Jennifer Caughey

Practice Areas

Trial & Appellate Litigation

Career

Jennifer Caughey is a former Justice on Texas’s First Court of Appeals and current chair of Jackson Walker’s appellate section. Justice Caughey leverages her diverse experience on both sides of the bench to litigate complex cases at the appellate and trial levels.

Justice Caughey represents clients in complex matters in state and federal courts. She handles high-stakes commercial litigation, with a focus on appeals. She has particular expertise in issues involving statutory and contractual interpretation, constitutional law, healthcare, insurance, energy, administrative law, and professional liability.

On the state level, she represents or has successfully represented clients in major matters across Texas, including at the Texas Supreme Court, in various Texas Courts of Appeals, and in trial courts. Her federal practice is equally notable. She represents or has successfully represented clients in federal courts, including handling appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, as well as matters in federal district courts and at the U.S. Supreme Court.

As a Justice on Texas’s First Court of Appeals, Jennifer handled a broad docket of civil and criminal appeals from Harris County and nine surrounding counties. Justice Caughey authored more than 125 opinions (half signed, half per curiam) spanning questions of civil, criminal, family, and probate law. She actively contributed to 454 cases.

Professional Memberships

Serves on the Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals, 2022-2025

Serves on the Texas Judicial Council, 2021-2027

Texas Bar Association, Appellate Section, Committee Chair

Houston Bar Association, Appellate Section, Judicial Liaison, 2017-2018

Publications

"U.S. Supreme Court Endorses Major Questions Doctrine as Interpretive Canon in EPA Ruling," Jackson Walker Insights (July 2022)

Work Highlights

Recent appellate successes include:

- A unanimous ruling by Supreme Court of Texas in favor of the Hidalgo County Water Improvement District No. 3 in an important eminent domain and immunity dispute before the Supreme Court of Texas. The central issue was whether a land-owning governmental entity could unilaterally stop an authorized condemnation by asserting governmental immunity from suit.

- A unanimous ruling by Supreme Court of Texas in favor of Helena Chemical Company in a lawsuit alleging that an aerial application of herbicide damaged cotton fields in Mitchell County, Texas. This appeal addressed critical issues of causation and expert testimony and set important precedent.

- A unanimous ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals preserves an $18 million default judgment in a dispute arising out of environmental clean-up work. The opinion serves as an important reminder of what potential intervenors must do to protect their interests. It confirms the standard for when one must intervene: when that party should have known that its interests might not be adequately protected by existing parties to the lawsuit.

- The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in favor of Flight Training International (FTI) regarding an FAA order concerning pilot certification requirements. This victory enables FTI to continue to provide valuable certification courses at training centers in Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, and Miami.

Education