Jennifer Caughey

Practice Areas

Trial & Appellate Litigation

Career

Jennifer Caughey is a former Justice on Texas’s First Court of Appeals and current chair of Jackson Walker’s appellate section. Justice Caughey leverages her diverse experience on both sides of the bench to litigate complex cases at the appellate and trial levels.

Justice Caughey represents clients in complex matters in state and federal courts. She handles high-stakes commercial litigation, with a focus on appeals. She has particular expertise in issues involving statutory and contractual interpretation, constitutional law, healthcare, insurance, energy, administrative law, and professional liability.

She has an active and vibrant practice. Clients trust her to handle their high-stakes, bet-the-company appeals. And she does so with great success. On the state level, she represents or has successfully represented clients in major matters across Texas, including at the Texas Supreme Court, in various Texas Courts of Appeals, and in trial courts. For instance, in the past year, she won important appeals at the Texas Supreme Court concerning administrative law principles, interpretation of statutory text, and eminent domain; she also convinced the Court to progress and grant petitions on appeals that are moving through the system.

Her federal practice is equally notable. She represents or has successfully represented clients in federal courts, including handling appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, as well as matters in federal district courts and at the U.S. Supreme Court. For example, she recently won major appeals in the Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits concerning diverse areas of law and hundreds of millions of dollars.

As a Justice on Texas’s First Court of Appeals, Jennifer handled a broad docket of civil and criminal appeals from Harris County and nine surrounding counties. Justice Caughey authored more than 125 opinions (half signed, half per curiam) spanning questions of civil, criminal, family, and probate law. She actively contributed to 454 cases.

Justice Caughey earned her degrees from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Timothy M. Tymkovich, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and Justice Robert J. Cordy of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Before serving on the bench, Justice Caughey spent years developing a sophisticated appellate and trial practice at nationally renowned litigation firms.

Professional Memberships

Serves on the Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals, 2022-2025

Serves on the Texas Judicial Council, 2021-2027

Texas Bar Association, Appellate Section, Committee Chair

Houston Bar Association, Appellate Section, Judicial Liaison, 2017-2018

Publications

"U.S. Supreme Court Endorses Major Questions Doctrine as Interpretive Canon in EPA Ruling," Jackson Walker Insights (July 2022)