About Justice Sarah Beth Landau
I served as a justice on the First Court of Appeals from 2019 to 2024. My legal career in Texas began with a federal clerkship with the Honorable Vanessa D. Gilmore. From there, I joined the litigation section of Vinson & Elkins LLP, specializing in complex commercial litigation. Several years later, I became a Federal Public Defender and litigated indigent criminal appeals before the Fifth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. After eight years of appellate work, I turned to trial work at the Federal Public Defender’s office and won my first trial. I have had the honor of teaching Appellate Litigation at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Before taking the bench, I worked at the Harris County Public Defender’s Office.
Leadership
- Brought first woman appointed to the Pakistan Supreme Court to Houston for a free continuing legal education program open to the community, 2025
- Chief, First Court of Appeals Law Student Intern Program 2020–2024— completely overhauled the intern program to bridge the transition from being a law student to becoming a lawyer and made it inclusive for first generation, non-traditional, and underrepresented students
- Liaison to the Houston Bar Association Appellate Section, 2021-2022
- Co-Chair, Houston Bar Association Law Library Committee, 2020-2022 (President’s Award)
- Criminal Affairs Committee Chair, 2019-2024, State Bar Appellate Section
- Council Member, 2020-2024, State Bar of Texas Appellate Section
- Color of Justice Law Student Conference Organizer, Association of Women Judges, 2021-present
- Opened the Court to weddings for the public, officiated dozens of weddings
- Brought opinion-writing software to the Court to make opinions easier to read and understand
- Training Harris County civil and criminal judges on appellate matters, 2019-present
- Texas State Bar College
