Adele

Adele Hedges, a former chief justice of the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston and leading member of the Texas legal community, died Wednesday from apparent heart failure, her husband Dan said. She was 70.

An Orange, Texas native, Adele Hedges received her undergraduate degree from the University of Houston in 1968 before enrolling at Rice University, from which she received a masters in 1972, then PhD in 1973, all in French literature. A year later, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center.

She was first elected to the bench in 1992, serving for 11 years as a justice on the 1st Court of Appeals before being appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to replace then-14th Court of Appeals Chief Justice Scott Brister's after he was appointed to the state Supreme Court.

During the decade she served as chief justice, Adele Hedges was seen as a fair, compelling and respected judge.

"She represented a leadership in the Court of Appeals" and was "someone everyone looked to for guidance," said Carmen Roe, a Houston-area defense attorney and former president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association.

"She was a wealth of information and knowledge, and was passionate about her advocacy," Roe said Wednesday.

Adele Hedges was also largely responsible for the relocation of the 14th Court, having taken an active role in restoring the historic, 1910 district courthouse in which the 14th Court now resides in downtown Houston.

That, Dan Hedges said, was among his wife's biggest accomplishments.

"It probably wouldn't have happened without her efforts," he told the Chronicle Wednesday.

The two had met while on opposing sides at a Texas moot court competition in 1973.

"It was love at first sight," Dan Hedges, who is now a prominent Houston-area business litigation attorney, said Wednesday.

But Dan Hedges wouldn't again see his future wife until 1974, when they both started work at Fulbright & Jaworski, now Norton Rose Fulbright, in Houston. They married two years later, and were the first married couple to work as lawyers at the firm.

Before her death, the two had been planning a move to New Hampshire, to be near Dartmouth College, from which Dan and the couple's 35-year-old son Clinton are both alumni.

Active philanthropists and community leaders, the Hedges were also well-known for the green energy-powered, 3,700-square-foot Houston home in which they lived.

After retiring from public service in 2013, Adele Hedges was a mentor to many local attorneys, particularly for oral arguments, in which she was an acknowledged expert.

Houston attorney Brian Wice sought out Adele Hedges in his defense of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, which resulted in DeLay's money-laundering and conspiracy convictions being overturned.

"I wanted to have her intellect, ability and passion on our side," he said. "And I found that having Adele as part of my team was the best of both worlds."

Wice also said he will remember the lessons of compassion and softness taught to him by Adele Hedges, who he said he looked to as a "big sister" and "ethical compass at times."

"Just tell them they're wrong," she once told him after he wrote a particularly "snarky" brief. "You don't need to tell them they're stupid."

"We are not all just saddened," Wice said of her passing. "Part of all of us passed away with Adele: the passion, the talent and the oldschool attitude that she brought to bear."