Judge Crane has been a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas since 2002. He presides in the McAllen Division. Judge Crane received both his undergraduate and law degrees from his beloved University of Texas. Upon graduation, Judge Crane became licensed by the State Bar of Texas at the age of 22. He joined the iconic south Texas law firm of Atlas & Hall where he practiced in the area of civil litigation for over fourteen years. During this time, Judge Crane was president of the Hidalgo County Young Lawyers Association and a director of the Hidalgo County Bar Association. He has served on committees of the State Bar of Texas and was a director of the Texas–Mexico Bar Association.

Judge Crane presides over one of the largest criminal case loads in the country. Judge Crane was at one time the second busiest sentencing judge in the country. Judge Crane’s typical criminal case load is greater than that of over 16 typical judges.

Since taking the bench, Judge Crane has focused his efforts on improving the courts automation and information technologies. Along with a group of talented programmers, Judge Crane assisted with the design and implementation of the Court’s current case management software known as CEO. After several revisions and upgrades this software was adopted nationally by the AO and is now used by most courts. Judge Crane spent several years traveling throughout the country conducting Judge to Judge training on the use of CEO, lecturing on these issues at numerous conferences and teaching new Judges at their initial Phase I training.

Judge Crane is married with two sons. He is an avid runner with over 20 marathons completed and an avid fisherman. Judge Crane claims to have caught a 34” redfish but it got away.

8:45am - The New(er) Judges of the Southern District of Texas

2:45pm - Judging in a Post-Pandemic World