Vickers, Philip A.

Justice Rose Vela was born and raised in a military family and graduated from South San Antonio High School, West Campus. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1985 from Southwest Texas State University, with a major in English and minor in Political Science. In 1988, she graduated from St. Mary's University School of Law and was licensed to practice law in Texas that same year. After law school, Justice Vela served as a briefing attorney to both the 4th and 13th Courts of Appeals of Texas, and subsequently entered into private practice, focusing on civil appellate law and mass tort litigation.

In 1998, she was elected to the 148th District Court in Nueces County Texas, a court of general jurisdiction, where she served two four-year terms. From 2001 to 2003, she served as Presiding Judge of the Nueces County Council of Judges.

In 2006, Justice Vela was elected to the 13th Court of Appeals of Texas, a court that handles all appeals, except for criminal death penalty cases, from a twenty-county South Texas district. Her six-year term expired December 31, 2012.

Among other professional organizations, she has been a member of the American Inns of Court, The National Association of Women Judges, the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, the College of the State Bar of Texas, and the Texas Bar Foundation.

She is also a graduate of the Texas College of Advanced Judicial Studies, (General Jurisprudence), the National Judicial College (Conducting the Trial, Advanced Evidence) and the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation. She has also served as a Director of the Texas Center for the Judiciary, President of the Corpus Christi Young Lawyers Association, and Director of the Corpus Christi Bar Association.

Justice Vela is married to Filemon B. Vela, Jr., U.S. Congressman for the 34th District of Texas. She currently resides in Brownsville, Texas and Washington, D.C.