Hon. Jane Bland, Chair

Jane Bland has served in the state judiciary for 25 years and on the Supreme Court of Texas since 2019. Before her service on the Court, she served 15 years as a justice on the First Court of Appeals and six years as a State District Judge.

Justice Bland chairs the Judicial Commission on Mental Health. She is also the Court’s liaison to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society. She is the deputy liaison to the Court’s Rules Advisory Committee. She is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Civil Rules for the Judicial Conference of the United States.

Throughout her career, Justice Bland has been recognized for her work to improve our state’s judiciary. In 2010, Chief Justice John Roberts presented her with the William H. Rehnquist Award, given to a state court judge who exemplifies the highest level of judicial excellence, integrity, fairness, and professional ethics. The Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists has recognized her as the judge of the year four times. She has received several President’s Awards for her work with the Houston Bar Association and the Houston Young Lawyers Association. Justice Bland is board certified in civil appellate law and civil trial law.

She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Following law school, Justice Bland clerked for the Honorable Thomas Gibbs Gee on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She began her practice at Baker Botts LLP. Before her appointment to the Court, she was a partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP in Houston.

Justice Bland has chaired the board of Houston Volunteer Lawyers and the Oversight Committee for the Texas Pattern Jury Charges. She served on the Court’s Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services and the Board of Legal Specialization’s Civil Appellate Law Advisory Commission. She is a senior trustee of the UT Law School Foundation.

Justice Bland and her husband, Doug, have two grown children.