First Court of Appeals
Chief Justice Terry Adams
Chief Justice Terry Adams was elected to the First Court of Appeals in 2022. Before that, he was appointed by Governor Abbott in 2020 to be a Justice on the Court--and he served the rest of that term. Prior to joining the First Court of Appeals, Chief Justice Adams was an accomplished appellate attorney in Houston with his own appellate... Read more
Justice Veronica Rivas-Molloy
Place 3
Justice Veronica Rivas-Molloy was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November 2020. She is the first immigrant elected to the First Court of Appeals, and only the third Hispanic woman to serve on the Court. Justice Rivas-Molloy was born in Mexico, and she grew up along the El Paso-Juarez border area. She graduated with honors from the University of... Read more
Justice Amparo (Amy) Monique Guerra
Place 5
Justice Amparo (Amy) Guerra was elected to the Texas First Court of Appeals in 2020, bringing her record of academic and professional excellence to the bench. She previously served as an Associate Municipal Judge for the City of Houston while practicing law full time. She was the youngest sitting judge on that court when she was originally appointed in 2005 at... Read more
Justice David M. Gunn
Place 4
Justice David Gunn joined the First Court of Appeals in October 2024. Justice Gunn came to the Court after more than two decades of practicing appellate law as a partner at the Beck Redden law firm in Houston. Justice Gunn was born in Austin and grew up in Houston. He earned two engineering degrees and two law degrees: B.S. in Chemical Engineering... Read more
Justice Jennifer Caughey
Place 2
Jennifer Caughey is your Justice on the First Court of Appeals, Place 2. She was elected to a six year term on the Court, commencing on January 1, 2025. Before serving, Justice Caughey was most recently the Chair of Jackson Walker LLP’s Appellate Section, and she previously served as a Justice on Texas’s First Court of Appeals. Justice Caughey spent... Read more
Justice Kristin Guiney
Place 8
Justice Clint Morgan
Place 7
Clint Morgan won election to the First Court in the November 2024 general election. Before his election, Justice Morgan served as an Assistant District Attorney of Harris County for twelve years, all in the appellate division. In that role he was lead counsel in more than 350 appeals, including 20 cases in the Court of Criminal Appeals. From 2016 to... Read more
Justice Andrew Johnson
Place 6
Justice Andrew Johnson was elected to the First Court of Appeals in 2024. Andrew is a career appellate attorney and Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He began his legal career as a briefing attorney on the First Court of Appeals and spent several years as a staff attorney on the Fourteenth Court... Read more
Justice Susanna Dokupil
Place 9
Susanna Dokupil was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November 2024. With over two decades of experience, Susanna’s career has spanned all three branches of government as well as private practice. She has been a Special Counsel and Assistant Solicitor General in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas as well as a Special Counsel to the... Read more