Remembering Justice Ruby Kless Sondock: Trailblazing Texas Jurist and UH Law Alumna Dies at 100

July 23, 2026

The University of Houston Law Center mourns the passing of alumna Justice Ruby Kless Sondock (J.D. ’61), a pioneering jurist and the first female justice on the Texas Supreme Court whose career transformed the Texas legal system. She was 100.

“The UH Law Center has lost one of its most distinguished graduates. Justice Ruby Kless Sondock embodied the values of excellence, determination, service, and justice. From graduating #1 in her UH Law class to becoming a pioneering judge and Texas Supreme Court justice, she broke barriers that changed the legal profession forever. Her extraordinary legacy, both as a jurist, role model, and a mentor, will continue to inspire countless lawyers, judges and students for years to come.”

Leonard M. Baynes, Dean, University of Houston Law Center

For Baynes, Sondock’s loss is also deeply personal. “Over the past twelve years of my deanship, she had become a great inspiration for me,” he said. “I am proud that we highlighted and honored her and her career as much as we could during that period of time. She was so deserving of those multiple recognitions. I will miss her greatly.”

A Trailblazing Path from UH Law to the Judiciary

A Houston native, Sondock never set out to make history. She enrolled at the UH Law Center in the late 1950s planning to be a legal secretary so she could support her family if needed.

Instead, the 1961 UHLC graduate became the first woman appointed to a district-level judgeship in Harris County and the first woman to serve full-time in a regular session of the Texas Supreme Court.

Sondock passed the Texas bar exam on her first attempt before graduating from law school, which was allowed at that time. The day after the exam, a classmate urged her to meet with Fred Parks, “one of the best-known lawyers in town at that time.”

Although she still was still in law school, Parks offered her a job. When she declined fixed schedules of 40, 30 and then 20 hours a week, he made an offer she couldn’t refuse: Sondock could set her own hours as long as she made a visible contribution at the office. In her own way, her career foreshadowed remote work and flexible work schedules for parents with young children.

“You have no idea how amazing it was in those days because women that I knew couldn’t even get a job––couldn’t even get an interview––let alone a job,” she shared during a previous interview with UH Law.

After graduating at the top of her class, one of only five women in her cohort, Sondock remained at Parks’ firm and argued cases before the Texas Supreme Court in her first year of practice. She often credited UHLC and instructors Dean Newell Blakely and Professor Dwight Olds for preparing her to do the work.

“I know that I have one of the finest educations in the country because I had those professors,” she said. “They were just so outstanding.”

Reflecting on her UH Law experience, she said a legal education “made all the difference in this world.”

Historic Service on the Bench

Her path to the judiciary came unexpectedly. In 1973, Gov. Preston Smith appointed her to the Harris County Domestic Relations Court No. 5, making her the first woman to be appointed to a district-level judgeship. Four years later, she was named the first judge of the newly created 234th District Court.

A decade later, her path changed again with an unexpected phone call. In 1982, during a break in jury deliberations, Sondock learned that she was being considered to fill a vacancy on the Texas Supreme Court. On June 25, 1982, she became the first woman to serve in a regular session of that court.

At her swearing in ceremony, Sondock thanked the “incredible strangers” who “exhibited support for and confidence in [her] to a degree that’s difficult to believe.”

Although she chose not to seek election to a full term and later declined another nomination, she remained committed to public service. Sondock returned to the 234th District Court and later continued her legal career as a private mediator until her retirement.

A Lasting Influence on the Legal Profession

Judge Sondock’s influence extended far beyond the courtroom.

Alumna Laura Gibson (J.D. ’84), president of the State Bar of Texas from 2022-23, recalled appearing before Sondock early in her legal career. “Over 35 years later, I vividly recall how Judge Sondock took control of the courtroom, demanded that counsel for the parties treat her with respect and immediately got their full attention by the strength of her reactions,” she shared.

Gibson also mentioned that when the Houston Association of Women Attorneys was founded in 1976, Judge Sondock made her courtroom available to the organization’s founders for meetings. At the association’s 50th anniversary celebrations earlier this year, Sondock was honored for her decades of support and advocacy.

“Judge Sondock honored our profession with her integrity, intellect, energetic determination, innovation and encouragement. I was blessed to call her a friend and was honored to celebrate her 100th birthday in April. She left our profession significantly improved than she found it. May her memory serve as our guide to legal excellence.”

Laura Gibson (J.D. ’84), Managing Partner, Dentons Houston

Honors and a Century of Influence

Throughout her career, Sondock earned numerous awards and accolades for her contributions. In 2015, the litigation section of the State Bar of Texas named her a “Texas Legal Legend.” The Houston Bar Association established the Justice Ruby Kless Sondock Award in 2019 to recognize women lawyers or judges for exceptional achievement and leadership in the law. She was the first recipient of this honor. In 2025, she received the Texas Bar Foundation’s Outstanding 50 Year Lawyer Award.

The Hon. Sofia Adrogué (J.D. ’91), a judge with the Texas Business Court, Eleventh Division who received the HBA’s Justice Ruby Kless Sondock Award this year, said Sondock’s impact went far beyond the barriers she broke.

“With a century of influence and firsts, Justice Ruby K. Sondock has been a paradigm not only for me and other women, but also for all attorneys in Texas. She was a visionary who helped shape Texas judicial history.”

The Hon. Sofia Adrogué (J.D. ’91), Texas Business Court, Eleventh Division

Adrogué first worked with Sondock as a summer associate in the early 1990s and they remained friends.

“During the three decades plus of our friendship, she [Sondock] was always strong, smart and bold, a fearless leader and an equally steadfast friend,” she said.

Reflecting on Sondock’s role as a jurist, Adrogué added, “Justice Sondock was the walk and the talk. As a jurist, like Justice Sondock, I strive to be principled, pragmatic and fair as the life of the law should be.”

A Lasting Legacy at UH Law

Her legacy also lives on at UHLC, which established the Justice Ruby Kless Sondock Lectureship in Legal Ethics program to bring outstanding jurists to campus every year to engage with students, faculty and Houston’s legal community. The lectureship has welcomed some of the nation's most distinguished jurists to Law Center, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin H. Liu, Sixth Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton, and Second Circuit Judge Robert A. Katzmann, along with numerous state and federal appellate judges. This year, former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht delivered the 2026 Justice Ruby Kless Sondock Jurist-in-Residence Lectureship in Legal Ethics, addressing judicial independence, public trust in courts and access to justice.

“Justice Ruby Sondock's legacy will endure not only because of what she accomplished, but because of the way she lived her life. I am thankful for the opportunity to have known her. She was gracious, thoughtful, and deeply committed to the legal profession. She will be deeply missed, but her example will continue to inspire our Law Center community.”

Sondra Tennessee, Associate Dean for Alumni & Community Relations

Tasha Willis, director of the Alan F. and Diane Levin Mediation Clinic at UH Law, worked with Sondock for more than three decades and similarly recalled her impact. “She was, without a doubt, one of the most present people I have had the pleasure of knowing,” Willis said. “Always available with a joke or wry observation just when it was needed. Judge Sondock was a lady and a legend who set the bar for how to live honorably.”

Sondock often encouraged lawyers to remember the broader purpose of their profession. “We may not be able to save the world, but we should never forget that the legal profession is dedicated to protecting and helping others; never think it is just about you,” Sondock said at her Texas Legend induction.

Here’s a slideshow commemorating her life.