Judge Ward was sworn in as a federal district judge for the Eastern District of Texas in September 1999. Previously he was a trial lawyer with the law firm of Brown McCarroll & Oaks Hartline, L.L.P. He received his B.A. (Chemistry) from Texas Tech in 1964 and his J.D. from Baylor University in 1967. Judge Ward is a member of the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Court Management, a Judicial Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and an Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates.