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Gov. Greg Abbott named Austin lawyer Evan Young to the Texas Supreme Court on Monday.
Young replaces former Justice Eva Guzman, who resigned in June ahead of a campaign for attorney general.
"Evan Young is a proven legal scholar and public servant, making him an ideal pick for the Supreme Court of Texas," Abbott said in a statement. "Evan's extensive background in private practice and public service will be a fantastic addition to the bench, and I am confident that he will faithfully defend the Constitution and uphold the rule of law for the people of Texas."
Young is set to finish Guzman's term in Place 9 on the court, which goes through the end of next year. Place 9 is on the ballot next year.
After clerking for Scalia, Young went to work for the U.S. Department of Justice, serving as counsel to two former attorneys general, Alberto Gonzales and Michael Mukasey. During that period, he spent time in Iraq, helping with U.S. efforts to rebuild the government there.
Young joined Baker Botts' Austin office in 2009. More recently, Abbott appointed Young to the Texas Judicial Council, which oversees the court system in Texas, and he serves on the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee.
For more biographical info
- From the Federalist Society:
Evan Young’s practice focuses on trial and appellate litigation. He has argued cases before both the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Texas. Ranging from those courts to state trial courts, he has represented clients across the country before every level of the state and federal judiciary.
Before joining Baker Botts, Mr. Young worked as a lawyer in the judicial and executive branches of the federal government. He served as a law clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and then to Justice Antonin Scalia at the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2006, after his clerkship with Justice Scalia ended, Mr. Young became Counsel to the Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, serving in the Office of the Attorney General under Attorneys General Alberto R. Gonzales and Michael B. Mukasey. While on the Attorney General’s staff, he accepted a detail to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, where he was the Deputy Rule of Law Coordinator. In that position he worked to assist the Iraqi government in its efforts to strengthen its legal regime, including, for example, its courts and prison system. He returned to Texas and joined the Austin office of Baker Botts in 2009.
