Ward has been described as a "plain-talking Texan" [10] who maintains a "folksy demeanor" and a "fiery temper".
[14] One source claims that patent holders win 88% of the time in Ward's court, compared to an average of 68% nationwide.
[11][15] Ward believes the problem of patent trolls is overstated and that his record of being overturned only once supports this view.
[3][7][16] To speed things up, Ward adopted a set of rules covering both litigation and trial activities.
[11][15] His litigation rules included early disclosure of positions, establishment of firm case deadlines, and sanctions for parties abusing the discovery process.
Attorney Alan Fisch says that the "jurisdiction has a tailored set of rules for patent cases that streamline certain of the pretrial proceedings — generally this benefits both plaintiff and defendant.
[12] Ward credits his rules and resulting speed with causing the increase in patent suits filed in the district.
[8] Attorney Henry Bunsow claims that the fast cases can "cut legal fees in half.
"[7] His trial rules included strict timetables and the use of a chess clock to time opening and closing arguments.
[17] Both T. John and T. "Johnny" Ward, and their connection are briefly mentioned in the 2017 feature-length documentary The Patent Scam produced by Austin Meyer (author of the X-Plane (simulator)).