Second Court of Appeals

Justice Place 3

Hal S. Lattimore (1932 to 1935)

Halbert “Hal” S. Lattimore was born on September 10, 1892, in Tarrant County, Texas.  He attended Baylor University and was involved with many organizations.  He was the editor-in-chief of The Lariat, Baylor’s weekly student newspaper.  He also represented Baylor in debates and oratorical contests, was a member of the Baylor Press Club, and was a leader in the literary society.  After graduating from Baylor at age nineteen, he attended graduate school at the University of Chicago and worked for two years as a schoolteacher.  He washed cars to pay his way through law school at The University of Texas and received his law degree in 1916.

After passing the bar exam, Lattimore opened a general law practice.  In 1923, he was appointed by Governor Pat M. Neff to serve as judge of the 96th District Court in Tarrant County.  At the time of his appointment, he was believed to be the youngest judge in the State of Texas.  In 1932, he was elected to the Second Court of Appeals.  In 1935, he left the court to return to private practice.  Lattimore explained that he left his judicial position because its salary was too low to provide for his family and his future and declared that the fact that Texas judicial salaries were the lowest in the nation was “a blot on the name of the greatest state.”

Lattimore was involved with University Baptist Church, The Fort Worth Club, and The Exchange Club; he was a Mason and Shriner.  He was a former director and chairman of the judiciary section of the Texas Bar Association.  He also belonged to the Tarrant County Bar Association, was a former state director of the YMCA, and served as the first president of the Forest Park Civic League in 1949.  He passed away on June 18, 1969, at 76 years old.