Texas Business Courts Update: Governor Abbott Appoints Inaugural Appellate and Trial Court Judges

On June 9, 2023, Governor Abbott signed S.B. 1045 into law, which created the Fifteenth Court of Appeals and granted it exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction over civil cases involving certain lawsuits brought against the State of Texas, state agencies, and state officials, as well as certain cases involving a challenge to the constitutionality or validity of a state statute or rule.¹ The same day, Governor Abbott also signed H.B. 19 into law, which created the Texas Business Courts — specialty trial courts with jurisdiction over certain civil cases involving commercial disputes — and in turn vested exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction over decisions from the Texas Business Courts in the Fifteenth Court of Appeals.²

On June 11, 2024, Governor Abbott announced his first three appointees to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals: (1) Scott A. Brister as Chief Justice, Place 1; (2) Scott K. Field, Place 2; and (3) April L. Farris, Place 3.³ These new justices will take the bench on the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, effective September 1, 2024, for terms set to expire on December 31, 2026, or until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified. The Office of the Texas Governor has provided the following biographical information about the appointees:

(1)  Scott A. Brister of Austin is a Senior Partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. Previously, he served as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas, Justice and Chief Justice of the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals, and Judge of the 234th Judicial District Court. Brister received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Duke University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

(2)  Scott K. Field of Liberty Hill is Judge of the 480th Judicial District Court in Williamson County. Previously, he served as a Justice of the Third Court of Appeals, partner at Butler Snow, LLP, managing partner of the Field Law Firm, PLLC and York, Keller & Field, LLP, and an attorney at Baker Botts LLP. Field received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor from UT Austin School of Law.

(3)  April L. Farris of Houston is a Justice on the First Court of Appeals, where she has served since January 2021. Previously, she was an Appellate Litigation Partner at Yetter Coleman, LLP and served as an Assistant Solicitor General for the Texas Solicitor General’s Office. Farris received a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from Abilene Christian University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.⁴

Governor Abbott may appoint additional justices in the coming weeks and months — given that S.B. 1045 specifies that the Fifteenth Court of Appeals will consist of four justices in addition to the Chief Justice.⁵

Over the course of the week, Governor Abbott also appointed two judges each to the Texas Business Court divisions in San Antonio, Dallas, Forth Worth, Austin, and Houston. The Governor’s appointees are:

San Antonio:

(1)     Marialyn Barnard currently serves as a Judge of the 73rd Judicial District Court in Bexar County.  Previously, she served as the Bexar County Commissioner for Precinct 3 and as a Justice on the Fourth Court of Appeals for 10 years. Barnard received a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and English from Texas A&M University – Commerce and a Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law.⁶

(2)     Stacy Sharp is an attorney and owner of Sharp Appellate PLLC and an adjunct professor at The University of Texas (UT) at Austin.  Sharp received a Bachelor of Science in Math, Spanish, and Education from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctor from UT Austin School of Law.⁷

Dallas:

(1)     Andrea Bouressa currently serves as a Judge of the 471st Judicial District Court and recently served a two-year term as Local Administrative District Judge for Collin County. Bouressa received a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Texas A&M University, a Master of Science in Sociology from the University of North Texas, and a Juris Doctor from the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dedman School of Law.⁸

(2)     William Whitehill is a member of Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton Nerenberg PLLC, where he is head of its appellate and special issues practice group, and a former Justice of the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas. Before joining the Court of Appeals, Whitehill was a trial and appellate partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell, LLP (n/k/a Foley & Lardner, LLP). Whitehill received a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor from the SMU Dedman School of Law.⁹

Fort Worth:

(1)     Jerry Bullard is a shareholder and attorney with Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. Bullard received a Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunications from Baylor University and a Juris Doctor from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.¹⁰

(2)     Brian Stagner is counsel and former partner at Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP and an adjunct professor at Texas Christian University teaching business law. Stagner received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Angelo State University and a Juris Doctor from Texas Tech University School of Law.¹¹

Austin:

(1)     Melissa Andrews is an equity partner at Holland & Knight who previosuly served as an attorney for Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Boyd and First Court of Appeals Justice Harvey Brown and was a law clerk for Judge Don R. Willett while he served on the Texas Supreme Court.  Andrews received a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Business from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor from The University of Texas (UT) School of Law.¹²

(2)     Patrick K. Sweeten currently serves as the Principal Deputy General Counsel for the Office of the Governor.  Previously, Sweeten served as the Deputy Attorney General for Special Litigation for the Office of the Texas Attorney General. Prior to government service, he was an associate and shareholder at Delano Law Offices, L.L.C. in Springfield, Illinois. Sweeten received a Bachelor of Arts from UT Austin and a Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law.¹³

Houston:

(1)     Sofia Adrogué is a partner with Diamond McCarthy LLP.  Adrogué received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Legal Studies from Rice University, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center, magna cum laude. Additionally, she is a graduate and alumna of the Harvard Business School Owner President Management Program.¹⁴

(2)     Grant Dorfman is a Visiting Judge and former Deputy First Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Texas Attorney General.  Previously, Dorfman served as Judge of the 334th Judicial District and the 129th Judicial District both in Harris County, as a Visiting Judge for the State of Texas, as counsel for Sheehy, Ware, Pappas & Grubbs, P.C., and as Senior In-House Counsel to Nabors Industries. Dorfman received an Artium Baccalaureus in Honors History from Brown University, a Master of Studies in History and Political Philosophy from Oxford University, and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.¹⁵

These newly appointed trial court judges will take the bench effective September 1, 2024, for terms set to expire on September 1, 2026.  With this round of appointments, each division of the Texas Business Courts now have inaugural members.

¹      Act of May 21, 2023, 88th Leg., R.S. ch. 459 (S.B. 1045), available at https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/SB01045F.htm.

²      Act of May 25, 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., ch. 380 (H.B. 19) (codified at Tex. Gov’t Code ch. 25A), available at https://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB00019F.htm

³      Office of the Texas Governor, “Governor Abbott Appoints Inaugural Members To Fifteenth Court Of Appeals,” Press Release, June 11, 2024, https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-appoints-inaugural-members-to-fifteenth-court-of-appeals.

⁴      Id.

⁵      S.B. 1045, § 1.04.

⁶      Office of the Texas Governor, “Governor Abbott Announces Appointments To New San Antonio Business Court Division,” Press Release, June 13, 2024, https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-appointments-to-new-san-antonio-business-court-division.

⁷      Id.

⁸      Office of the Texas Governor, “Governor Abbott Announces Appointments To New Dallas Business Court Division,” Press Release, June 12, 2024, https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-appointments-to-new-dallas-business-court-division#:~:text=The%20Governor%20has%20appointed%20Andrea,expire%20on%20September%201%2C%202026.

⁹      Id.

¹⁰     Office of the Texas Governor, “Governor Abbott Announces Appointments To New Fort Worth Business Court Division,” Press Release, June 12, 2024, https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-appointments-to-new-fort-worth-business-court-division.

¹¹     Id.

¹²     Office of the Texas Governor, “Governor Abbott Announces Appointments To New Austin Business Court Division,” Press Release, June 11, 2024, https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-appointments-to-new-austin-business-court-division.

¹³     Id.

¹⁴     Office of the Texas Governor, “Governor Abbott Announces Appointments To New Houston Business Court Division,” Press Release, June 14, 2024, https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-appointments-to-new-houston-business-court-division.

¹⁵     Id.