Lawyers Face Audio Briefs, Phone Arguments With Texas Judge (1)

Patent attorneys who practice before U.S. District Court Judge Alan Albright better have a clear speaking voice: the federal judge likes to listen to audio recordings of their briefs on his commute to and from his Waco, Texas, courtroom.

Requesting audio briefs is one of several litigation procedures Albright has introduced since becoming a Western District of Texas judge in 2018, in an effort to speed up patent cases.

Albright, a former Bracewell LLP patent litigator, will hash out certain disputes over the phone, issue orders from the bench that can take months in other federal courts, and put a ...