--- title: "Lee Hyman Rosenthal | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/lee-hyman-rosenthal" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Lee Hyman Rosenthal U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas - State: Texas - Role: Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, S.D. Texas, 1992-present - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, having assumed senior status on December 1, 2024 - From 1978 to 1992, she practiced law in Houston, Texas, rising to partner at Baker Botts in 1985 - Law clerk, Hon. John R. Brown, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1977-1978 - She completed a one-year clerkship with Chief Judge John Robert Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ### Education - B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1974 and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1977, where she edited the Law Review. ### Additional information - Oral History of Distinguished American Judges, Institute of Judicial Administration, New York University School of Law, 2024. - Chief Judge: November 13, 2016 – November 29, 2022. - Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 2016-2020 - Rosenthal chaired the Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure (appointed 2007 by Chief Justice John Roberts) - Under her leadership, the civil rules were revised for clarity and simplicity in 2006–2007. - She also held the role of chair of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (1996–2003). - Appointed: March 20, 1992, by President George H. W. Bush to a new seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. - Confirmed: May 12, 1992, by the U.S. Senate; commissioned May 13, 1992. - Private practice, Houston, TX, 1978-1992 - Private practice, Houston, Texas, 1978-1992 - Born November 30, 1952, in Richmond, Indiana. - Date of birth: 1952-01-01 - overseeing federal court rule-making. - She has been active in professional organizations, including the American Law Institute (Second Vice-President) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387151) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387151) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387151) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2783/lee-hyman-rosenthal/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2783/lee-hyman-rosenthal/) - [Judge Lee Hyman Rosenthal](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387151) - [Wikidata: Lee H. Rosenthal](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13560985) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/lee-hyman-rosenthal", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/lee-hyman-rosenthal", "name": "Lee Hyman Rosenthal | KnowJudges", "description": "Lee Hyman Rosenthal, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.