An insider’s view
by Suzi Morales, J.D.
In the Spring 2026 semester, Adrian Guerra spent most of his days as a normal third-year J.D. student and aspiring litigator, attending class and studying. On Thursday afternoons, though, he stepped into a different role.
Guerra was one of nine students selected for Inside the Supreme Court of Texas, a St. Mary’s University School of Law course taught by the Hon. Paul Green (J.D. ’77), who retired in 2020 after serving as a justice on the Texas Supreme Court for 15 years.
The nine student-justices were chosen from a pool of applicants based on academic records and other experience, said Green, an adjunct faculty member. Less than half of the applicants were selected for this upper-level course.
In Green’s classroom, students took on the identities of the current Texas justices; Guerra acted in the role of Justice John Devine. The student-justices considered petitions for review, studied the parties’ briefs and discussed the merits of the case they selected. In March, they traveled to Austin to see oral arguments presented to their real-life judicial counterparts.
For the students, it was a chance to understand appellate practice and hone legal writing in a unique setting. For Green, it was a return to his roots.
“The whole idea is to get an insider look at the operations of the Supreme Court,” Green said. He notes that even many attorneys appearing before the court don’t have a thorough understanding of its procedures, especially with a major rule change enacted in January 2026.
“Prior to the rule change, parties filed briefs on the merits of their cases before the court decided whether to hear a matter,” Green said. “Under the new rule, the court decides whether to take cases on the basis of only petitions for review, giving these initial pleadings an increased importance.”
A one-of-a-kind course
A third-generation attorney, Green practiced for 17 years in San Antonio with his father. When he learned of a vacancy with the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals, he decided to run for the elected position, where he served for 10 years beginning in 1994. In 2004, he was elected to the Texas Supreme Court.
After retirement, Green began to consider teaching. He knew of courses at other law schools emulating the U.S. Supreme Court but hadn’t heard of any centered around the state Supreme Court. The course was introduced in Spring 2025.
When Guerra first walked into Green’s classroom, he was a little daunted.
“You know when you first hear that you’re going to be sitting across from a Texas Supreme Court justice, your first reaction is he’s going to be critical,” Guerra said.
Instead, Green let the student-justices lead the way, offering his insight at the end.
“He went to St Mary’s Law, so he knows us, he knows the students, and he allowed us to have a lot of leeway in the way that we carried our discussions,” Guerra said.
It’s quite a privilege to be able to take this class and speak to someone like Justice Green because most litigants don’t get this opportunity.”
— Adrian Guerra (J.D. ’26)
Order in the court
Throughout the semester, students observed formalities like sitting in seniority order and addressing each other as “justice.” They pored over petitions for review from real cases and debated whether to grant review.
The class focused on Fasken Oil and Ranch, Ltd. v. Puig, a dispute over how royalties were calculated in a deed for oil and gas rights. They researched and wrote memos on the issues and discussed the merits. In March, they attended oral arguments and got a behind-the-scenes tour of the court.
In April, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in favor of the oil company. The student court, on the other hand, voted 8-1 the other way. Guerra says reading the majority’s opinion and discussing it with his fellow student-justices was enlightening.
“It’s quite a privilege to be able to take this class and speak to someone like Justice Green because most litigants don’t get this opportunity,” said Guerra, who earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence during the 2026 Law Commencement on May 16.
