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Gina M. Benavides

January 01, 1970

Georgina "Gina" Martinez Benavides (born December 6, 1962) is a justice at the Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals based in Corpus Christi and Edinburg. She was first elected in 2006, and re-elected in 2012.[1] She is a member of the Democratic Party and resides in McAllen, Texas.

Early life and education edit

Justice Benavides was born in Laredo, Texas, and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is a 1981 graduate of Mary Carroll High School. Upon graduation, Benavides attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. After receiving her undergraduate degree, Benavides enrolled at the University of Houston Law Center. During law school, Benavides was active in the Hispanic Law Students Association and the civil practice clinic. Benavides obtained her law degree and law license in 1988.

Private practice edit

Before joining the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, Justice Benavides was a litigator with over 17 years of courtroom experience. She began her legal career at the Adams & Graham Law Firm in Harlingen, Texas, in 1988. At this primarily defense firm, she tried over 30 cases throughout the state of Texas in the areas of toxic tort, products liability, commercial litigation, and personal injury. After 12 years, she joined the law firm of Gonzalez & Associates, P.C. in McAllen, Texas, where she continued to litigate but as a plaintiffs' lawyer. She also began an active appellate practice at this time.

As a private attorney, Justice Benavides was recognized in Texas Monthly as a Super Lawyer in 2003 and 2004 by her peers as one of the best lawyers in the state of Texas.

She also served as a minority director for the State Bar of Texas. She was president of the Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas and the Cameron County Bar Association, as well as a vice-president of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel. Her service also includes stints on numerous committees for the State Bar of Texas, including Continuing Legal Education and Law Focused Education.[2]

Judicial career edit

Justice Benavides was first elected to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in 2006 and was re-elected in 2012. Prior to her re-election, she was endorsed by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. The newspaper's editorial highlighted Justice Benavides's experience, "folksy manner" and "impressive intellect."[3]

After her first year on the Court, Justice Benavides was bestowed the honor of "Latina Judge of the Year" by the National Hispanic Bar Association at their annual meeting in Puerto Rico in 2007.

In 2008, she was appointed to serve on the Texas Center for the Judiciary Board of Directors (the "Texas Center"). The Texas Center was established in 1973 to provide continuing judicial education programs for the state's judiciary and support personnel. The Texas Center pursues its mission of judicial excellence through education by providing leadership education and training so that a qualified and a knowledgeable judiciary may administer justice with fairness, efficiency, and integrity. In 2010, she was elected Chair-Elect of the Texas Center by her fellow judges and became chair at the annual meeting in September 2011. The last time a judge from Region 5, which encompasses South Texas, held this position was in 1992. Justice Benavides is the first Hispanic woman to hold this position.

In 2010, the Texas Supreme Court appointed Justice Benavides to the Texas Access to Justice Commission. This commission was created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 2001 to develop and implement initiatives to expand access to, and enhance the quality of, justice in civil matters for low-income Texans.

In February 2012, the State Bar of Texas through President Bob Black appointed a new task force dubbed "Solutions 2012" to deal with decreasing funding for legal access and rising numbers of unrepresented (pro se) litigants, and the implications of these developments for the Texas legal system. He called upon Justice Benavides to serve on the committee.

Justice Benavides is frequently asked to serve as a speaker and presenter of papers throughout the State of Texas.[4]

Justice Benavides was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Red Mass in Brownsville, Texas. The Red Mass is a mass celebrated annually for judges, attorneys, law school professors, students, government officials, and all those who seek justice. She has also spoken at several candlelight vigils against domestic violence and abuse.

Justice Benavides is committed to youth and youth education. She judges the annual "We the People" Constitution Competition, UIL Mock Trial and Moot Court competitions, and the Texas Young Lawyer's Association Moot Court Competition at the State Bar Annual Meeting. She is also a frequent career-day speaker.

Benavides is active in the National Association of Women Judges, (NAWJ) and served on the Judicial Independence Committee, Judicial Selection Committee, and Judicial Education Committee. She also continues to be involved in the Mexican-American Bar Association (MABA) of Texas, an organization she served as president when she was an attorney in private practice.

