Jim Moseley, who has served as a justice on Dallas' Fifth Court of Appeals for 18 years, announced he's leaving the bench on Aug. 21 to join Gray Reed & McGraw as chairman of the 120-lawyer firm's appellate section.

Moseley said he was grateful for his time on the court, but at age 60, it was just time to go back to private practice.

"Unless I'm going to stay until I'm 75, now is the time to make a move. And they offered an opportunity that I think is exciting: to develop an appellate practice and teach other lawyers how to do that,'' Moseley said of Gray Reed.