Jones & Keller, P.C. attorney Nicole Westbrook took part in a milestone moment for one of her earliest mentors: the June 26th unveiling of a formal portrait honoring Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses.
The ceremony, held at the San Antonio federal courthouse that serves as the headquarters for the Western District of Texas, drew about 350 guests, including dozens of federal and state judges and roughly three dozen of Judge Moses’s former law clerks, some of whom traveled from outside Texas for the occasion.
Federal judges receive a permanent portrait in their district’s headquarters courthouse upon reaching chief judge status, and Judge Moses became the first woman to serve as chief judge of the Western District in 2022, after becoming the district’s first female district judge in 2002.
Westbrook holds a distinction of her own in that history: she was the first law clerk Judge Moses hired after joining the federal district court bench. Speaking at the ceremony, she described a judge who, despite an unrelenting docket, made time to coach her through mock arguments, help her build her professional network, and work alongside her through late nights and weekends preparing for trial.
Westbrook told the audience the lessons she learned in Judge Moses’s chambers went on to shape generations of lawyers who followed her. Referencing the roughly 30 to 50 clerks who came after her, she summarized the standard Judge Moses set: work hard, lead with integrity, and lift up the people coming up behind you.
The event also served as a tribute to Judge Moses’s long career on the bench. In nearly 24 years as a federal judge, she has presided over more than 300 jury trials and closed more than 25,000 criminal cases. As chief judge, she handles the district’s budget and administrative matters, a role covering 68 counties across 93,000 square miles of Texas.
The occasion is a reminder of the mentorship and training that shapes a lawyer’s career long before they step into their own courtroom.
Read the full story from Texas Woman’s University (TWU) here.