As newly-appointed Federal Judge Sam Lindsay took the bench last month, he found himself in a position to impact the lives of millions of Americans.

"It’s an awesome responsibility," he said. "It requires you to review constitutional statutes passed by Congress."

But impacting lives and impacting society is something Lindsay is used to and being in a position that allows him to impact lives is the reason he chose the legal profession 25 years ago.

"In my junior year of college I looked at professions that would allow me to have the most impact on society. The two professions that came to mind were the medical and legal fields," he said. "After a lot of debate and soul searching, the legal field had the most appeal because everyone is affected daily by the law and many people are taken advantage of because they do not understand the law."

For the past nineteen years, Lindsay has had a direct impact on the lives of Dallas residents serving in the City Attorney’s office. He began in the Prosecution Division in May 1979, worked in the federal litigation section for 10 years, served as Executive Assistant City Attorney from 1990-1991, as First Assistant City Attorney for 10 months, Acting City Attorney for six months and finally took the top job in May 1992. He held the City Attorney post until last month. During his career at the City, he has handled over 350 cases, 60 trials and served as chief legal adviser to the City of Dallas and City Council.

In some ways Lindsay’s new job as federal judge for the Northern District of Texas is similar to the post he just left.

"One primary responsibility had been to advise the Dallas City Council - all council members have different political agendas. Sometimes what a council member wanted to do was not legal and it was my responsibility to inform that council member that he or she could not take that course of action. In other words, I was sort of a referee to ensure that the game was played fairly and, to that extent, I will be doing the same thing as a judge," he said.

The new job will be exciting, challenging and historic as Lindsay is the first African-American federal judge in North Texas. It’s also a little intimidating as Lindsay takes on a job that defines democracy in this country.

"If there were no federal court system, this country would not have a democracy," he said. "The federal judiciary is why democracy exists in this country today. The federal judiciary reminds society that we have a system based on laws, and there is not one person who is above the law. The federal judiciary is there to ensure that no individual puts himself or herself above the law."

Lindsay was nominated by President Bill Clinton on November 8, 1997 to be a federal judge for the Northern District of Texas and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on March 11.

In his roles as City Attorney and other positions with the City Attorney’s office, Lindsay has left his mark on the city of Dallas. He wrote a curfew ordinance designed to curb teenage crime which has become a model for thousands of cities across the U.S. He tried and successfully defended the ordinance all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States.

He automated the City Attorney’s office and supervised $300,000 in renovation and upgrades to offices. Lindsay has also reduced turnover rate from 27% to 15% by ensuring that salaries remain competitive with other major Texas cities.

"What I wanted to do was to make the City Attorney’s office an attractive place to work," he said.

Lindsay has been responsible for a staff of 114 employees, including 77 attorneys. His professional affiliations include the Dallas Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Dallas Inn of Court, J.L. Turner Legal Association, City of Dallas Judicial Nominating Commission, International Municipal Lawyers Association, Southwestern Legal Foundation, Leadership Dallas Class of 1992, Federal Judiciary Advisory Committee for the Northern District of Texas, and Dallas Business Journal Advisory Committee.

In 1993, he was awarded the Trailblazers Award for being the first African-American City Attorney. In 1996, he was awarded the C.B.Bunkley Award for exceptional service to the community by the J.L. Turner Legal Association.

Born in San Antonio on October 16, 1951, Lindsay was raised in South Texas. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in History and Government from St. Mary’s University in 1974, graduating Magna Cum Laude. In 1977, he earned his J.D. degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.

After two years as staff attorney with the Texas Aeronautics Commission, Lindsay accepted his first post with the city of Dallas. It was Lindsay’s wife, Kathleen, who brought the family to Dallas when she accepted a position as Programmer/System Analyst with Atlantic Richfield. The Lindsays have three daughters: Constance, 17, Rachel, 13, and Heather, 9.

Even though Lindsay is excited about his new position, he left his position with the City of Dallas with some sadness.

"I will miss the interaction with my staff - through the years I’ve grown close to a number of people," he said. "I will miss the young attorneys and watching them grow and develop into really good attorneys."