Over the past twenty years, it is quite possible that no state supreme court has seen a metamorphosis of the scope that has occurred on the Texas Supreme Court. In 1985, the oft-used expression "Everything's Bigger in Texas" had no better example than the $11 billion verdict handed down by a Houston jury in a tortious interference with contract case, Texaco, Inc. v. Pennzoil, Co., which at the time was the largest jury verdict in United States history. The verdict was upheld by the intermediate court of appeals, and the Texas Supreme Court--which was viewed as demonstrably pro-plaintiff--refused to review the case, although it did announce that there was no reversible error. But change was just over the horizon.
Justice, Texas First District Court of Appeals
Susanna Dokupil was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November 2024. With over two decades of experience, Susanna’s career has spanned all three branches of government as well as private practice. She has been a Special Counsel and Assistant Solicitor General in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas as well as a Special Counsel to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and a law clerk to the Hon. Jerry Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In her role as Special Counsel at the Texas Attorney General’s office, Susanna led teams of litigators focused on protecting Texas’s interests against agency regulations that exceeded the agency’s statutory and constitutional power. As an Assistant Solicitor General, she drafted briefs before the Fifth Circuit and United States Supreme Court, primarily focused on First Amendment issues. Susanna’s experience in private practice has combined traditional commercial litigation with advising technology companies and founders on strategic communications.
Susanna has been a prolific speaker and writer on law and public policy topics, including articles in The Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, The Texas Review of Law & Politics, American Enterprise, the Washington Times, and the Houston Chronicle, among others.
Susanna is a graduate of Harvard Law School and also holds degrees from The George Washington University and Baylor University. She lives in Houston and has four children.