JUDGE CHRISTINE VINH WEEMS
RUNNING FOR THE TEXAS SUPREME COURT PLACE 4
Sitting Judge of the 281st Civil Judicial District Court of Harris County Texas
Judge Christine Vinh Weems is a double board certified trial attorney in both Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law with a wide range of experience representing individuals as well as multinational corporations in litigation. In 2018, Judge Weems was elected to be only the sixth judge of the 281st Civil Judicial District Court bench. Since taking the bench, she has presided over 80 jury trials in the face of courtroom shortages due to Hurricane Harvey damage to the criminal courthouse as well as COVID-19.
Christine is the child of immigrants - her parents fled Vietnam at the fall of Saigon in April of 1975. Born shortly thereafter in Miami, she witnessed the American Dream in action by seeing her parents go from refugees escaping war to the suburban home she grew up in Spring, Texas after only 8 years. Her father was a physician and her mother managed his medical practice for over 20 years while raising three children.
Christine attended Klein High School here in Harris County and then attended the University of Texas at Austin. While there, Christine actively participated in the undergraduate mock trial program, representing UT at the regional level and advancing to nationals. She was also a Girl Scout Leader, involved in Beta Alpha Rho, a pre-law fraternity, as well as Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed service fraternity dedicated to the principles of scouting.
At South Texas College of Law, she was a varsity mock trial advocate and represented the school at many tournaments across the country. She was named a member of the Order of the Barristers – a national honorary organization recognizing the top ten advocates from each law school. Christine continued to help out with the mock trial program at South Texas after graduation – a program consistently ranked in the top ten in advocacy in the country – and while in New York City, she continued to help teach trial advocacy to the next generation of lawyers by working as a member of the adjunct faculty at St. John's University School of Law. She was named Director of the National Mock Trial program at the University of Houston Law Center where she runs the mock trial program and coaches competitive mock trial teams as well serves as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy and Voir Dire.
Upon graduation from South Texas College of Law, she went straight into the courtroom representing injured plaintiffs in everything from medical malpractice to automobile accidents to mass tort litigation. She has tried several cases to jury verdict, obtaining favorable results for her clients and in the process becoming board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law.
Christine returned to Harris County, after spending almost five years in Manhattan working on large-scale anti-trust litigation as well as corporate tort cases. She also has extensive experience in commercial and residential first party bad faith insurance claims resulting from property and casualty losses. She is licensed to practice in the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas as well as in state court in Texas and California. She has passed the bar exams in those states as well as New York. She is also licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
In her spare time, she is involved in the Houston theatre community and is a founding member of Cone Man Running Productions, 2017 winner of Houston Press' Mastermind Award for their contributions to Houston culture. She has directed productions for numerous productions in and around Houston as well as her own. She has also served as artistic director of the Spontaneous Smattering play festival that to date has raised over $14K for and donated over 3K canned goods to support the Houston Food Bank.
Christine is married to Michael Weems, a playwright, and they live in Northwest Houston with their three sons, Tommy, Jack and Sammy.
Judge Weems is also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, an invitation-only organization of experienced trial lawyers and judges dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the civil jury trial right provided by the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She was awarded the Honorary Alum award by the University of Houston Law Center's Alumni Association for her work with the mock trial team. Christine also had the Spring 2021 pledge class of the Alpha Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega at the University of Texas at Austin named after her for her commitment to the community. In 2023, she was recognized as the Outstanding Mentor by the Asian Pacific Interest Section of the State Bar of Texas. She is also a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of America.
For more information, click this link for an article about Judge Weems in the Houstonia.