Jennifer Walker Elrod (born Jennifer Leigh Walker; September 6, 1966) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She previously served as a state court judge on the 190th District Court of Texas from 2002 to 2007.
Jennifer Walker Elrod
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Born 1966 in Port Arthur, TX
FJC ID: 3159
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 15/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 209/year
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · 2007–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Female
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 2024–present
- Harris County [Texas] One Hundred and Ninetieth District CourtJudge · 2002–2007
- Private practice, Houston, Texas1994–2002
Adjunct faculty · 1995
Law clerk , Hon. Sim Lake · 1992–1994
Appointments
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth CircuitChief Judge2007–present · Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican)
Education
J.D. · 1992- Baylor UniversityB.A. · 1988