Fourteenth Court of Appeals

Chief Justice Tracy Christopher

Tracy Christopher was elected Chief Justice of the 14th Court of Appeals in November 2020. She first joined the Court when she was appointed as a Justice in December 2009. Prior to her appointment, Chief Justice Christopher was the judge of the 295th District Court for 15 years,and was highly rated as a trial judge. She was honored as Appellate... Read more

Justice Ken Wise

Place 7

Justice Ken Wise was appointed to the 14th Court of Appeals by Governor Rick Perry in October 2013. Prior to his appointment, Justice Wise served as the judge of the 334th Judicial District Court, administrative judge of Harris County, and an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center. Justice Wise is also a former judge of the 152nd... Read more

Justice Kevin Jewell

Place 2

Justice Kevin Jewell was elected to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals on November 8, 2016.  Prior to his election, Justice Jewell was a litigation and appellate shareholder at Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry in Houston, Texas, where he chaired the firm’s appellate practice group.  Before taking the bench, he handled hundreds of appeals and presented oral argument in over... Read more

Justice Frances Bourliot

Place 5

Frances Bourliot was elected to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in 2018. Justice Bourliot began her legal career as a staff attorney with the Texas Defender Service and the Texas Innocence Network, representing indigent capital clients on federal and state habeas appeals. She was also an Adjunct Faculty Member at the University of Houston Law Center for several years overseeing... Read more

Justice Jerry Zimmerer

Place 3

Justice Jerry Zimmerer, J.D., LL.M., was elected to the Texas 14th Court of Appeals in 2018. His District covers roughly 24% of the population of Texas. He received his Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law and two Masters of Law degrees (International Law and Health Law) from the University of Houston Law School. He completed an internship in... Read more

Justice Charles A. Spain

Place 4

Justice Charles A. Spain was elected to the court in 2018. He is a native Houstonian and an Eagle Scout.  He graduated from Sharpstown High School, Rice University, and Baylor School of Law.  After law school, he served as a briefing attorney for the Honorable C.L. Ray on the Supreme Court of Texas. He worked at Fulbright & Jaworski and... Read more

Justice Meagan Hassan

Place 6

Justice Hassan was elected to the bench on November 6, 2018.  Prior to her election, she was a partner at a small constitutional rights law firm for eight years, where she also represented indigent criminal defense clients. During that time, she secured two clearly established rights at the Fifth Circuit (to film police officers and to pre-compliance review of Texas... Read more

Justice Margaret “Meg” Poissant

Place 8

Justice Margaret “Meg” Poissant was elected to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals on November 6, 2018. Prior to election, she had over 30 years of experience as a trial lawyer, having served as lead counsel in hundreds of cases in a broad range of civil and criminal matters in many counties in the State of Texas. Her legal expertise includes... Read more

Justice Randy Wilson

Place 9

Justice Randy Wilson was appointed to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals by Governor Greg Abbott in December 2020, effective January 2021. Prior to his appointment, Justice Wilson was a partner at Susman Godfrey, and is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He was elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates. Chambers USA... Read more