HALTOM CITY JUDGE BYNO ['LAX JACK'] 
EXPOSED as a 'PHONY" BY DAVE LIEBER. 
- Michael Lynn Mincy 8/22/2001

**********

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Newspaper
Sunday, August 19, 2001 
Section B: Page 1 


[ By Dave Lieber ]

For Judge, Liability is Relative 
 
"Max" Jack Byno, the Haltom City municipal judge who is quick to send 
people to jail, has heard every excuse in the book.

Max Jack - a nickname he earned for his maximum sentences - heard the 
excuses of parents whose children missed too many days of school before 
he sent the parents to jail.

He heard the excuses of a 7-months-pregnant woman before he allowed her 
to volunteer for a road cleanup crew to fulfill her sentence of community 
service. (The woman did not remove trash or weeds, but she accompanied 
the crew on its rounds.)

He heard excuses from crying mothers who said they would lose their jobs 
and have no one to watch their children if they went to jail for nonpayment 
of fines. As a measure of his compassion, Max Jack offered to call 
Child Protective Services to take care of the children while their mothers 
are away.

[****]

Nobody is tougher on people than Max Jack. He turns those pitiful excuses 
aside with his trademark lecture about personal responsibility. But suddenly,
Max Jack is making excuses of his own.

In June, a Tarrant County jury found Laura Byno, his wife and law partner at 
Byno & Byno in Bedford, liable for negligence in a case brought against her 
by a former client, Michael Keisling of North Richland Hills. Keisling 
accused Laura Byno of missing his 1995 divorce trial, which in turn led to 
a chain of uncontrollable events that caused his financial ruin.

"I lost it all," says Keisling, who has the paperwork to back it up.

When I called Laura Byno for an interview, her husband and law partner 
[ Haltom City Judge Jack Byno ] returned the call. Max Jack said that even 
though he had nothing to do with the case, he would speak on her behalf. 
His wife could not speak because the case is expected to be appealed, 
he said.

During our conversation, Max Jack became Lax Jack. He piled excuse upon 
excuse and neglected to mention his wife's personal responsibility.

Judge Byno's explanations are relevant because he has announced his run for 
judge in Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 3. Byno will challenge respected 
25-year incumbent Judge Billy Mills in the March Republican primary. 
Mills was the top-rated county criminal court judge in this year's Tarrant 
County Bar Association survey.

Candidate Byno has no involvement in Mike Keisling's legal nightmare. 
Jack Byno met Keisling at his wife's malpractice trial.

[***]


Lax Jack, already an embarrassment in Haltom City, is now running for a 
county judgeship that would give him far greater judicial powers. 
But his excuses regarding his wife's legal bungling show that he lacks 
the greater judicial temperament and compassion needed to do the job. 

His excuses show that he is a phony.

Dave Lieber's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

(817) 685-3830 www.star-telegram.com/dave dlieber@star-telegram.com