The Anti-Defamation League will honor Gregg Costa with the 2027 Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award, in recognition of his distinguished record of public service, extensive pro bono work and longstanding commitment to expanding educational opportunity.
Costa will be honored at the Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award Luncheon next year on May 13 at the Hilton Americas-Houston. The event begins with check-in at 11 a.m., followed by a networking reception at 11:30 and program at noon.
The Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award is named in memory of the late Karen H. Susman, a beloved Houston attorney and former ADL board chair whose career embodied a deep commitment to equality, justice and community. Each year, ADL presents the award to an outstanding member of the legal community who reflects these same values through their professional achievements and civic engagement.
“Gregg Costa’s career reflects the public service at the heart of the legal profession,” said Randi Sonenshein, ADL senior regional director of Texas and Oklahoma. “His service as a federal prosecutor and trial and appellate judge underscores the importance of strong legal institutions and the people entrusted to uphold them. The Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award recognizes not only professional distinction, but a commitment to justice, fairness and service to the community.”
Costa is a partner at Gibson, Dunn, where he co-chairs the firm’s trial practice. Before returning to private practice in 2022, Costa spent nearly two decades in public service. From 2005 to 2012, he served as an assistant United States attorney in Houston, where he successfully prosecuted Allen Stanford for orchestrating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
In 2012, President Barack Obama appointed Costa as a United States District Judge, making him, at the time, the youngest federal judge in the country. Two years later, Obama appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, a nomination the U.S. Senate confirmed by a vote of 98-0.
Costa has a longstanding commitment to expanding educational opportunities. Before attending law school, he taught fourth grade in the Mississippi Delta through Teach for America and later co-founded the Sunflower County Freedom Project, which draws on the history and mission of the Civil Rights Movement to provide educational opportunities to teens in the county where he taught. In Houston, he serves on the boards of Teach for America and the Houston Urban Debate League.
Costa also maintains an active pro bono docket and is a leader in legal reform efforts. As a member of Gibson Dunn’s Pro Bono Committee, he is part of the firm’s team leading the ADL Legal Action Network, which provides victims of antisemitism and extremism with legal services.
Costa was appointed by a federal judge to defend Texas laws banning firearms at bars and stadiums after the state declined to do so. He is a trustee of the Center for American and International Law and a member of the American Law Institute, where he has served as an advisor to its Restatement of Election Litigation and Principles of Policing.
Costa and his wife, Jennifer, have been married 27 years and are the proud parents of Elijah, Joshua and Rebekah.
For more information about the Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award Luncheon, including sponsorship and ticket information, contact Mary Gentry-Roberts at mgentryroberts@adl.org.