Election results edit

Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals: Place 5, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Gina M. Benavides (Incumbent) 249,698 57.51
Republican Doug Norman 184,473 42.49
Total votes 434,171 100.0
Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals: Place 5, 2006
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Gina M. Benavides 158,938 100.00
Total votes 158,938 100.0

Texas Supreme Court Candidacy edit

In 2014, Justice Benavides was the Democratic candidate for Place 7 on the nine-member Texas Supreme Court.[5] She ran against incumbent Jeff Boyd of Austin (Republican), Don Fulton of Fort Worth (Libertarian), and Charles Edwin Waterbury of Dallas (Green).

On February 12, 2014, the State Bar of Texas released the results of its 2014 Judicial Poll.[6] Justice Benavides received the most votes in the supreme court race for Place 7 race with 4,039 votes. Additionally, she was the only non-incumbent candidate for the Texas Supreme Court to receive the most votes for each place on the ballot.

Benavides was defeated in the election by incumbent Jeff Boyd.

Supreme Court of Texas: Place 7, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Boyd (Incumbent) 2,711,363 58.90
Democratic Gina M. Benavides 1,731,031 37.60
Libertarian Don Fulton 126,725 2.75
Green Charles E. Waterbury 34,493 0.75
Total votes 4,603,612 100.0

References edit

  1. ^ "Justice Gina M. Benavides Biography". Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Justice Gina M. Benavides Biography". Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  3. ^ "Two incumbents and Greenwell for 13th Court of Appeals". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Justice Gina M. Benavides Biography". Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  5. ^ "Meet Justice Gina Benavides". Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  6. ^ "State Bar of Texas announces judicial poll results". Retrieved 14 February 2014.

