Texas justice fined over law firm's $168K discount

A Texas Supreme Court justice was fined $29,000 on Thursday after the state ethics commission found that a law firm provided what amounted to an illegal campaign contribution by giving him a $168,000 discount on legal fees.

Nathan Hecht, the longest-serving member of the high Texas court, accumulated close to half a million dollars in legal fees in a fight over allegations that he abused his position by openly supporting Harriet Miers' bid for a U.S. Supreme Court seat. He says the discount was legal and proper.

"I'm disappointed," said Hecht, who told reporters after a public hearing Thursday that he was contemplating a court appeal.

Hecht received the discount from attorney Chip Babcock and his law firm, Jackson Walker.

The Texas Ethics Commission, tasked with investigating a complaint against Hecht, found there was credible evidence that the reduction in fees was actually a campaign contribution that violated judicial campaign finance limits and was not listed as a donation on the justice's campaign finance reports. Texas judges can't receive donations exceeding $5,000 from law firms.

"It's a political contribution. It's a violation of the law," said Tim Sorrells, assistant general counsel of the commission. "It was not reported."

Hecht lawyer Ed Shack said the justice made a mistake in the way he described the discount in a fundraising letter. But he said it was merely a routine cut in fees that's allowable and even encouraged under state law.

"No political contribution ever occurred," he said.

The legal fees stem from a 2006 abuse of office complaint that Hecht eventually got overturned. Hecht was sanctioned in 2006 by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which alleged that he had abused his office by promoting Miers, who was nominated to be a U.S. Supreme Court justice in 2005 but ultimately withdrew.

Legal canons bar Texas judges from endorsing candidates for public office, but Hecht was able to get the sanction reversed on appeal by arguing that Miers was not running for elective office.

In the process, Hecht racked up legal fees that Jackson Walker calculated to be about $476,000, testimony revealed Thursday. Hecht later told supporters that he had gotten a substantial discount on the fees from Babcock and the law firm. A liberal watchdog group, Texas Watch, then complained that Hecht never properly reported that discount.

Texas Watch wanted the commission to assess its maximum fine, which could have pushed the total to more than $400,000. But Alex Winslow, director of the group, said he was happy Hecht got sanctioned.

"Certainly, the Ethics Commission determined today that Justice Hecht acted improperly," Winslow said. "Did we expect the fine would be larger? Yes, but this has more to do with accountability than the amount of the penalty."