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C. Justices’ Top Overall Donors
| Contributions | No. of | ||
| Employer/PAC | To The Justices | Interest | Checks |
| Vinson & Elkins | $287,680 | Defense Firm | 344 |
| Baker Botts | $214,913 | Defense Firm | 622 |
| Fulbright & Jaworski | $176,890 | Defense Firm | 302 |
| Bass Family | $168,000 | Oil/Gas | 48 |
| Susman Godfrey | $137,250 | Defense Firm | 71 |
| Thompson & Knight | $118,609 | Defense Firm | 197 |
| Locke Purnell Rain Harrell | $112,873 | Defense Firm | 125 |
| Bracewell & Patterson | $107,275 | Defense Firm | 137 |
| Enron Corp | $103,108 | Oil/Gas | 54 |
| Haynes & Boone | $95,485 | Defense Firm | 83 |
| Liddell Sapp Zivley Hill & LaBoon | $93,175 | Defense Firm | 83 |
| Hughes & Luce | $91,971 | Defense Firm | 87 |
| Texas Society of CPAs | $85,200 | Accounting | 27 |
| Texas Medical Assn | $78,313 | Medical | 30 |
| Strasburger & Price | $77,500 | Defense Firm | 37 |
| Gardere Wynne | $71,700 | Defense Firm | 99 |
| Jackson Walker | $70,300 | Defense Firm | 38 |
| Mayor Day Caldwell & Keeton | $69,450 | Defense Firm | 46 |
| Andrews & Kurth | $67,190 | Defense Firm | 105 |
| Texas Assn of Defense Counsel | $65,500 | Defense Firm | 18 |
| Ware Snow Fogel Jackson & Greene | $64,500 | Defense Firm | 20 |
| Thompson Coe Cousins & Irons | $60,850 | Defense Firm | 29 |
| Clements O'Neill Pierce & Nickens | $59,382 | Defense/Plaintiff Firm | 35 |
| H B Zachry Co | $59,250 | Construction | 76 |
| Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld | $58,575 | Defense Firm | 45 |
| TOTAL | $2,594,939 | 2,758 |
Funding for the political campaigns of sitting Texas Supreme Court justices is highly concentrated. The accompanying table shows how much money the nine justices raised in their last elections from the PACs and employees of the 25 top sources of Supreme Court campaign dollars. These 25 sources account for 14 percent of all the checks the justices received; together they contributed $2.6 million—or 24 percent of all the money that the justices raised.
Business law firms and the defense firms that typically represent business interests before state judges are the dominant source of Supreme Court campaign cash. Led by the triumvirate of Vinson & Elkins, Baker Botts and Fulbright & Jaworski, business and defense firms account for 19 of the Supreme Court’s top 25 sources of campaign money. The recent merger of Locke Purnell with Liddell Sapp also catapults Locke Liddell into these ranks. There are just five leading sources of campaign money on this list that are not law firms. All five of these other top sources of campaign cash are the very kinds of business interests that hire defense firms to fend off plaintiff lawsuits. In contrast, the top plaintiff firm, Perdue Clore & Perdue, contributed $35,000 to the justices. This firm ranks as the 61st largest source of their campaign cash.