Texas Supreme Court Justice James P. Sullivan, who has been on the court for less than one year, has interviewed for a vacant federal bench in the Western District of Texas.
Sullivan confirmed his interest in the position Monday in a brief interview with The Texas Lawbook at the Texas Access to Justice Foundation’s annual luncheon with members of the Supreme Court. He said he has not heard anything since his interview and likely will not during the extended federal government shutdown.
“Either way,” he said, he would remain in Austin in a judicial role.
Sullivan was appointed to the Supreme Court in January by Gov. Greg Abbott, making him the court’s newest member. He came to the court after serving as general counsel to Abbott and as assistant solicitor general under then-Attorney General Abbott.
In his Texas judicial application, Sullivan listed four significant litigation matters he personally handled at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and one at the U.S. Supreme Court. He also acknowledged in his application that he once had a rehearing petition for the state of Texas struck by a Fifth Circuit panel for its tone. He said he apologized to the court for the filing in a Death Row case.
Between his two government jobs Sullivan worked for more than four years as a senior associate at King & Spalding. He was a law clerk to Judge Thomas B. Griffin on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after receiving his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was an articles editor on the Harvard Law Review.
At least one other name has surfaced in connection with the U.S. district court vacancy, Dustin Howell, who has served as U.S. magistrate judge in the Western District since 2021. Howell reportedly interviewed for the vacant bench earlier this year. A call to his courtroom deputy was not returned by press time.
Howell received his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law and served as a state district judge in Travis County from 2018-2021. He also served as assistant solicitor general during part of Abbott’s tenure as AG.
The federal court vacancy was created in May 2023 when Judge Lee Yeakel retired after 20 years on the bench. Yeakel joined King & Spalding as senior counsel.
Federal judges sitting in Austin often hear cases of statewide impact emanating from bills enacted by the Texas Legislature and executive decisions from the governor.
The bench once held by Yeakel is one of two vacancies in the Western District. There are three vacancies in the Northern District and five in the Southern District, according to an internet search.
The Texas Supreme Court also has a vacant position after the Sept. 1 retirement of Justice Jeff Boyd. His replacement will have to run for election in 2026.