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James Patrick Sullivan | |
---|---|
Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas | |
Assumed office January 7, 2025 | |
Appointed by | Greg Abbott |
Preceded by | Jimmy Blacklock |
Personal details | |
Born | Houston,Texas,U.S. | May 4,1981
Political party | Republican |
Education | Rice University (BA) Harvard Law School (JD) |
James Patrick Sullivan (born May 4,1981) is an American attorney and judge currently serving as a justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Sullivan was born near Houston,Texas. During primary schooling,his family moved to Travis County,west of Austin,Texas,where he attended public school,graduating from Westlake High School in 1999. While attending Rice University (BA,2003) he played football for the Owls,before attending Harvard Law School,eventually serving as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Sullivan was a law clerk to Judge Thomas B. Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit,has served as an adjunct professor at George Mason University,and has been an appellate litigator in private practice.
Before being appointed SCOTX justice,Sullivan served the state as deputy counsel for Governor Greg Abbott [1] ,having previously served under Abbott (while the latter was state attorney general) as assistant solicitor general.
Upon Sullivan's appointment to the Supreme Court of Texas,Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock stated "James Sullivan is a brilliant,hard-working lawyer who has served the People of Texas with distinction for many years. He will make an excellent addition to our state’s Supreme Court." [2]
He is a member of the Federalist Society and Teneo. [3]
This is Sullivan's first judgeship.
Sullivan lives in Austin with his wife and their son.
Sullivan's father is an Austin-born engineer,having spent the majority of his career problem solving for various Texas state agencies. Texan grandfathers included a paternal USAF navigator (Maj.) &maternal NASA rocket scientist (Apollo). He has two younger brothers. His mother was a Houston-born massage therapist.
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