Justice, Texas Court of Appeals, First District May 2002- present (appointed by Governor Rick Perry, May, 2002; elected to 2-year remainder of predecessor’s term, Nov., 2002; elected to 6-year term, Nov. 2004); intermediate appellate court with general jurisdiction (civil; criminal; probate; family)Special Assistant Attorney General, 2000-2001 (Special Assistant to Texas Attorney General John Cornyn for complex and class action litigation)
Partner, Clements, O'Neill, Pierce, Nickens & Wilson, LLP, 1996-2000: Of Counsel, 2001-2002; Associate, Clements, O'Neill, 1993-95; Porter & Clements 1988-1993 (predecessor firm) (trial and appellate complex civil litigation, federal and state, plaintiff and defense)
Admitted: Texas State Bar 1988; U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, 1988; U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 1989; U.S. Supreme Court 1991; U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, 2000
Professional Memberships and Associations
Fellow: Texas Bar Foundation (life fellow); Houston Bar Foundation (life fellow)
Legal: American Law Institute (elected May, 2006);
· Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration, NYU
· American Judicature Society
· Texas State Bar College
· American Bar Association (ABA Young Lawyers Division Ethics Comm. Chair, 1989-91)
· State Bar Judicial Resources Committee
· Texas Bar Association (Court Rules Standing Committee, 2006-present, chair appellate subcommittee 2009-2010, co-chair appellate subcommittee 2008-2009; Grievance Committee, 1994-1999)
· Houston Bar Association (many committees; current: Administration of Justice Committee, co-chair program committee 2008-2009)
· Phi Delta Phi (reader for initiation for last several years)
· University of Houston Law Center Alumni Clerkship Committee (current); Law Alumni Board of Directors (1990-96); Law Review Alumni Board of Directors (1988-1990); occasional guest lecturer on jurisprudence
Philosophical:
· Houston Philosophical Society (president (2009-2010); vice-president (2008-2009); recording secretary, 2006-2008; membership committee (2006-2007); executive committee, 2004-present)
· Federalist Society
Martindale-Hubbell rating: AV (highest)
Education
University of Houston Law Center: J.D., cum laude, Dec., 1987
Chief Articles Editor, Houston Law Review; Order of the Coif; Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award; Distinguished Service Award; award for best interdisciplinary comment; Order of the Barons; Phi Delta Phi; University Fellowship; Intern to Judge Carolyn Dineen King, 5th Cir. Ct. App.
Rice University, M.A. 1984, Ph.D. 1985 (Philosophy):
University Fellowship; dissertation, "Moral Choice," nominated for best dissertation in humanities
(Committee: Baruch Brody (chair); Larry Temkin; Stephen Klineberg)
University of Texas, M.A. 1967, Ph.D. 1972 (English):
Woodrow Wilson Fellow; University Fellowship; Fulbright Fellowship for study in France (declined); dissertation: "Yeats' Early Drama: The Countess Kathleen in Context" nominated for best dissertation in humanities
Sophie Newcomb College, Tulane University: B.A., magna cum laude (1965)
Honors in English; distinction on comprehensive exams; high honors on honors thesis on William Blake's "The Four Zoas"; Phi Beta Kappa; Tulane Scholars & Fellows;
Junior Year Abroad University of Paris
Publications
"Two Conceptions of Judicial Integrity: Traditional and Perfectionist Approaches to Issues of Morality and Social Justice," XXII: 1 NOTRE DAME JOURNAL OF LAW, ETHICS, & PUBLIC POLICY (Spring 2008)
"The Literary Judge: The Judge as Novelist and Critic," 44: 3 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON L. REV. 679 (Summer 2007)
"Representative Democracy and the Public Trust," 10: 1 PHILOSOPHY IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (Spring-Summer 2003)
"Summary Judgment Practice in Texas: A Guide to Reform," 57: 11 TEX. BAR J. (1994)
"Civil Rights Suits that Interfere with Ongoing State Civil Proceedings: Younger Abstention in the Wake of Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco, Inc.," 24: 5 HOUSTON LAW REVIEW, 917 (1987)
Presentations
Various bar association and other continuing legal education presentations, including:
"Summary Judgment Checklist," 1st Court of Appeals Brown Bag CLE Luncheon Series for new briefing attorneys (Aug. 28, 2009; Aug. 2008)
"Summary Judgments: A View from the Trial and Appellate Bench," HBA CLE, August 20, 2009 (with Hon. Sharolyn Wood)
"Going to the Appellate Court While Your Case is Still in the Trial Court: Mandamus & Interlocutory Appeals," HBA Civil/Appellate Bench/Bar Conference, Apr. 24, 2009 (panel: Russell Post, Hon. Leslie Yates)
"Effective Appellate Advocacy," Advanced Civil Trial Law Conference, Feb. 29, 2008 (panel; moderator Shawn Stephens)
"Structuring Sentences, Paragraphs, & Arguments in Appellate Opinion Writing," 1st Court of Appeals Brown Bag CLE Luncheon Series for new briefing attorneys (every Sept., 2002-2007)
"Mandamus: Perspectives of Courts and Counsel," HBA Civil/Appellate Bench Bar Conference, April 13, 2007 (panel, moderator Kevin DuBose)
"Preparing the Record for Appeal," HBA Appellate Section CLE, Jan. 25, 2006 (panel with Buddy Hanby)
"Why the Appellate Courts Reverse," HBA Appellate Practice Institute, May 21, 2004 (panel with Kent Rutter)
"Effective Motion Practice: Trial and Appeal," HBA/CLE, May 7, 2004 (panel with Hon. Elizabeth Ray)
"Summary Judgments in the Courts of Appeals," HBA Labor & Emp. Law Section, June 8, 2003 (panel with David Furlow)
Personal
Married to David R. Keyes, four adult children, grandchildren
Member, St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, Houston