First Court of Appeals

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.

Prior to joining the First Court of Appeals, Chief Justice Adams was an accomplished appellate attorney in Houston with his own appellate boutique.  Before that, he was an appellate partner in the Houston office of Akerman LLP and chair of the firm’s appellate practice group in Texas.  Chief Justice Adams is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized in the area appellate law by Texas Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America.

Chief Justice Adams is a Past Chair of the Appellate Subcommittee of the Court Rules Committee for the State Bar of Texas and is a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. He is also a member of the Garland Walker American Inns of Court and the Council of Chief Judges of State Courts of Appeals--where he is co-chair of its Membership Committee.  Additionally, Chief Justice Adams is the in-coming Chair of the Council of Texas Chief Justices. 

Chief Justice Adams earned his undergraduate degree from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He majored with honors in political science and economics.  He then earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston--where he was Editor-in-Chief of The South Texas Law Review. 

During law school, Chief Justice Adams served as an intern for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals.  And, immediately after law school, he served as a briefing attorney for Justice Raul Gonzalez at the Supreme Court of Texas.

Chief Justice Adams and his wife have three adult children and are longtime members of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church.