Congratulations to Lee Ann Reno for her selection as magistrate judge for the Northern District of Texas’ Amarillo division! Magistrate Judge Reno is replacing Magistrate Judge Averitte, who served for the last 30 years as the Amarillo division’s first and only full-time magistrate judge.
Judge Reno’s service began on October 1, 2017. According to a Northern District of Texas News Release (available here):
Lee Ann Reno is a native of West Texas who grew up in Panhandle, Texas. She attended Texas Tech University and in 1990 received her Bachelor of Science in Education, summa cum laude. In 1994, she received her Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude, from Texas Tech University School of Law, where she served as a research editor of the Law Review. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Reno began private practice as an associate attorney at the Amarillo law firm of Sprouse, Mozola, Smith & Rowley, now known as Sprouse Shrader Smith. She has spent all 23 years of her law practice with the Sprouse firm. In January 2000, Ms. Reno became the second female partner in the firm, where her practice included cases in the areas of civil rights/governmental entity defense, personal injury defense, employment law, and commercial litigation.
In 2005, Ms. Reno’s peers elected her to serve as the President of the Texas Young Lawyers Association. Both before and since that time, Ms. Reno has served on numerous state and local bar committees, as well as civic organizations, including President of the Amarillo Area Bar Foundation, President of the Amarillo Area Women’s Bar Association, and President of the Amarillo Area Young Lawyers Association. She is a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. Ms. Reno was recently elected to be a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Ms. Reno has extensive trial and appellate experience, having tried well over 30 cases to verdict and handled numerous appeals in both state and federal courts. Ms. Reno is licensed in all state courts in Texas, and is admitted to practice in all four federal district courts in Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.