MEET MAGGIE ELLIS
EARLY YEARS — A FOUNDATION OF RESILIENCE
Maggie Ellis survived a childhood marked by poverty, constant moves, parent abandonment, homelessness, and interrupted schooling — and still became the only one of her eight siblings to graduate from college.
Growing up, Maggie saw how fragile stability can be. She saw how quickly a family can fall through the cracks when no one is watching, and how much difference it makes when someone chooses to care. Those early years gave her grit — and a deep belief that every child deserves the chance she fought for.
Texas grit and resilience
Maggie’s life didn’t start with the idea of law books or courtrooms.
She started where most Texans do — working, raising kids, volunteering, and making ends meet however she could.
She spent sixteen years earning her first degree. After that, she spent time as a teacher at public school, became a foster mom, and helped families access justice long before she ever earned a law license.
When she decided to become a lawyer, she drove from Austin to Waco and back every day to get her law degree at Baylor while raising four teenagers. Plenty of people would’ve said it was too much. Maggie didn’t.
That’s who she is — steady, committed, and unwilling to quit.
Legal career rooted in real life
Today, Maggie serves as a Justice on the Texas Third Court of Appeals. Her win made history: she became the first openly lgbtq woman elected to a Texas appellate court.
She is Board Certified in Juvenile Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization — and a Certified Specialist in Child Welfare Law through the National Association of Counsel for Children.
Over more than fifteen years, Maggie has served as an administrative law judge, a prosecutor, and a trial attorney — representing families, children, business owners, and individuals facing civil, family, juvenile, and criminal court matters.
Her legal work isn’t abstract. It’s real. She knows that behind every case file is a life, a family — someone trying to hold on. Maggie brings fairness, seriousness, and humanity to every courtroom she enters.
A fighter for Texas
A seventh generation Texan, Maggie has called Central Texas home for more than 40 years, where she now lives with her husband Vic, and never treats community work as optional.
Maggie has volunteered with Meals on Wheels, Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Helping Hand Home, and she worked in public education through Leander ISD.
She’s also mentored youth, taught English and Spanish, supported families, and volunteered her legal skills through pro-bono clinics and child-welfare advocacy.
Maggie has been recognized and awarded for her work providing pro bono and volunteer legal services, including receiving the Hays County Bar Association's Pro Bono Hero award. She has provided legal assistance and volunteered through Volunteer Legal Services, Hays County Pro Bono Clinic, Raices, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, Travis County Child Welfare Board, the Supreme Court Children's Commission Child Welfare and Juvenile Law work groups, and she currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the State Bar Juvenile Law Section Board.