It’s a new period in Texas. Chief Justice Nathan Hecht stepped down in December after a distinguished profession that spanned greater than three a long time. I might wager the mother and father of Hecht’s closing crop of clerks weren’t even in faculty when Hecht was appointed to SCOTX.
At present, Governor Abbott has elevated Justice Jimmy Blacklock to the Chief Justice Place.
Governor Abbott first appointed Justice Blacklock to the Court docket in 2018. Justice Blacklock was born in Houston and grew up in Missouri Metropolis, Texas, the place he attended public faculty, graduating from Elkins Excessive College. He then graduated from the College of Texas at Austin and from Yale Regulation College. Earlier than becoming a member of the Court docket, Justice Blacklock served as Governor Abbott’s basic counsel and within the Legal professional Basic’s workplace, the place he practiced appellate litigation amongst different duties. Justice Blacklock was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve within the U.S. Division of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. He clerked for Decide Jerry Smith on the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and labored in non-public follow in Houston and Austin. He lives in Austin together with his spouse and their three daughters.
And Abbott nominated James P. Sullivan to fill Justice Blacklock’s outdated seat.
Sullivan has served because the governor’s Basic Counsel since 2021. He beforehand served as Assistant Solicitor Basic of Texas and Deputy Basic Counsel to the governor. He earned his Bachelor of Arts diploma at Rice College. A Harvard Regulation graduate, Sullivan was a regulation clerk to Decide Thomas B. Griffith on the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, has served as an adjunct professor at George Mason College, and has been an appellate litigator in non-public follow.
Congratulations to them each!
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