Full Name: William G. Arnot III
Year of Induction: 2015
Bud Arnot was appointed a Justice of the Texas Court of Appeals, Eleventh District, in 1986, and became its Chief Justice in 1995. He chaired the Education Committee of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal in 1998, served on the Executive Committee, became president in 2001, and headed the committee that accomplished the difficult but necessary transition of the Council’s secretariat from the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division, Appellate Judges Conference, to SMU Dedmon School of Law in 2004. After retiring from the bench in 2005, he continued to serve on the Council’s Long Range Planning Committee, attend annual conferences, and assist the Council is securing financial resources.
A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University School of Law, he received an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He practiced law specializing in business litigation, banking, oil, gas, and energy law. After appointment to the bench, he chaired the Texas Judicial Conduct Commission and, among other things, was an Adjunct Professor at Texas Tech Law School. Following retirement from the court, he returned to the practice of law, and serves as a mediator and certified arbitrator for business and energy disputes.