2017 Judge Ruby Kless Sondock Lectureship in Legal Ethics Jurist-In-Residence
Justice Jeffrey V. Brown
Supreme Court of Texas

Monday, October 24, 2016
Living Greatly in the Law: Traditional Ideals for the Electronic Age

Justice Jeffrey V. Brown has served on the Supreme Court of Texas since the fall of 2013. He previously served six years each as a justice on the 14th District of the Texas Court of Appeals and as judge of the 55th District Court, both in Houston. Justice Brown won two judge-of-the-year awards as a district judge and was named the Appellate Judge of the Year by the Texas Association of Civil Trial & Appellate Specialists.

Justice Brown holds a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center. In law school, Justice Brown served as Chief Notes & Comments Editor of the Houston Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Barons and the Order of the Coif. In 2015, he was named Alumnus of the Year by the University of Houston Law Alumni Association.
After law school, Justice Brown clerked on the Supreme Court of Texas for Justice Jack Hightower and Justice Greg Abbott. He is only the fourth person to serve as a law clerk on the Supreme Court of Texas and later become a justice on the Court. After his clerkships, he worked for Baker Botts L.L.P. in Houston where he had a diverse civil litigation practice, trying jury cases throughout southeast Texas. He is board certified in civil trial law.

A member of the American Law Institute, Justice Brown has been published in several law reviews and journals. He is co-editor of Texas Rules of Evidence Handbook, serves on the editorial board of the Advocate, the quarterly journal of the Texas State Bar's Litigation Section, and is chair of the board of directors of the Houston Law Review. He has worked as an adjunct law professor at the University of Houston Law Center and has taught constitutional law at the National Judicial College.

An Eagle Scout, Justice Brown is a longtime volunteer for the Boy Scouts of America. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Texas Historical Foundation and a Life Member of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. In recognition of his professional accomplishments and community service, the Texas Young Lawyers Association named Justice Brown the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas in 2006, and the Texas Jaycees named him one of Five Outstanding Young Texans in 2008.

Justice Brown and his wife, Susannah, a schoolteacher, have been married for 23 years and have three children, Kathleen, 20, Rob, 18, and Gus, 15.