Ross N. Sterling (January 18, 1931 – January 14, 1988) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Education and career

Sterling was born in Houston, Texas in the same year that his grand-uncle

Ross S. Sterling Ross Shaw Sterling (February 11, 1875March 25, 1949) was an American politician who was the 31st Governor of Texas, serving a single two-year term from January 20, 1931, to January 17, 1933. Early years Sterling was born in Anahuac in Chambers ...

became governor of the state.Steven Harmon Wilson, ''The Rise of Judicial Management in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas'' (2002), p. 241-242. Sterling was in the United States Army from 1951 to 1954, and then received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1956 followed by a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Texas School of Law in 1957. He was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to John Robert Brown of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1957 to 1958, and was thereafter in private practice with the Houston firm of Vinson and Elkins until 1976. Sterling was made a partner of that firm in 1969. Sterling was also active in

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

politics chairing a precinct in Houston and participating in state Republican conventions.

Federal judicial service

On April 13, 1976, President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

nominated Sterling to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas vacated by Judge

Allen Burroughs Hannay Allen Burroughs Hannay (February 14, 1892 – October 22, 1983) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Hempstead, Texas, Hannay received a Bachelo ...

. Sterling was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 6, 1976, and received his commission the following day. He served until his death on January 14, 1988, in Houston.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling, Ross N. 1931 births 1988 deaths Lawyers from Houston Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas United States district court judges appointed by Gerald Ford 20th-century American judges United States Army soldiers University of Texas at Austin alumni University of Texas School of Law alumni