct connection.

> The top judge for patent cases in East Texas used to be John Ward, until he "retired" to join his son in a local law practice representing patent trolls.

From https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151101/00440632686/court...