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Hon. Melissa Davis Andrews
Judge · Seat 3A
Texas Business Court · Third Business Court Division (Austin)
Biography
Melissa Andrews is a judge on the Texas Business Court, where she serves in the Third Division in Austin, Texas. Judge Andrews is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Before coming to the bench, she focused her legal practice on appellate briefing and oral argument, strategic dispositive motions, expert challenges, preservation of error, and jury charges. She has represented clients in the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Texas, several United States Courts of Appeals, and trial and appellate courts across the county. She also previously worked at the Supreme Court of Texas as an attorney for Justice Jeff Boyd and a law clerk for Justice Don Willett (now serving on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals), as well as at the First Court of Appeals as an attorney for Justice Harvey Brown. She is currently the immediate past Chair of the Austin Bar Association’s Civil Appellate Section. She also serves on the Texas Board of Legal Specialization’s Advisory Commissions for Civil Appellate Law as well as for Judicial Administration. She is a frequent CLE presenter and has authored several law review articles. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was a member of the Texas Law Review, served as a Teaching Quizmaster, and graduated with honors. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, where she graduated magna cum laude.
Opinions by Judge Andrews (1)
Certificate of Formation Controls Over Conflicting Bylaws in Nonprofit Governance Dispute
In Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of Austin v. Lam, Division 3 granted summary judgment for defendants, holding that a nonprofit corporation's certificate of formation stating it "will have no members" and vesting management in the board controls over 2025 bylaws purporting to convert the entity to a member-managed corporation. The court rejected any jurisdictional bar from the church-autonomy doctrine, finding the dispute presented a non-ecclesiastical issue of corporate governance decidable by neutral application of Texas corporate law.