Family Court Judge Jessica Gallivan.
Family Court Judge Jessica Gallivan has been officially confirmed to serve a second six-year term in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, District of St. Croix. The confirmation by the 36th Legislature follows her renomination by Governor Albert Bryan Jr., who says Gallivan has "consistently demonstrated the wisdom, compassion, and fairness that our judicial system demands."
The confirmation, announced on June 4 by Presiding Judge Debra S. Watlington, renews Judge Gallivan’s post in a role she first assumed in 2019, when she was confirmed by the 33rd Legislature. Her judicial career with the Superior Court, however, began a decade earlier in June 2009, when she was appointed as one of the first Magistrate Judges for the District of St. Croix by then-Presiding Judge Darryl Dean Donohue, Sr.
Judge Gallivan’s judicial service as a magistrate spanned three consecutive terms, with reappointments in 2013 and again in 2017 by then-Presiding Judge Michael C. Dunston.
A graduate of Southern Methodist University School of Law (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, Judge Gallivan began her legal career in the Virgin Islands as an Associate at the Law Offices of Andrew L. Capdeville, P.C. on St. Thomas. Between 1996 and 1998, she served as a judicial law clerk under the late Honorable Judge Ishmael A. Meyers at what was then the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands.
She went on to join the V.I. Department of Justice as both an Assistant Attorney General and later as a Senior Assistant Attorney General, where she was assigned to the Office of Collective Bargaining from 1998 to 2004. From 2004 to 2007, Gallivan returned to private practice with the Law Offices of Michael J. Sanford, where she focused primarily on insurance defense and labor law.
In early 2007, she was nominated by then-Governor John P. de Jongh Jr. to serve in his Cabinet as the Chief Labor Negotiator in the Office of Collective Bargaining, further solidifying her reputation as a dedicated and versatile public servant.
Presiding Judge Watlington issued a statement of support, saying: “On behalf of the Judicial Branch family we extend heartfelt congratulations to the Honorable Judge Jessica Gallivan on her second nomination and confirmation as Family Court Judge.” She further pledged “the support of the entire judiciary as she continues to address the enormous needs of children and families and administer justice for the people of the Virgin Islands.”
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