Supreme Court of Texas
Justice Debra Lehrmann has served on the Supreme Court of Texas since 2010 and was previously a District Judge and Associate Judge at the 360th District Court from July 1987 to June 2010. Justice Lehrmann earned a Master's Degree in Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law between 2014 and 2016, a J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law from 1979 to 1982, and a B.A. with high honors in Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin from 1975 to 1979. Education was initiated at Ross S. Sterling High School, where completion occurred from 1971 to 1975.
Supreme Court of Texas
Composed of the Chief Justice and eight Justices, the Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for civil matters in the State of Texas. The Justices of the Supreme Court are elected to staggered six-year terms in state-wide elections. When a vacancy arises the Governor may appoint a Justice, subject to Senate confirmation, to serve out the remainder of an unexpired term until the next general election. All members of the Court must be at least 35 years of age, a citizen of Texas, licensed to practice law in Texas, and must have practiced law (or have been a lawyer and a judge of a court of record together) for at least ten years (see Tex. Const., Art. 5, Sec. 2). By statute the Court has administrative control over the State Bar of Texas. Tex. Gov't Code § 81.011. The Court is also the sole authority for licensing attorneys in Texas and appoints the members of the Board of Law Examiners which administers the Texas bar examination. Tex. Gov't Code §§ 82.00, 82.004. The Court promulgates the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Texas Rules of Evidence and other rules and standards.