Texas Border Business
Dori Contreras is a familiar name in South Texas. She is a woman known to accomplish the impossible through hard work and dedication. Dori came from humble beginnings and knew that education was the only way out from poverty. Currently, she holds the position of Justice on the Court of Appeals for the last 15 years and aspires to be the next Chief Justice of the 13th Court of Appeals. In Dori’s case, is not that one morning she woke up and said, “I want to be Chief Justice.”
She has worked for almost two decades in a field that has prepared her for the Chief Justice position. If she is elected, she replaces retiring Chief Justice Rogelio Valdez; elected in 2000.
Dori said that Chief Justice Valdez is in his third term, he will have 18 years by the end of December.
“The position is opening up and because I have been on the court all these years I see the benefit of having someone in a position that knows the court already and that knows the issues,” she told Texas Border Business.
Dori pointed out that she has worked alongside him all these years and knew a lot about the job. She adds, “And what I don’t know I’ll learn before he leaves by the end of the year.”
There is no question that Dori is in a stable position; her experience makes her uniquely qualified because there is no learning curve whatsoever on day one. “I already know how to be a judge on the court I’m already doing that and I have a good reputation for being a hardworking, fair, balanced judge on the court and then the Chief Justice duties I already have some experience with having worked alongside the current Chief,” she said.
Dori has an accounting degree from the University of Texas, which is essential she said to take over responsibilities of the Chief.
“No learning curve, which means there will be no disruption to the court at the beginning of the year.” She said, “Whereas someone that is coming from the outside that has never been a judge, and doesn’t have the personal experience that I have with the court, will have a lot to learn,” she stated.
Dori was an accountant for about seven and a half years before she went to law school. “I’m not afraid of numbers, and I can handle the budget process,” she said.
The Court of Appeals is an essential process but is not easy. “We hear all the appeals that come from the County Courts of Law and the District Courts out of the 20 county region that we cover.” She said, “With every kind of appeal criminal or civil except death penalty case.”
She stated that if the death penalty is assessed, then that case bypasses them and goes to the Court of Criminal Appeals. “Every criminal and civil law case that’s appealed from those courts comes to our court.” She continues, “We dispose of on average a thousand appeals a year, and that’s divided between six justices. So it’s a busy job and then the appeals are nonstop. But that’s the nature of it.”
She grew up in Pharr Texas, the youngest of four and the only one to go to college. “I graduated from PSJA in 1976 and waited a little while before she went for higher education.
Dori left the valley, and I went to the University of Texas at Austin and studied accounting, and while she was in college, she had a setback and became a single mother. But despite the challenges that came with being a single e, s was able to graduate and obtain a degree in accounting when her baby was 18 months old.
After her graduation, she moved to Houston and worked as an accountant in the private industry oilfield related for almost eight years before deciding to attend law school.
Dori married again and had a second daughter, and when the baby had about 15 months, she started law school but still working as an accountant. For her, those were challenging times, raising a family and dedicating most of her free time to study including weekends.
She said, “I felt you know I wasn’t seeing my kids enough and I quit my job.” She continued, “We borrowed the money, student loans and I went to law school full time for another year and a half.”
Dori graduated from law school in May of 1990, by November of the same year she passed the bar and became a licensed attorney. She practiced with a law firm in Houston and then moved to San Antonio for about a year and then came back to the Valley in 1992 to practice law.
Fifteen years ago, she was elected to become Justice on the Court of Appeals; now she aspires to become Chief Justice of the 13th Court of Appeals. TBB
