Hon. Brenda Hull Thompson
Brenda Hull Thompson is the Presiding Judge of The Probate Court of Dallas County, Texas. She was elected in 2010 after more than twenty years of service in Texas to the community in civil practice and in mediation. Judge Thompson is the Local Administrative Judge for the Dallas County Probate Courts and she is the Presiding Judge for the Dallas County Probate Courts. She is the first elected African American Statutory Probate Judge in the State of Texas.
Judge Thompson received her J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law School, Washington, D.C., a M.A. degree from Boston University, and a B.S. degree from the University of Maryland. She has attended the Harvard University Negotiation Program. She is a member of the Dallas Bar Association and is licensed to practice law in Texas state courts, in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (inactive), and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (inactive).
She is a co-author on the last six editions of O'Connor's Texas Estates Code Plus and Texas Probate code dating back to 2012. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the National College of Probate Judges and has served as Co-Course Director and Co-Curriculum Chair for the National College of Probate Judges national meetings in spring 2017 and fall 2016, respectively. She is a member of the Texas Bar Foundation. Judge Thompson is the recipient of the Merrill Hartman Judicial Pro Bono Service Award presented by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program of the Dallas Bar Association.
Prior to becoming a judge, her civil practice focused on estate administration, guardianship administration and family law. In addition, she has been an adjunct professor at Texas Wesleyan School of Law, teaching mediation and arbitration. Prior to moving to Texas, she was a senior Staff attorney in the Office of the General Counsel for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. She has made numerous presentations to national, state and local bar association sections and community groups and she has received numerous awards for her pro bono and public service activities pertaining to elderly and/or disabled persons, low income persons and children.