OPINION | A Rare Opening On A Long-Serving Dallas County Court | Image by Clark B. Will for Judge – 298th District Court/Facebook
Republican Clark Will says his decades of legal experience would continue the 298th District Court’s tradition of experienced leadership while returning the court to its conservative roots.
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During its 44-year history, Dallas County’s 298th Judicial District Court has experienced remarkably little turnover.
Only three judges have led the civil court for more than a few months. Its first judge later joined the federal bench. His principal successor remained in office for two decades. The current judge has served for nearly 20 years.
Republican Clark B. Will believes his experience as a civil litigator, military attorney, and longtime Dallas lawyer makes him prepared to continue that tradition. His candidacy could also return the court to the conservative political roots that shaped approximately its first quarter-century.
Clark is running against Democratic nominee Ashley Snell Smith in the November 3, 2026, general election. The winner will succeed Judge Emily G. Tobolowsky, a Democrat who has presided over the court since January 2007.
The election presents voters with two attorneys from different generations and backgrounds — and a rare opportunity to select a new leader for a court known for stability.
A Court With Conservative Roots
The Texas Legislature created the 298th Judicial District in 1981, and the court began operating on April 1, 1982. Its jurisdiction covers Dallas County, and state law directs it to give preference to civil matters.
Those matters can include business disputes, employment cases, personal-injury claims, construction litigation, and other conflicts carrying significant financial and personal consequences.
The court’s first judge was Sidney A. Fitzwater, who was only 28 when he took the bench. Although young, Fitzwater quickly developed a strong professional reputation. In a 1983 Dallas Bar Association evaluation, approximately 97% of responding attorneys approved of his overall performance, while 98% described him as hardworking.
Fitzwater left the state bench in 1986 after President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He would go on to become one of the region’s longest-serving federal judges.
William W. Pryor briefly occupied the 298th bench following Fitzwater’s departure. Adolph Canales then took office in January 1987 and remained until the end of 2006.
Canales ran as a Republican and gave the court nearly two decades of continuity. His tenure included rulings in substantial civil disputes, although lawyers’ assessments of his performance became mixed in later Dallas Bar evaluations.
Tobolowsky, a Democrat, succeeded Canales in January 2007. She has now led the court for almost as long as he did.
The history is therefore more complicated than describing the 298th as simply Republican or Democratic. Republican judges principally led the court during its first 25 years, while a Democrat has occupied the bench for the past two decades.
Clark presents his candidacy as both a continuation and a restoration: a continuation of the court’s tradition of experienced, long-serving leadership and, politically, a potential return to its conservative roots.
A Career Spent at Counsel Table
The contrast between Clark and Fitzwater is striking.
The court began with a judge at the front end of his legal career. Clark is seeking the position after more than 45 years in the profession, including an active civil practice dating to 1986.
“In the 46 years I have practiced, it is highly unlikely that I will see something from the bench that I have not seen from counsel table,” Clark said in written responses to questions about his candidacy.
Clark is currently a partner at Shellist Lazarz Slobin LLP, an employment and civil litigation firm with offices in Dallas and Houston. His practice has included representing both plaintiffs and defendants in employment disputes, commercial cases, personal-injury litigation, and other civil matters.
That experience on opposing sides of the courtroom is central to his argument that he would approach cases without automatically favoring one kind of party.
Clark also served six years in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. His military work included service as a trial counsel, the Army’s equivalent of a prosecutor. He has described that experience as an important part of learning how to evaluate evidence, make difficult decisions, and accept responsibility for those decisions.
“The most important thing for an umpire is the same as a jurist: make the call,” Clark said.
Common Sense and Courtesy
Clark describes himself as a pro-business conservative, but much of his message focuses less on partisan politics than on courtroom management and judicial temperament.
“Common sense and common courtesy are not so common,” he said.
He argues that lawyers and litigants should be treated respectfully, hearings should be conducted efficiently, and judges should make timely decisions. He also believes judges must avoid carrying frustration from one case into the next.
“Judges need to have short memories,” Clark said. “Every hearing, every trial, should be a new day, a new shot.”
Clark has also said judges should remember that elected office is an act of public service.
“So many individuals run for public office and seem to forget that they are public servants,” he said. “They seem to seek to be served rather than to serve.”
Although judicial candidates run under party labels in Texas, judges are expected to decide cases according to the Constitution, statutes, and controlling precedent — not party platforms or political pressure.
