About Judge Haas

Background

Aaron Haas is a retired civil district court judge, who served the people of Bexar County, Texas as the elected judge of the 285th District Court from January 1, 2019 until his retirement on December 31, 2022. During his time on the bench, Judge Haas handled thousands of civil cases in the areas of family law, personal injury, business litigation, employment disputes, property and contracts, and other areas. He presided over dozens of jury trials and hundreds of non-jury trials.

Judge Haas graduated from Harvard Law School with his doctorate of jurisprudence in 2006. At Harvard, Judge Haas was an editor of the Harvard Journal of International Law and a member of the Community Enterprise Project, helping small businesses in the Boston area. Jude Haas received his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago with a degree in history in 2000.

As a lawyer, judge, or mediator, Judge Haas has been involved in hundreds of family-law cases over 18 years of practice. His experience includes contested and uncontested divorces, motions to modify and enforce custody and visitation, protective orders, child protective services cases, adoptions, child support, spousal support, grandparents rights, and property divisions.

Prior to private practice, Judge Haas worked at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in San Antonio, where he was lead attorney on over 200 property, housing and consumer law cases, including landlord-tenant, debt defense, deceptive trade practices, foreclosures, public housing, fair housing, mobile homes, property disputes, Section 8 hearings, and contracts for deed.

Judge Haas is also board-certified in immigration and nationality law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, an honor given to less than 200 attorneys in the State of Texas, recognizing his demonstrated knowledge and experience in this area of law. He was a professor of immigration law and founding director of an immigration clinic at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

Judge Haas has completed the 40-hour basic mediation training offered by the Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution of the University of Texas School of Law, and the 30-hour advanced family mediation course offered by the Dispute Resolution Center in Austin, Texas. As a former district court judge, Judge Haas is authorized to be a private judge.

Judge Haas is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, Family Law Section, and Immigration and Nationality Law Section with The State Bar of Texas. Additionally, he is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the Inns of Court, the National Lawyers Guild and an attorney member of the National Immigration Project.