The steady influx of business has brought significant financial benefits to the area. It's not hard to suspect the correlation has a negative impact on the court's impartiality.
In the case of Gilstrap's predecessor, there's a direct connection.
> The top judge for patent cases in East Texas used to be John Ward, until he "retired" to join his son in a local law practice representing patent trolls.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-05-25/the-te...
https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/patently-unfair/
https://boingboing.net/2017/09/26/judge-rodney-gilstrap-2.ht...
http://www.judicialhellholes.org/2015-2016/u-s-district-cour...