Justice Gina M. Benavides

Place 5

Justice Gina M. Benavides was elected to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in 2006. During her first term as an appellate judge, she authored over 530 opinions. As a member of the Court, she has been actively involved in implementing internal procedures and policies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Court. She also continues her involvement in national, state, and local associations for the betterment of the judiciary and the law.

After her first year on the Court, Justice Benavides was bestowed the honor of "Latina Judge of the Year" by the National Hispanic Bar Association at their annual meeting in Puerto Rico in 2007.

In 2008, she was appointed to serve on the Texas Center for the Judiciary Board of Directors (the "Texas Center"). The Texas Center was established in 1973 to provide continuing judicial education programs for the state's judiciary and support personnel. The Texas Center pursues its mission of judicial excellence through education by providing leadership education and training so that a qualified and knowledgeable judiciary may administer justice with fairness, efficiency, and integrity. In 2010, she was elected Chair-Elect of the Texas Center by her fellow judges and became chair at the annual meeting on September 2011. The last time a judge from Region 5, which encompasses South Texas, held this position was in 1992. Justice Benavides is the first Hispanic Female to hold this position.

In 2010, the Texas Supreme Court appointed Justice Benavides to the Texas Access for Justice Commission. The Texas Access to Justice Commission was created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 2001 to develop and implement initiatives to expand access to and enhance the quality of justice in civil matters for low income citizens.

In February 2012, the State Bar of Texas through President Bob Black appointed a new task force, Solutions 2012, to deal with decreasing funding for legal access, increasing pro se litigants, and affect on our legal system and called upon Justice Benavides to serve on the committee.

Justice Benavides is frequently asked to be a speaker and presenter of papers. The following is a listing of some of her speaking engagements:

Also in October 2010, Justice Benavides was honored to be the keynote speaker for the Red Mass in Brownsville, Texas. The Red Mass is a mass celebrated annually for judges, attorneys, law school professors, students, government officials, and all those who seek justice. She has also spoken at several candlelight vigils against domestic violence and abuse.

Justice Benavides is committed to youth and youth education. She judges the annual "We the People" Constitution Competition, UIL Mock Trial and Moot Court competitions, and the Texas Young Lawyer's Association Moot Court Competition at the State Bar Annual Meeting every year. She is also a frequent career day speaker.

She is active in National Association of Women Judges with mostly being appointed to the Judicial Independence Committee, Judicial Selection Committee and Judicial Education Committee. She also continues to be involved in the Mexican Bar Association of Texas where she served as President when she was an attorney.

Before joining the Thirteenth Court of appeals, Justice Gina M. Benavides was a litigator with over 17 years of courtroom experience. She began her legal career at the Adams & Graham Law Firm in Harlingen, Texas in 1988. At this primarily defense firm, she tried over 30 cases throughout the state of Texas in the areas of toxic tort, products liability, commercial litigation, and personal injury. After 12 years, she joined the law firm of Gonzalez & Associates, P.C. in McAllen, Texas where she continued to litigate but as a plaintiffs' lawyer. She also began an active appellate practice at this time.

As private attorney, Justice Benavides was recognized in Texas Monthly as a Super Lawyer in 2003 and 2004 by her peers as one of the best lawyers in the state of Texas.

She also served as a Minority Director for the State Bar of Texas. She was President of the Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas and the Cameron County Bar Association, as well as a Vice-President of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel. Her service also includes stints on numerous committees for the State Bar of Texas, including Continued Legal Education and Law Focus Education.

Justice Benavides is currently a Fellow with the Texas Bar Foundation. She is a member of the National Hispanic Bar Association, National Association of Women Judges, and Texas Women Lawyers. She is an active member of the Hidalgo County Bar Association, particularly their Appellate and the Women's Bar Sections.

Justice Benavides graduated from the University of Texas in Austin where she received her Bachelor of Business Administration. She then attended law school at the University of Houston Law Center and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1988. She is the proud mother of two children, Daniella and Ricardo. Daniella is in her last year at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Ricardo attends the University of Iowa in Iowa.

Updated: 13-Apr-2012