PHIL JOHNSON APPOINTED TO SUPREME COURT
THIS MORNING, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his appointment of Chief Justice Phil Johnson of the Amarillo Court of Appeals to a vacancy on the Texas Supreme Court.
Judge Johnson was formerly a Vice-President of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel before he went on the Amarillo Court in 1998. The Texas Association of Defense Counsel through its President, David Chamberlain , urged the Governor to appoint Judge Johnson to the state’s highest court a couple of months ago. Chamberlain is a partner in Austin and San Antonio firm of Chamberlain-McHaney.
The Governor stated:”I looked across Texas for an individual who could add to the High Court’s depth of experience, who is committed to interpreting the law in accordance with the will of the Legislature and our founding fathers, and who has demonstrated the high level of integrity demanded by the people of Texas,” Perry said in a news release. “One extraordinary West Texan fit the bill and that is the Chief Justice of the Seventh District Court of Appeals, Phil Johnson.”
He is a 1965 graduate of Texas Tech University and a 1975 graduate of the Tech School of Law and practiced law in Lubbock from 1975 through 1998. He was president of the Lubbock County Bar Association in 1984-85.