Wallace B. Jefferson is a partner at Alexander Dubose Jefferson & Townsend. Prior to joining the firm, he was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas until October 2013. Appointed to the Supreme Court in 2001 and named chief justice in 2004, Jefferson made Texas judicial history as the Court’s first African-American justice and chief justice. During his time on the bench, Jefferson served as president of the Conference of Chief Justices, an association of chief justices from the 50 states and U.S. territories. He and the Court worked with the other branches of government to fund access to justice programs with general appropriations from the Legislature; successfully urged the Legislature to reform juvenile justice; and persuaded the Legislature to support a statewide electronic filing system for the courts.
A graduate of the James Madison College at Michigan State University and the University of Texas School of Law, Jefferson is the namesake for Wallace B. Jefferson Middle School in San Antonio. He has recently been honored with a Texas Exes' Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2013, and the Texas Legislative Council’s “Texan of the Year Award” for 2014. Jefferson is on the Council of the American Law Institute, the federal Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, and has been certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1993.
