About Eldon B. Mahon

Our Inn of Court bears the name of former Senior U.S. District Judge Eldon Mahon. Judge Mahon provided a driving force in establishing the Inn.

Judge Mahon was born in 1918 in Loraine, Texas. After obtaining his Bachelor's and Law Degrees from McMurry University and the University of Texas, Judge Mahon served with the Army Air Corps in the Pacific in World War II. Serving as a Briefing Attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas upon his return from military duty, he then held a number of public offices in Mitchell County including County Attorney, District Attorney and District Judge.

Judge Mahon took great pride that two American Presidents, each of whom belonged to a different major political party, championed him as a public servant. Judge Mahon's career in federal service began with his appointment as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas in1968 by President Lyndon Johnson. President Richard Nixon continued him in the office of United States Attorney. In 1972, President Nixon recommended Judge Mahon for United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas in the Fort Worth Division. Mahon took the oath as Judge on July 14, 1972, less than one month after President Nixon submitted his name to the Senate for confirmation.

During his 20 years as an active District Judge, Judge Mahon presided over an astonishing variety of civil and criminal cases; he authored over 175 published opinions. For several years Judge Mahon served as the sole active judge in the Fort Worth Division. His rulings always possessed a thoughtful and pragmatic approach to the law and facts, whether responding to a handwritten letter from a federal prisoner or deciding a complex anti-trust case. Judge Mahon took Senior status in 1989 and continued to serve the Northern District in a near full-time capacity until October 2002, when he took inactive Senior status.

Judge Mahon served as an active member of the United Methodist Church and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Texas Wesleyan University and the Harris Methodist Health System. In 1974 he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from McMurry University. He received an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree from Texas Wesleyan University in 1990.

In July, 1997, the Tarrant County Bar Association honored Judge Mahon with a reception to recognize his 25 years of service on the federal bench. Over 350 attorneys, judges, former law clerks, friends, and family members attended the reception. At that meeting, it was announced that local law firms and individual attorneys had pledged over $50,000 to underwrite a lecture series at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law on the subject of "Professionalism and Ethics" in honor of Judge Mahon. The first lecture, held on May 20, 2000 at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, featured The Honorable Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Over 800 members of the legal profession attended this inaugural lecture. The Honorable Thomas M. Reavley of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit presented the second lecture in the series. The third lecture in the series was given by the Honorable Patrick Higginbotham, also of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. We look forward to the continuation of this excellent series for many years to come.