Justice Debra H. Lehrmann
Supreme Court of Texas
Tuesday, April 9, 2024 | 4:30pm-5:30pm Central
In-person and Virtual
John M. O'Quinn Law Building
Foundation Room
4170 Martin Luther King Blvd
Houston, TX 77204-6060
Approved for 1 hour of Texas MCLE credit, of which 1 hour is ethics
For questions or more information, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at lawalumni@uh.edu or 713-743-2201
Justice Debra H. Lehrmann is the Senior Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court’s longest-serving woman Justice in Texas history. With more than 35 years of
judicial experience, she was a trial judge in Tarrant County prior to her appellate service.
Nationally known, Justice Lehrmann is a past chair of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, a commissioner on the Uniform Law Commission, and a
member of the American Law Institute. She has also been an active leader in the Texas legal community for many years; she served as the inaugural chair of the State Bar of
Texas Child Protection Law Section, is an emeritus member and past president of the Lloyd Lochridge Inn of Court, is a past president of the Texas Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Texas Bar Foundation, and the Tarrant County Bar Foundation. She speaks frequently at continuing legal education events on a variety of topics throughout the state and country, and she authored Texas Annotated Family Code (Lexis Nexis-Matthew Bender) and Court-Appointed Representation of Children in Texas Family Law Cases—A Practical Guide for Attorneys (Lexis-Nexis-Matthew Bender).
Justice Lehrmann has received numerous awards, including the Champion for Children Award, the Texas Women
Lawyers Pathfinder Award, the Child Protection Law Section Founder’s Award, the Texas Bar Foundation’s
recognition for Best Law Review Article, the Tarrant County Parenting Center’s Hand-in-Hand Award, the CASA
Scott Moore Award, and the Eva Barnes Award.
A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Justice Lehrmann received her undergraduate degree with high honors from The
University of Texas, her law degree from The University of Texas School of Law, and her LL.M. degree from Duke Law.
Justice Lehrmann and her husband, attorney Greg Lehrmann, have a wonderful family: sons Gregory and Jonathan,
both practicing lawyers, daughter-in-law Sarah, and grandchildren Jack and Haley.
The University of Houston Law Center is part of a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university and an EEO/AA institution.
The Justice Ruby Kless Sondock Lectureship in Legal Ethics Jurist In Residence program brings sitting jurists to campus for a day of interaction with students, faculty and the Houston legal community. Each jurist provides a lecture on a legal ethics issue important to the community.
"Through the Sondock Jurist In Residence Program, the Law Center brings outstanding jurists to the campus who will give lectures and meet with UHLC faculty, alumni and students," said Law Center Dean Leonard M. Baynes. "These interactions will bring the Law Center community closer to the bench so we can learn from each other. It also will help inspire our students to be the next generation of outstanding jurists. We are very proud to host the Jurist in Residence Program so aptly named after Justice Ruby Kless Sondock who is a role model and trailblazer." “Justice Ruby Sondock is truly a living legend,” said Professor Jessica Roberts who coordinated his year’s program. “It is a privilege for UHLC to host prominent jurists from around the country in her honor. We are thrilled for the opportunities this program provides for our students, faculty and the Houston legal community.”
The Jurist In Residence program is named in honor of Sondock, a pioneer in the law who graduated as valedictorian and one of only five women in the UH law school class of 1962. After practicing law for many years, Sondock was appointed to the 234th District Court in 1977, making her the first woman state district judge in Harris County. She was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in 1982, making her the first woman to serve in a regular session of the court. In 2015, the litigation section of the State Bar of Texas named her a “Texas Legal Legend.” In 2019, the Houston Bar Association established the Justice Ruby Kless Sondock Award, which is presented to a woman lawyer or judge for exceptional achievement and leadership in the law.
