Texas Judge With American Airlines Ties Bows Out of JetBlue Suit

A Texas business court judge who previously represented American Airlines Inc. as an attorney recused himself from presiding over a lawsuit the airline giant filed Monday over its short-lived alliance with JetBlue Airways Corp.

Judge Brian Stagner of the Fort Worth division stepped down on his own motion Tuesday, citing a potential bias.

The case filed by American Airlines is among the first from a high-profile company to be filed with Texas’ fledgling business courts, which opened nearly eight months ago and has received more than 100 cases largely involving Texas-based middle-market companies

American, which is headquartered in Fort Worth, ...