Fourth Court of Appeals
Place 3
Justice Lori Massey Brissette was appointed to serve on the Fourth Court of Appeals by Governor Abbott effective July 8, 2024 to fulfill the term left open by Justice Patricia Alvarez’s retirement. Formerly, she was a Judge of the 288th District Court, first appointed by Governor Perry and then elected twice by the people of Bexar County.
Justice Brissette obtained her B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with honors from South Texas College of Law, named as the Outstanding Female Graduate and honored as the Honor Scholar by the Alumni. After making the second highest score on the Texas Bar exam, she began her career as a Briefing Attorney at the Texas Supreme Court and then spent over ten years as a litigator and appellate practitioner before being appointed to the district court bench. She was Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law from 1999 to 2004, unable to recertify once she assumed the trial court bench. In 2008, Justice Brissette voluntarily resigned her bench to return to private practice and was subsequently named several times as a Texas Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly magazine, a distinction given to only 5% of Texas attorneys. From 2012 to 2022, Justice Brissette served as a senior executive at USAA, first as Executive Director of Enterprise Litigation, and then Northwestern Mutual where she was the CEO of Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, a top 5 U.S. investment broker/dealer.
Justice Brissette has resided in San Antonio since 1993 and has raised four children here, all of whom have decided to live here in San Antonio after college. She is also a grandmother.
Justice Brissette is a Sustaining Life Fellow of the San Antonio Bar Foundation, a Sustaining Member of the State Bar of Texas Litigation Section, and a Master of the Bench in the William S. Sessions Inn of Court.
In addition to her family and the legal profession, Justice Brissette focuses her time on the community. As a district court judge, Justice Brissette not only handled her civil docket and many cases designated complex, but she also co-lead the Child Abuse & Neglect Court and the Family Drug Court. Even beyond the courthouse, she helped create coalitions among churches and philanthropies to combine instead of compete for volunteer time, talent and treasure. Out of that came the Christ Coalition that has endured for more than 20 years. She has received the Woman of Excellence Award by the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the Angel Award by Any Baby Can, the Bergman Service Award from Arms of Hope, and the President’s Service Award from the San Antonio Bar Association.
Justice Brissette is currently a board member of the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) – Greater San Antonio and a member of ImpactSA, San Antonio PowerWomen and NAWBO – San Antonio. Her prior service includes Chair/Board Member of the San Antonio Women’s Chamber of Commerce, board member for Arms of Hope, and former pro bono attorney for Justice for Children.
Staff
Staff Attorneys
- Matt Compton
- Nicolette Van Dielen