Chief Justice Ann McClure was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 5, 1953, and the family relocated to Texas in 1955. She is a 1971 graduate of Winston Churchill High School in San Antonio. She completed her undergraduate education at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, and was graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of fine arts degree in communications. In 1979, she received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law Center and entered private practice with a preeminent family law firm in Houston. In 1983, she moved to El Paso, married attorney David R. McClure, and began a solo practice. In 1984, she was certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Family Law, and in 1987, she became the first attorney from El Paso to obtain board certification in Civil Appellate Law. In 1992, Chief Justice McClure and her husband merged their respective law practices into the partnership of McClure & McClure. She continued to maintain a state-wide appellate practice until 1994, when she was elected to the Eighth Court of Appeals. She served as a justice of the court from January 1, 1995 until she was appointed Chief Justice effective October 12, 2011. She was elected Chief Justice in 2012. In July 2013, she was elected Chair of the Council of Chief Justices.
Chief Justice McClure was appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas and commissioned by Governor Ann W. Richards to the Texas Board of Law Examiners in 1991. She served as one of the original members of the Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals and as a member of the Texas Family Law Specialization Exam Commission. She also chaired the Texas Civil Appellate Law Advisory Commission. Dedicated to continuing legal education, she is a frequent author and lecturer in the areas of appellate practice, family law, evidence, ethics, and women's issues. As a result, she received the 2005 Gene Cavin Award from the State Bar of Texas/Texas Bar CLE. She has authored over one hundred continuing legal education articles and published two law review articles. Chief Justice McClure has served as Chair of the State Bar of Texas Appellate Section, Family Law Section, and the Appellate Division of the Judicial Section. She is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
In 2013, Chief Justice McClure received the Bravo Award from the El Paso League of Women Voters. She and Justices Guadalupe Rivera and Yvonne Rodriguez were recognized with the Legacy Award presented by the Black El Paso Democrats and the Trailblazing Jurists Award by the Tejano Paso del Norte Democrats and the West El Paso Tejano Democrats.
In 2012, Chief Justice McClure was presented the Trailblazer Award by the Black El Paso Democrats. In 2006, she was named Judge of the Year by the El Paso Chapter of the Mexican American Bar Association. She was selected by the Texas Bar Foundation as the Samuel Pessara Jurist of the Year in 2005. She received the 2004 Jurist of the Year Award from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers/Texas Chapter. The Texas Center of Legal Ethics and Professionalism, joined by the El Paso Bar Association and the El Paso Young Lawyers Association, presented her with the 2004 Professionalism Award. She was also the recipient of the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists' Judge Sam Emison Award in 2002. In 2000, she received the Dan R. Price Award from the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and the Sarah T. Hughes Award from the Women and the Law Section of the State Bar. In 1999, Chief Justice McClure was presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Texas Christian University and the Civil Rights Award from the El Paso Local Chapter of the NAACP. She was also recognized as the honoree of Women in the Law of Texas Tech University School of Law. In 1998, she was selected by the Board of Directors and past presidents of the State Bar of Texas to receive the Presidential Certificate of Merit. She was additionally presented with a Presidential Citation by then-State Bar President W. Frank Newton. A former member of the Task Force on Indigent Defense and the Texas Judicial Council, Chief Justice McClure is a past president of both the El Paso Bar Association and the Trans-Pecos Bar Association. She and her husband have two children. All four are duly commissioned Kentucky Colonels. The McClures have one Labrador Retriever and a Brittany Spaniel.
Let's Keep Chief Justice
Ann McClure!
Investiture1995
Chief Justice Richard Barajas, presiding
Investiture 2011
Chief Justice (Retired) Richard Barajas, presiding
