Jane Bland, partner with Vinson & Elkins in Houston, will become a new justice on the Texas Supreme Court

The Texas Supreme Court soon will have three female justices.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that he intends to appoint Jane Bland to fill the vacancy that will be created when former Justice Jeff Brown resigns from the bench. The U.S. Senate recently confirmed Brown to be a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Bland served on Houston's First Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2018. She lost reelection in the 2018 Democratic sweep. Since then, she's served as a partner in Vinson & Elkins in Houston.

"Jane Bland is an experienced and proven legal expert whose respect for the Constitution is unmatched," said Abbott in a statement. "As she assumes her new role on the Supreme Court, the people of Texas can rest assured that she will uphold the rule of law and be a good steward of the justice system."

Before becoming an appellate judge, Bland served as a civil trial court judge in Harris County for more than six years. She is certified in civil appellate law and civil trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Bland said that when Brown begins his service on the federal bench, her appointment will become effective. She expects that to happen in September. She'll fill the rest of Brown's term in office, and must run for reelection to remain on the bench in 2020.

"I'm honored to have been appointed by Gov. Abbott, and I'm looking forward to working with all the dedicated judges on the Texas Supreme Court and throughout Texas in this new role. It's so exciting," Bland said.

The new appointee will become the third female justice on the high court, joining Justices Eva Guzman and Debra Lehrmann.

"I have tremendous respect for Justice Guzman and Justice Lehrmann, and I look forward to being a part of that group," she said. "I equally respect all the men on the court. I'm just looking forward to being with good judges." 

Bland submitted an application to Abbott's office to be considered for her appointment. It included answers to questions about her judicial philosophy.

Click here to read her full judicial questionnaire

"The role of a judge is to interpret the law as written. Respecting settled interpretations of the law when the facts of two cases are materially the same brings equality and certainty to citizens' rights and obligations under the law," she wrote. "When an examination of precedent demonstrates foundational analytical error, a court should transparently explain the error, and whether the gravity of that error requires departure from precedent."

She wrote in her application that the U.S. Supreme Court wrongly decided the 1857 case Dred Scott v. Sandford, in which the court analyzed substantive due process, held the plaintiff didn't have standing to challenge his designation as a slave, and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional for prohibiting slavery in some territories.

Bland wrote that she admires Fifth Circuit Judge Priscilla Owen because of her sound judicial temperament, which in Bland's mind means having humility, integrity, discipline, respect for others, intellectual curiosity, grace and a sense of humor.

Controlling the pace of litigation is one important role of a judge, Bland wrote in the application. She added that judges should think about cost constraints and litigants' needs for final resolution of disputes.

"A judge should model timeliness and responsiveness and look for ways to shepherd cases in a cost effective manner. A judge should be diligent in seeking to improve all aspects of our state courts," Bland wrote.

The attorney earned her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1990, and then served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas Gibbs Gee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She entered private practice as an associate in Baker Botts in Houston from 1991 to 1997. Bland was appointed to Harris County's 281st District Court in 1997 and served for six years before being appointed to an appellate court. From 2003 to 2018, she was a justice on Houston's First Court of Appeals.

Read Bland's judicial questionnaire: