Gov. Greg Abbott appointed a UT law professor to the Texas Supreme Court on Nov. 1 due to his experience in private practice and service to the public.  

Evan Young became an adjunct professor at the School of Law in 2015 and teaches federal courts and religious liberty. Young is a partner at Baker Botts LLP and served as a clerk for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He also served as counsel to the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Young replaced former Justice Eva Guzman, who resigned to run for attorney general of Texas. Young said he plans to run for reelection when his term ends in 2022. 

“I’m extremely grateful for the confidence the governor placed in me by selecting me for this job,” Young said. “It’s a job that is for me a dream come true, where my only duty is to get it right in every single case and not to worry about anything else.”

Law student Nolan Bedward, who took Young’s course in the spring 2021 semester, said Young was always prepared and had a photographic memory. 

“He relishes those difficult questions, which I think will be wonderful for him as a judge,” Bedward said. “Because by the time a court case has gotten up to the Texas Supreme Court, most of those initial questions have been solved, and it’s really you’re just dealing with those big questions.”

Adjunct law professor Hiram Sasser taught the religious liberty class with Young for three years and said he thinks Young is a great fit for the position. 

“He is not an outcome person, he’s a process person,” Sasser said. “If he’s not after a particular outcome he’s after a particular process, and then whatever the outcome of that process is is what he’ll go with, regardless of if he has a personal preference.” 

Young said he knows the job will not be easy, but he is prepared for it. 

“One thing that I’ve been able to do over these many past years, juggling all those different things, is prioritizing,” Young said. “I know that my law clerks and I will have a few long nights, but we’re going to get the cases resolved fairly in every single instance and do the best we can to clarify the law for the people of Texas.”