A pillar in the community of El Paso, Luther Jones has practiced law and served in public office for the past 32 years. He didn’t intend to be a lawyer, but a high school summer job determined his destiny.
Jones’ father, also named Luther, was a lawyer in Corpus Christi, who worked as an appellate specialist with Legal Legend Warren Burnett. The younger Jones had learned to type and got a job as a secretary in the office. There he was bitten by the law bug.
Jones went to Odessa Junior College while he was still working in the law office, and then left to finish his final college credits at Texas Western College in El Paso, now known as UTEP. There he worked as a secretary for Woodrow Bean, a politically connected lawyer, and he was bitten again, this time by the political bug.
At the age of 19, Jones wanted to enroll in St. Mary's University School of Law, but the school would not let him in. Jones' father went to see the dean and explaining that his son had practically practiced law for years as a secretary in law offices talked the dean into letting young Jones attend. Jones graduated in 1968; he was 22.
Jones went back to El Paso and has been practicing there ever since. He worked solo at first, then took a job in the district attorney's office to get trial experience. Jones left there after less than one year, saying he wasn't getting nearly as much trial work as he had hoped.
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Jones went back to solo work and save for a stint with a partner as Jones and Georges from 1990 to 1996 has worked alone ever since. Jones won election to the Texas House of Representatives in 1972, where he served four terms and then retired in 1981.
Jones aligned himself with three other House members he says the group was called the Gang of Four to pres for independence from special interests and more recorded votes on House matters. Jones says he was happy to see bills such as the Open Records Act and the Open Meetings Act passed into law. The special interests had to work harder, Jones says.
When he left the House, Jones didn't stay long in his solo practice. He was appointed by the commissioners' court as El Paso County attorney in 1983 and ran unopposed for the post in 1984. He resigned in 1986, in the middle of a four-year term, to run successfully for El Paso County judge.
Jones is currently in private practice, with emphasis on employment and education law. He is also general counsel for the Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso.
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