I believe I read his son is the lawyer representing the patent-holders (it could have been another judge there, though).

In addition to the reason that you stated there is also an amount of power that is conveyed to him by being so involved in the way that he is. It's an entirely bureaucratic way of thinking and what people of even nominal power (say the janitor who controls the supply closet) thrive on. While you can't argue the importance of a judge in a case like this (not a janitor) his importance and good feeling by getting positive feedback from attorneys filing cases which he handles must be quite the drug. To him it must be like being able to decide who gets an academy award or into a good school.

One interesting note: Marshall, TX (pop. 23,000) has become such a hotspot for patent suits that large tech companies have started pouring major charitable donations into it. Samsung in particular has given hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships and other gifts to Marshall residents.

Now, I would be hard pressed to describe that as something other than "pre-emptive jury tampering", but since I would also describe patent trolling as a modern protection racket, it's hard for me to really get mad about.

So there is, at least, some financial gain coming to Gilstrap's town in return for this madness.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/02/patent-troll-cla...

$$$.