Ruby Kless Sondock (born April 26, 1926) is a former

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

of 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 o ...

. She was the first woman to serve on the Texas Supreme Court. Sondock initially attended the

University of Houston Law Center The University of Houston Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1947, the Law Center is one of 12 colleges of the University of Houston, a state university. It is ...

in order to become a legal secretary, but she was admitted to the state bar a year before her graduation as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

of her class (1962). Sondock was appointed to the Harris County Domestic Relations Court No. 5 in 1973 and to the 234th District Court in 1977. Sondock was the first woman to be appointed as a State District Judge in

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, and was estimated to be 5,009,302 in 2024, making it the List of counties in Texas, most populous cou ...

. Sondock was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court following the death of Associate Justice James G. Denton on June 10, 1982. Sondock served from June 25 to December 31 of that year, completing Denton's term. Sondock declined to seek election to the Supreme Court and instead ran successfully for reelection to her District Court seat the following year. Sondock was the court's first female justice, with the exception of a special all-woman court convened in 1925 to hear a single case. Sondock formed part of the majority of the

in the landmark case of '' Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S. A. v. Hall''. A distinguished legal mind, Sondock has received a number of accolades, including an annual lecture series on legal ethics. Former speakers at the Sondock Lecture on Legal Ethics at the University of Houston Law Center include

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senat ...

and Helen Thomas. On November 11, 2015, the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas inducted Sondock as a "Texas Legal Legend."

References

External links

Interview
(video) 1926 births Living people Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas Texas Democrats 20th-century American women judges 20th-century Texas state court judges University of Houston Law Center alumni 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Texas lawyers Texas state court judges {{Texas-politician-stub

See also

References

External links