by Hannah Sibiski, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P
J. Woodfin “Woodie” Jones, a founding partner of Alexander Dubose Jones & Townsend, has left the firm to return to public service as the new Chief Justice of the Austin Court of Appeals. Elected by Austin voters, Chief Justice Jones begins his second term on the Austin Court of Appeals. He also served as a justice on that court from 1988-2000. Chief Justice Jones received his BA with honors, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Texas, and he also received his JD from the University of Texas School of Law. He later obtained his LLM from the University of Virginia School of Law, with a Master of Laws in Judicial Process. In 2003, Chief Justice Jones was Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law.
Chief Justice Jones began his career in Houston, serving as a briefing attorney for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals and working as an associate for Bracewell & Patterson. He then moved his practice to Austin, becoming a partner at Sneed, Vine, Wilkerson, Selman & Perry. In 1988, he left private practice to serve as an appellate justice the first time. After leaving the bench in 2000, Chief Justice Jones resumed his private practice in Austin, as a partner at Scott, Douglass & McConnico. In 2003, he was a founding partner of the law firm Alexander Dubose Jones & Townsend LLP, the firm he now leaves to resume public service as the Chief Justice of the Austin Court of Appeals.