Lake Travis Republican Club May 2023 Meeting

Justice John Devine was first elected to the Supreme Court of Texas in November 2012. He was reelected in 2018, and his current term expires December 31, 2024.

Previously, Justice Devine served for seven years as judge of the 190th State District Court in Harris County and for nine years as an appointed special judge for the Harris County justice of the peace courts.

A native of Indiana, Justice Devine attended Ball State University, graduating in 1980 with a B.S. degree in business administration and marketing. Following graduation, Justice Devine became a Texan and entered the corporate world of Shell Oil Co. in Houston as an analyst and later worked in various corporate and project-oriented positions. While at Shell, he was accepted by South Texas College of Law, graduating with a juris doctorate in 1986. Justice Devine remained with Shell until 1987. The next year he became employed at Brown & Root Inc., contributing to numerous corporate and industrial construction projects, both domestic and international.

During his tenure on the districtcourt bench, he tried nearly 350 jury trials, presided over more than 500 bench trials, and reduced an inherited case backlog by more than 40 percent. During the same period, he was voted well qualified by the Houston Bar Association and was honored as a "Texas Size Hero" by Focus on the Family magazine.

In between stints on the bench, Justice Devine represented both plaintiffs and defendants in private litigation in both state and federal courts. Justice Devine has been a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Board of Civil District Judge Mass Torts Committee, Board of Civil District Judges, the Harris County Juvenile Justice Charter School Board, and the Harris County Juvenile Board.

Justice Devine has been married since 1989 to Nubia Piedad Gomez, formerly of Venezuela, and the couple has six children.