First Court of Appeals

Chief Justice Terry Adams was elected to the First Court of Appeals in 2022.  Before that, he was appointed by Governor Abbott in 2020 to be a Justice on the court and served the rest of that term. Prior to joining the First Court of Appeals, Chief Justice Adams was an accomplished appellate attorney.  He opened his own appellate boutique in 2019 and, before that, was a partner at Akerman LLP in the Houston office and chair of the firm’s appellate practice group in Texas.  Chief Justice Adams is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America as a leading appellate attorney in Texas.

Chief Justice Adams is a member of the Court Rules Committee for the State Bar of Texas and is Chair of its Appellate Subcommittee.  He is also a member of the Texas Bar Foundation, the Garland Walker American Inn of Court, and the Advisory Council for The South Texas Law Review.  

Chief Justice Adams earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and Economics from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston, where he was Editor-in-Chief of The South Texas Law Review.  He also served as an intern during law school for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals.  After law school, Chief Justice Adams was selected to be a briefing attorney for Justice Raul A. Gonzalez (Ret.) on the Supreme Court of Texas.

Chief Justice Adams and his wife, Anne, have been married for thirty-nine years. They have a son and two daughters and four young grandkids.

His current term ends December 31, 2028.