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Hon. Scott Brister
Chief Justice · Place 1
Fifteenth Court of Appeals
Biography
Chief Justice Scott Brister was appointed by Governor Abbott as the first Chief Justice of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals effective September 1, 2024. He previously served on four other trial and appellate courts in Texas for 20 years: 6 years on the Texas Supreme Court (2003–09), 3 years as a Justice and Chief Justice of the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals in Houston (2001–03), and 11 years as Presiding Judge of the 234th District Court in Harris County (1989–2000). During his years of judicial service, he presided in 454 jury trials to verdict, and authored more than 600 appellate opinions, including 122 for the Texas Supreme Court. Before returning to the bench in 2024, Chief Justice Brister was a partner at the law firm of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. During those years, he continued his public service as a volunteer as Chair of the Texas Commission on Public School Finance, a blue-ribbon panel of lawmakers and educators tasked with making recommendations that the Texas Legislature adopted the next year. He has also served on the Texas Bar’s Pattern Jury Charge committee on Business cases. Chief Justice Brister received his J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School in 1980, after which he served as briefing attorney for then-Chief Justice Joe Greenhill of the Texas Supreme Court. He received his undergraduate degree with highest honors from Duke University in 1977, and his high school diploma from Richfield High School in Waco, Texas. He is board-certified in civil appellate law, civil trial law, and personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has written articles for numerous law reviews and journals, as well as opinion pieces for The Houston Chronicle, The Austin American-Stateman, The Texas Trial Lawyer, and The Harvard Law Record. Chief Justice Brister has been married to his wife Julie for 37 years. He returned to the bench in 2024 after their four daughters finished college and graduate school.
Opinions by Judge Brister (2)
Fifteenth Court Holds Arbitration Delegation Clauses Trump Trial Court Scope Determinations in Multi-Contract Disputes
In consolidated interlocatory appeals from two Business Court divisions, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals held that when parties adopt AAA arbitration rules, trial courts lack authority to determine which claims or related contracts fall within the arbitration's scope—that gateway question is delegated exclusively to the arbitrator. The decision reversed both a trial court's refusal to compel arbitration of a dispute over pledged membership units and another division's order staying an ongoing arbitration, establishing that delegation clauses strip courts of jurisdiction over arbitrability determinations.
Fifteenth Court Holds Arbitrator Must Decide Scope of Arbitration When Parties Delegate to AAA
In consolidated interlocutory appeals from two Business Court divisions, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals reversed orders that limited and stayed arbitration of disputes between TrueAero's CEO and its former president, holding that when parties delegate arbitrability questions to the AAA, trial courts err by deciding whether claims under related contracts fall within the arbitration's scope. The court affirmed a temporary injunction preserving membership units pending the arbitrator's determination.