Former SCOTX Justice Eva Guzman Jumps to Houston Litigation Firm

Houston litigation firm Wright Close & Barger announced Tuesday it added former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman to its partnership.

Guzman, who resigned from the bench in June 2021 and joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka soon thereafter, unsuccessfully challenged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary earlier this year. Her first day at her new firm is Sept. 12.

“We are honored and excited that Justice Guzman has chosen to practice law with us,” Tom Wright, managing partner of the 32-lawyer Wright Close & Barger, said in a statement. “She has a wealth of experience in appellate matters. Her insights will be very valuable to the firm and our clients.”

Guzman is the first Latina to serve on the Texas Supreme Court and just the third Hispanic to hold statewide office. Before serving on the state’s highest civil court, she was a justice on the 14th Court of Appeals and a Harris County District Court judge.

Raffi Melkonian, a dean of appellate Twitter and partner at Wright Close & Barger, also weighed in on his new colleague:

Speaking for myself, I can’t imagine a better addition to our appellate practice, especially for our work in front of the Supreme Court of Texas. I’m really looking forward to learning from her decades on the bench and being able to lean on her instincts.

— Raffi Melkonian (@RMFifthCircuit) September 6, 2022