Mary Albino carried her groceries home along a sleepy Brooklyn street. She looked up to see a neighborhood girl whizzing past her on roller skates. The girl held onto the back of a bus with one hand and waved to pedestrians with the other. Realizing that this was not just any neighborhood kid — it was her daughter — Mrs. Albino dropped her groceries. The former skating daredevil is better known to Dallas litigators as Hon. Lorraine Raggio, judge of the 162nd Civil District Court.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Judge Raggio was educated in a Catholic girl’s school where the sisters of St. Joseph “whipped us into shape.”

From the time she could hold a pencil, she drew dresses and gowns, aspiring to become a fashion designer. She even sent her designs to Katie Keene and checked week after week to see if they had been published. While innate fashion sense and persistence did not get her published, it does explain Judge Raggio’s Prada-perfect appearance.

Judge Raggio’s chambers are filled with family photos and her eyes light up when she talks about family life.

She met her husband Grier in 1973 on a public tennis court along the East River in Manhattan. “He was in ripped shorts and an old t-shirt,” Judge Raggio recalls. “When he gave me a law firm business card I thought this must be bogus or he must be a messenger.”

Grier Raggio is extremely supportive and the love of Judge Raggio’s life. Judge Raggio helped raise Grier’s two daughters, who were two and five years old when they met. The judge and her husband also have a daughter and two young grandchildren.

These days, Judge Raggio and Grier avoid playing competitive sports together. “We used to run couples races, but he complained that I ruined his time,” she says. “Now we speed walk. I yell ‘hurry up —- you’re ruining my time!’” They also enjoy hiking and an occasional bowling night for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. With bowling Judge Raggio says, “there’s no competition — we’re equally bad.”

College and the Professional World

Judge Raggio received both her B.S. and MBA from New York University. As an undergraduate she was a member of Phi Alpha Kappa, a finance honor. As a graduate student, she received a full scholarship and a stipend -- earning her MBA as an RCA Fellow.

Fascinated with economics, interest rates and the flow of money, she was in the first MBA group hired by Chemical Bank, now J.P. Morgan Chase. At the time, banking was primarily a male profession. When the vice president of a fortune 500/1000 company demanded to work only with Judge Raggio’s male boss, she not only refused his demand, but her efforts eventually saved his company millions. He later offered her a job.

While she loved the challenge and fulfillment of high finance, after 20 years of banking, she was ready for a new challenge.

Judge Raggio enrolled in law school intending to enter public service. In her third year of law school, she was one of only 10 students selected as an Alexander Fellow, giving her the opportunity to work for a federal judge in lieu of attending class. The experience crystallized her desire to become a judge.

After graduating from law school, Judge Raggio immersed herself in her new profession by joining the Dallas District Attorney’s office. She later entered civil defense and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of its broad scope.

On the Bench

Judge Raggio’s court is not a place to slack. She studies the briefs and, if necessary, researches the issues. Working long days and late nights to make sure her decisions are fair does not bother her — unless, of course, counsel cancels a hearing at the last minute.

After doing her homework, Judge Raggio typically takes the bench with an idea of how she is going to rule. She advises counsel how she is likely to rule and gives trailing counsel an opportunity to change her mind. She frequently rules from the bench. When Judge Raggio takes something under advisement, it haunts her until she makes a decision, which she likes to do while counsels’ oral arguments are fresh.

She offers the following suggestions when appearing in her court:

* Don’t cite a case without reading it.
* Don’t try to take more than your allotted time.
* Don’t cancel a hearing at the last minute.
* Do give the court a courtesy call if canceling a hearing at the last minute is unavoidable.
* Provide a summary for briefs that are more than 20 pages long.
* Provide a courtesy notebook with current pleadings and briefs well in advance of the hearing.
* Give opposing counsel a conformed copy of any highlighted cases provided for the judge.
* Proofread and pay attention to grammar.

For Judge Raggio, being a judge is more difficult than being an advocate. “As an advocate you put on your warrior gear and run with it,” she says. “But as a judge you consider and weigh it all.”

Judge Raggio appears to thrive on challenge. She embraces justice and our judicial system. According to Judge Raggio: “I am really impressed with the Dallas County jurors. They are diligent and attentive. When I listen to their post-trial comments, their thinking process is amazing. I am so proud — the system works.”