Austin, September 26, 2018
Attorney General Ken Paxton today congratulated Michael C. Toth – a former special counsel on his office’s executive team – after he was sworn in as justice on the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals. Toth was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to replace Justice Bob Pemberton, who retired after 15 years on the court.
“Michael Toth has a great legal mind, the highest ethical standards, and will serve the people of Texas as a justice on the 3rd Court of Appeals with dignity, dedication and brilliance,” Attorney General Paxton said. “Justice Toth will remain true to the constitution and apply the law as it was enacted by the people’s representatives, not legislate from the bench.”
Toth served in leadership for Attorney General Paxton for two years before leaving earlier this year to assume the role of senior counsel at Austin law firm Dykema Cox Smith. During his tenure with the attorney general’s office, Toth developed and implemented litigation strategy in a number of high-profile cases, generated successful arguments in federal cases that resulted in nationwide injunctive relief, and spearheaded the attorney general’s engagement with federal officials and state attorneys general on federal statutory and regulatory issues.
Previously, Toth served as a trial attorney in the United States Marine Corps, rising to the rank of major, and remains a legal advisor to an active duty unit in the reserves. Earlier in his career, he clerked for the Hon. Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and for the Hon. Ursula Ungaro of the Southern District of Florida.
Toth earned his law degree and a master’s in history from the University of Virginia, and received a bachelor’s in history, magna cum laude, from Stanford University.
Based in Austin, the 3rd Court of Appeals handles criminal and civil appeals from 24 Central Texas counties. Toth’s appointment as a justice on the 3rd Court of Appeals is for a term to expire December 31, 2018.