January 01, 1970
gina, benavides, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, t. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Gina M Benavides news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message Georgina Gina Martinez Benavides born December 6 1962 is a justice at the Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals based in Corpus Christi and Edinburg She was first elected in 2006 and re elected in 2012 1 She is a member of the Democratic Party and resides in McAllen Texas Gina M BenavidesTexas Thirteenth Court of Appeals JusticeIncumbentAssumed office 2007Personal detailsBorn1962Laredo Texas Webb County TexasNationalityAmericanPolitical partyDemocraticAlma materMary Carroll High School in Corpus Christi The University of Texas at Austin University of Houston Law CenterOccupationAttorney Judge Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Private practice 3 Judicial career 4 Election results 5 Texas Supreme Court Candidacy 6 ReferencesEarly life and education editJustice Benavides was born in Laredo Texas and grew up in Corpus Christi Texas She is a 1981 graduate of Mary Carroll High School Upon graduation Benavides attended the University of Texas at Austin where she graduated in 1985 with a bachelor s degree in business administration After receiving her undergraduate degree Benavides enrolled at the University of Houston Law Center During law school Benavides was active in the Hispanic Law Students Association and the civil practice clinic Benavides obtained her law degree and law license in 1988 Private practice editBefore joining the Thirteenth Court of Appeals Justice Benavides was a litigator with over 17 years of courtroom experience She began her legal career at the Adams amp Graham Law Firm in Harlingen Texas in 1988 At this primarily defense firm she tried over 30 cases throughout the state of Texas in the areas of toxic tort products liability commercial litigation and personal injury After 12 years she joined the law firm of Gonzalez amp Associates P C in McAllen Texas where she continued to litigate but as a plaintiffs lawyer She also began an active appellate practice at this time As a private attorney Justice Benavides was recognized in Texas Monthly as a Super Lawyer in 2003 and 2004 by her peers as one of the best lawyers in the state of Texas She also served as a minority director for the State Bar of Texas She was president of the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas and the Cameron County Bar Association as well as a vice president of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel Her service also includes stints on numerous committees for the State Bar of Texas including Continuing Legal Education and Law Focused Education 2 Judicial career editJustice Benavides was first elected to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in 2006 and was re elected in 2012 Prior to her re election she was endorsed by the Corpus Christi Caller Times The newspaper s editorial highlighted Justice Benavides s experience folksy manner and impressive intellect 3 After her first year on the Court Justice Benavides was bestowed the honor of Latina Judge of the Year by the National Hispanic Bar Association at their annual meeting in Puerto Rico in 2007 In 2008 she was appointed to serve on the Texas Center for the Judiciary Board of Directors the Texas Center The Texas Center was established in 1973 to provide continuing judicial education programs for the state s judiciary and support personnel The Texas Center pursues its mission of judicial excellence through education by providing leadership education and training so that a qualified and a knowledgeable judiciary may administer justice with fairness efficiency and integrity In 2010 she was elected Chair Elect of the Texas Center by her fellow judges and became chair at the annual meeting in September 2011 The last time a judge from Region 5 which encompasses South Texas held this position was in 1992 Justice Benavides is the first Hispanic woman to hold this position In 2010 the Texas Supreme Court appointed Justice Benavides to the Texas Access to Justice Commission This commission was created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 2001 to develop and implement initiatives to expand access to and enhance the quality of justice in civil matters for low income Texans In February 2012 the State Bar of Texas through President Bob Black appointed a new task force dubbed Solutions 2012 to deal with decreasing funding for legal access and rising numbers of unrepresented pro se litigants and the implications of these developments for the Texas legal system He called upon Justice Benavides to serve on the committee Justice Benavides is frequently asked to serve as a speaker and presenter of papers throughout the State of Texas 4 Justice Benavides was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Red Mass in Brownsville Texas The Red Mass is a mass celebrated annually for judges attorneys law school professors students government officials and all those who seek justice She has also spoken at several candlelight vigils against domestic violence and abuse Justice Benavides is committed to youth and youth education She judges the annual We the People Constitution Competition UIL Mock Trial and Moot Court competitions and the Texas Young Lawyer s Association Moot Court Competition at the State Bar Annual Meeting She is also a frequent career day speaker Benavides is active in the National Association of Women Judges NAWJ and served on the Judicial Independence Committee Judicial Selection Committee and Judicial Education Committee She also continues to be involved in the Mexican American Bar Association MABA of Texas an organization she served as president when she was an attorney in private practice Election results editTexas Thirteenth Court of Appeals Place 5 2012 Party Candidate Votes Democratic Gina M Benavides Incumbent 249 698 57 51 Republican Doug Norman 184 473 42 49 Total votes 434 171 100 0 Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals Place 5 2006 Party Candidate Votes Democratic Gina M Benavides 158 938 100 00 Total votes 158 938 100 0Texas Supreme Court Candidacy editIn 2014 Justice Benavides was the Democratic candidate for Place 7 on the nine member Texas Supreme Court 5 She ran against incumbent Jeff Boyd of Austin Republican Don Fulton of Fort Worth Libertarian and Charles Edwin Waterbury of Dallas Green On February 12 2014 the State Bar of Texas released the results of its 2014 Judicial Poll 6 Justice Benavides received the most votes in the supreme court race for Place 7 race with 4 039 votes Additionally she was the only non incumbent candidate for the Texas Supreme Court to receive the most votes for each place on the ballot Benavides was defeated in the election by incumbent Jeff Boyd Supreme Court of Texas Place 7 2014 Party Candidate Votes Republican Jeff Boyd Incumbent 2 711 363 58 90 Democratic Gina M Benavides 1 731 031 37 60 Libertarian Don Fulton 126 725 2 75 Green Charles E Waterbury 34 493 0 75 Total votes 4 603 612 100 0References edit Justice Gina M Benavides Biography Retrieved 14 February 2014 Justice Gina M Benavides Biography Retrieved 14 February 2014 Two incumbents and Greenwell for 13th Court of Appeals Corpus Christi Caller Times 12 October 2012 Retrieved 14 February 2014 Justice Gina M Benavides Biography Retrieved 14 February 2014 Meet Justice Gina Benavides Retrieved 14 February 2014 State Bar of Texas announces judicial poll results Retrieved 14 February 2014 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gina M Benavides amp oldid 1150518690, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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