Judge John T. Wooldridge 

     Judge John T. Wooldridge obtained his Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Admiralty degree from Tulane Law School, his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law, and his Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree from Texas Christian University.

 

     He is a Senior District Judge (Ret.) and a former United States Military Judge with the Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary.   Judge Wooldridge has over twenty-three years of judicial service and has presided over numerous Civil, Criminal and Family Law cases.  He is also authorized and available to sit as a Visiting Judge by assignment within the State of Texas. 

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     Judge Wooldridge is a Panelist with the American Arbitration Association (AAA), Judicial Workplace Arbitrations, Inc. (JWA), and Dispute Solutions, Inc. (DSI).  He has been appointed as an arbitrator with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and has been approved to provide ADR services in the U.S. District Courts, Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. Judge Wooldridge has been inducted into the Texas Chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN) and has been named as a 2021-2022 Houstonia Magazine Top Lawyer in ADR.  He is available for Mediations, Arbitrations, Special Judge (CPRC 151), Mini Trial, as an Umpire, Commissioner, or other forms of ADR, statewide and nationally.  Judge Wooldridge also provides insurance claims Umpire services and has been appointed by both Court Ordered as well as claims appraisers as an Umpire regarding valuation of personal and real property or the amount of property loss.

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     His professional legal career has included service as a U.S. Navy Prosecutor (DON), service as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (DOJ), as a Senior Corporate Counsel with two multi-national offshore drilling services companies, a partner with a Houston law firm, concentrating in civil litigation, Admiralty and Maritime law, and had a mediation practice prior to his appointment to the Court.  He was an Adjunct Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law, Houston, Texas, was a Lecturer on Ethics in Business, Medicine/Science and Politics/Government at Rice University, Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, a Lecturer on the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause at Air University, United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps School, Maxwell AFB.  Judge Wooldridge has numerous civic activities, including service on the Board of Trustees at Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, Texas, service on the Board of Trustees at Episcopal High School, Bellaire, Texas, service on the Board of Directors of a Houston Charitable Foundation, and serves on the Vestry at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas.

 

     Judge Wooldridge is a Captain in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, retired after 30 years of military service.  He served on active duty during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm (Gulf War I).  His significant assignments include service onboard USS PHARRIS (FF 1094); as Trial Counsel, Naval Legal Service Office Norfolk; Command Prosecutor, USS INDEPENDENCE (CV 62) and USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71); Staff Judge Advocate, Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Mississippi; Command Judge Advocate, TWENTIETH Naval Construction Regiment; Appellate Defense Counsel, Appellate Defense Division; Force Inspector General and Assistant Force Judge Advocate, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Japan; Executive Officer and General Courts-Martial Military Judge, Navy Reserve Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary; Commanding Officer, Navy Reserve Region Legal Service Office, Europe, Africa and Southwest Asia; and Senior Military Justice Officer, Navy Reserve Region Legal Service Office, Hawaii.  Captain Wooldridge was recalled to active duty in 2008 for service during Operation Enduring Freedom and was assigned as Legal Counsel with the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants, U.S. Navy Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.   

 

     Judge Wooldridge was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1987 and has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit; U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas and the courts of the State of Texas.  He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and the Houston Bar Foundation.  Judge Wooldridge authored a Law Journal Article in the Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce titled, “Barratry by Exceeding the Navigational Limit of the Insurance Policy.”   He also has numerous other articles and seminar presentations.