Justice Frances Bourliot is proud to serve you as Justice, Place 5, on the Court of Appeals for the Fourteenth District of Texas. She was sworn in on January 1, 2019, and was the first Asian-American woman and first public defender elected to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals.
Justice Bourliot began her legal career as a staff attorney with the Texas Defender Service and the Texas Innocence Network, representing indigent prisoners and death row inmates. After that she worked in the Harris County Public Defender’s Office, representing defendants—including juveniles—who could not afford to hire an attorney. She was also an Adjunct Faculty Member at the University of Houston Law Center for several years overseeing the Death Penalty Clinic and co-teaching Innocence Investigations. She then joined the Appellate Division of the Harris County Public Defender’s Office when it opened in 2011 and continued to work as an Assistant Public Defender in the appellate, mental health, and felony trial divisions until 2017 when she started her own practice. She joined a plaintiff’s law firm in 2018 and represented clients in personal injury, medical malpractice, and appellate matters. Justice Bourliot has taught CLEs on Batson challenges, jury charge issues, mitigation, and mental health related topics.
Justice Bourliot received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University. She is a proud mother of a teenager who keeps her busy with sports and high school.
