Chief Justice Scott Brister is an honors graduate of both Duke University and Harvard Law School. After graduation, he served as briefing attorney for Chief Justice Joe Greenhill of the Texas Supreme Court, and then as an associate with the law firm of Andrews & Kurth. In 1989, he was appointed by Gov. Bill Clements as judge of the 234th District Court in Harris County, and was re-elected to that position three times over the next eleven years. He was selected as Administrative Judge of the Harris County Civil District Courts in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, Judge Brister was elected as an Associate Justice of the First Court of Appeals, and eight months later was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry as Chief Justice of the Fourteenth Court of Appeals. Both courts serve Houston and 14 surrounding counties. In November 2003 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Texas.