Judge Rose Vela: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

The Hon. Rose Vela (Ret.) was a justice of the 13th Court of Appeals of Texas. She was elected to the Court of Appeals in 2006. She retired in 2012 after her husband, Filemón Vela, Jr., decided to run for Congress.

Prior to her seat on the Court of Appeals, she was elected to serve as a judge for the 148th District Court in Nueces County in 1998. During her tenure on the District Court, Vela also served as the presiding administrative judge of the Nueces County Council of Judges (2001 to 2003).

Vela received a B.A. in English from Southwest Texas State University in 1985. She went on to complete a J.D. at St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1988.

She is also a graduate of the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiations (2005), the New York University College of Appellate Judges (2009), the National Judicial College (1999, 2000), and the Texas College of Advanced Judicial Studies (2005).

After law school, Vela first worked as a briefing attorney to the Hon. Alfonso Chapa of the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio before moving to Corpus Christi, where she then worked as a briefing attorney to the Hon. Robert J. Seerden of the 13th Court of Appeals. She then entered into private practice, where she specialized in civil appellate law.

Her memberships included the American Inns of Court, the American Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association, the National Association of Women Judges, the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, the College of the State Bar of Texas, the Corpus Christi Young Lawyers’ Association (president), the Texas Center for the Judiciary (former director), the Corpus Christi Bar Association (director), and the Texas Bar Foundation.

In March 2021, President Joe Biden appointed Vela to serve as director of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships (PCWHF), the PCWHF, which was established by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, allows emerging leaders interested in public service the opportunity to work at the highest levels of the federal government.

Vela, a military brat, was born at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. She and her husband, Congressman Filemón Vela, Jr., have two French Bulldogs named Truman and Teddy.

She is registered as a Republican.