Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle (born 1973–1974) is a

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

of the

Supreme Court of Texas The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

and a former justice of the First Court of Appeals of Texas. On October 15, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott nominated Huddle to the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

to replace Justice Paul Green, who retired from the court in August. Huddle was sworn into office on October 30, 2020.

Biography

Huddle was born in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

and attended

Austin High School Austin High School may refer to * Austin High School (Alabama), Decatur, Alabama * Austin High School (Austin, Pennsylvania) * Austin High School (Indiana), Austin, Indiana * Austin High School (Minnesota), Austin, Minnesota * Austin High Scho ...

in El Paso. She received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in political science from Stanford University and her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

Private practice

After graduating law school, Huddle became a partner in

Baker Botts LLP Baker Botts L.L.P. is an American law firm of around 725 lawyers. Headquartered in One Shell Plaza in Downtown Houston, Texas, the firm has energy and technology related clients. It is referred to as the second-oldest law firm west of the Miss ...

's trial department, focusing on civil litigation. She worked in that position until her appointment to the First Court of Appeals in Houston. Once Huddle left the Court of Appeals, she returned to Baker Botts and became the partner-in-charge of their Houston office, focusing on commercial litigation and appeals. She left that position once she was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court.

State court service

In 2011, then-Governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republi ...

appointed Huddle to the nine-member First Court of Appeals, replacing

Elsa Alcala Elsa R. Alcala, also known as Elsa Spjut (born 1964), is a former Republican official who most recently served (2011–2018) as one of the nine judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She was appointed to the Place 8 on the bench by then G ...

, who had been elevated to the

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges. Article V of ...

. The First and Fourteenth Court of Appeals, both based in Houston's

1910 Harris County Courthouse The Harris County Courthouse of 1910 is one of the courthouse buildings operated by the Harris County, Texas government, in Downtown Houston. It is in the Classical Revival architectural style and has six stories. Two courtrooms inside are two s ...

, divide the caseload of appeals from Harris County and nine surrounding counties. They hear both civil and criminal matters and each issue about 700 decisions per year. The term of the justice Huddle replaced expired at the end of 2012, so she chose to stand for election in November 2012 to a new six-year term. She won her election with 53.4% of the vote. Huddle left the court in June 2017 (before her term would have expired in 2018) and returned to private practice at Baker Botts. Huddle is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Houston Bar Association, and the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Huddle, Rebeca Aizpuru 1970s births Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century women judges 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century women judges American women judges Justices of the Texas Supreme Court People associated with Baker Botts People from El Paso, Texas Stanford University alumni Texas lawyers Texas Republicans Texas state court judges University of Texas School of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people)