Justice Terry Jennings is an independent arbitrator and mediator. He formed Terry Jennings - ADR in 2019 after a distinguished career of 18 years on Texas's First Court of Appeals.
Justice Jennings is a Certified Mediator, having completed the 40-Hour Mediation Training Program at the Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution, South Texas College of Law Houston. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 154.052(a) (qualifications of impartial third party). He has successfully mediated disputes pre-litigation, in litigation in both Texas and federal courts, and on appeal.
Justice Jennings is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s Roster of Commercial and Consumer Arbitrators. And he has earned a Certificate in Advanced Arbitration Skills, Commercial Arbitration (International and Domestic), at the A. A. White Dispute Resolution Center, University of Houston Law Center.
Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Justice Jennings “served with distinction” as a member of the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee from 2003 to 2014. The Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists named him its 2009 and 2018 Appellate Judge of the Year. In 2011, the Houston Press named Jennings “Houston’s Best Appellate Judge.” The Texas Bar Foundation, “in recognition of his service and devotion to the highest traditions of the Bar,” elected him a Life Fellow in 2013. And in 2016, the University of Houston Law Alumni Association, “in recognition of his exceptional achievement in public service,” awarded Jennings its Public Sector Achievement Award.
On the First Court of Appeals in Houston, one of the busiest appellate courts in the United States, Justice Jennings authored over 1,200 opinions on the merits. He resolved multiple civil disputes between business entities with amounts in controversy of several million dollars, including one dispute with a jury award of over $60 million. And Jennings gained extensive experience in construing statutes and complex contracts, deciding evidentiary and procedural issues, and evaluating the legal and factual sufficiency of evidence.
The civil cases handled by Justice Jennings involved a broad range of sophisticated and complex disputes and issues arising under federal and state law. Litigants included persons and entities in the fields and industries of: Agriculture, Architecture, Banking and Financial Services, Construction, Education, Energy (Electric, Natural Gas, and Oil), Environmental, Healthcare, Insurance, Legal Services, Manufacturing, Media, Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, Taxation, Technology, and Transportation.
Terry Jennings, as a Harris County Assistant District Attorney for over 10 years, prosecuted over 1000 criminal cases and tried over 100 cases to verdict. In the Trial Bureau, he prosecuted everything from misdemeanor to murder cases. In the Major Fraud Unit of the Special Crimes Bureau, Jennings prosecuted white-collar crime cases, including aggregate theft, breach of computer security, embezzlement, fraud, insurance fraud, intellectual property crimes, misappropriation of property, money laundering, and organized crime. And he gained extensive experience in preparing for and trying cases, assessing the strength and weaknesses of cases, testing and judging the credibility of witnesses, and evaluating financial forensic evidence.
After retiring from the First Court of Appeals, Justice Jennings, pursuant to statute, elected to become a Texas Senior Judge, subject to assignment in Texas appellate, district, and statutory county courts.