Catharina Haynes

Catharina Haynes (born November 9, 1963) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Background

Haynes was born in Melbourne, Florida and graduated from Satellite High School, Satellite Beach, Florida in 1980. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1983 at the age of 19. She graduated second in her class from Emory University School of Law in 1986 with her Juris Doctor at the age of 22. While at Emory, she was an editor for the Emory Law Journal. She became a member of the State Bar of Texas in 1986.

After law school, Haynes was in private practice in Texas from 1986-1998 with the firms of Thompson & Knight, as an associate from 1986–1988 and then Baker Botts, as an associate from 1988–1995, and then became a partner in 1995.

In 1998, Haynes was elected to the 191st District Court in Dallas, Texas. She was re-elected in 2002. As a state district court judge, she presided over jury and bench trials involving civil litigation. After losing re-election in 2006, she returned to Baker Botts as a partner, where she practiced complex business litigation and maintained an appellate and Supreme Court practice.