James P. Sullivan (judge)

James Patrick Sullivan (born May 4, 1981) is an American attorney and judge currently serving as a justice of the Texas Supreme Court.

James Sullivan
Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2025
Appointed by	Greg Abbott
Preceded by	Jimmy Blacklock
Personal details
Born	James Patrick Sullivan (1981-05-04) May 4, 1981 (age 44) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	Rice University (BA) Harvard University (JD)

Early life

Sullivan was born near Houston, Texas. During primary schooling, his family moved to Travis County, west of Austin, Texas, where he attended public school, graduating from Westlake High School in 1999. While attending Rice University (BA, 2003) he played football for the Owls, before attending Harvard Law School, eventually serving as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Career

Sullivan was a law clerk to Judge Thomas B. Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, has served as an adjunct professor at George Mason University, and has been an appellate litigator in private practice.

Before being appointed SCOTX justice, Sullivan served the state as deputy counsel for Governor Greg Abbott,^[1] having previously served under Abbott (while the latter was state attorney general) as assistant solicitor general.

Upon Sullivan's appointment to the Supreme Court of Texas, Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock stated "James Sullivan is a brilliant, hard-working lawyer who has served the People of Texas with distinction for many years. He will make an excellent addition to our state’s Supreme Court."^[2]

He is a member of the Federalist Society and Teneo.^[3]

Judicial career

This is Sullivan's first judgeship.

Personal life

Sullivan lives in Austin with his wife and their son.

Sullivan's father is an Austin-born engineer, having spent the majority of his career problem solving for various Texas state agencies. Texan grandfathers included a paternal USAF navigator (Maj.) & maternal NASA rocket scientist (Apollo). He has two younger brothers. His mother was a Houston-born massage therapist.