Clark’s campaign states that judges should apply the law as written. In his interview responses, however, he also emphasized that courts must understand the purpose of a law and the justice it is intended to accomplish. If elected, voters and attorneys would ultimately judge how he reconciles those principles in actual cases.
Measuring the Court’s Workload
Clark has identified the court’s existing caseload as one of the central challenges facing its next judge. He described the backlog as large but cautioned against disposing of older cases without determining why they remain unresolved.
“It would be easy to just ‘take a chainsaw’ to it, but it’s going to need more of a scalpel,” Clark said.
His proposed approach includes short status conferences — sometimes conducted by video — to determine whether cases are ready for trial, what issues remain unresolved, and what is preventing them from moving forward.
Dallas County’s fiscal year 2025 Judicial Management Report shows that 2,541 cases were filed in the 298th District Court and 2,486 were disposed of during the reporting period. Those totals were slightly below the averages reported across the county’s civil district courts.
The report did not provide a pending-case total for the court, however, so it does not independently establish the size of the backlog Clark described. More detailed age-of-case information would be needed to determine how many older cases remain and how the 298th compares with other Dallas County courts.
Clark has also called for stronger enforcement of procedural rules, including meaningful conferences between attorneys before disputes are brought before the judge. He said courts should address genuinely sanctionable conduct while avoiding arbitrary or overly aggressive case management.
Two Different Paths to the Bench
Ashley Snell Smith offers voters a considerably different professional profile.
Smith is a partner at Fee, Smith & Sharp LLP. According to her professional biography, her practice includes commercial-vehicle cases, premises liability, construction accidents, property damage, and wrongful-death litigation. She has represented both businesses and individuals.
Smith earned her law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law and has received recognition through the Texas Rising Stars and Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch” lists. Her professional service has included work with State Bar of Texas educational programs and participation in an American Board of Trial Advocates judicial fellowship.
Neither Clark nor Smith has previously served as the elected judge of a civil district court.
Clark points to the breadth and length of his career, including his military service and decades of litigation, as evidence that he could enter the courtroom prepared for the variety of disputes likely to appear before him.
Smith offers a younger generation’s experience with contemporary civil litigation and argues through her campaign that she has the preparation and temperament required for the bench.
A complete comparison should also include Smith’s direct responses concerning court management, judicial philosophy, and the 298th District Court’s pending caseload.
A Decade Overseeing Dallas County Polling Places
Clark has also served for approximately 10 years as a Dallas County election judge.
An election judge manages a polling location and oversees voting procedures. The position is separate from a judicial office and does not involve deciding lawsuits.
Clark nevertheless says the experience taught him to apply rules consistently, remain impartial during politically charged situations, and protect every qualified voter’s access to the process.
His name presents another unusual challenge for a candidate. “Clark Will” can sound like the beginning of a sentence rather than a person’s full name — a small problem in a down-ballot contest where name recognition already tends to be limited.
Clark acknowledges an even larger political obstacle.
“I know that running as a Republican makes me a dark horse in a Dallas County race,” he said.
Dallas County has moved decisively toward Democratic candidates in countywide elections. Tobolowsky won the 298th District Court as a Democrat in 2006, and Democrats have since strengthened their position in the county’s judicial contests.
That political environment gives Smith an advantage based on recent voting patterns. Clark’s task will be to persuade voters to look beyond the party label and examine the qualifications and proposed courtroom practices of both candidates.
At the same time, Clark is not distancing himself from his conservatism. Instead, he is arguing that his philosophy reflects the court’s early history: limited judicial discretion, predictable application of the law, respect for constitutional boundaries, and an understanding of how court decisions affect businesses and individuals.
A Rare Choice for Voters
The 298th District Court has been shaped less by frequent political turnover than by extended periods of individual leadership.
Fitzwater established the court and earned strong early marks from the lawyers appearing before him. Canales supplied nearly 20 years of continuity under Republican leadership. Tobolowsky has provided another two decades of stability as a Democrat.
The next judge will inherit that history, along with a substantial civil docket and the responsibility of resolving disputes that can affect livelihoods, businesses, and families.
Clark is asking voters to see his candidacy as a bridge between the court’s past and its future: a return to its conservative beginnings, coupled with the experience of an attorney who has spent more than four decades at counsel table.
That is his case to make. Smith will have the opportunity to present a different vision.
For the first time in 20 years, Dallas County voters — not an incumbent — will determine who leads the 298th District Court.