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TESTIMONY OF

JESSICA GALLIVAN



Good morning, members of the Committee on Rules and Judiciary of the 36"

Legislature of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Good morning to friends, family,

colleagues, co-workers, and to my staff. Good morning to the listening and viewing

audience.



| am Jessica Gallivan, and | am here in support of my nomination to serve a second

term as a Superior Court judge, assigned predominantly to the Family Court Division

pursuant to Title 4 V.I.C. § 172 and Title 4 V.I.C. §171(c). Thank you for the opportunity

to appear before you, and to answer any questions you might have at the end of my

presentation. | would also like to publicly thank the Honorable Governor Albert Bryan for



the confidence he has shown in nominating me to serve.



On May 16, 2025, | will have served for six years as a Superior Court judge. At

the end of June 20285, | will have served as a jurist in the Virgin Islands for 16 years. |

have one of the most active calendars. | am in hearings nearly every day, and my office

produces thousands of orders each year. My clearance rate is very high, and my docket

numbers are reflective of the hard work performed on a daily basis by me, my chamber

staff, the Clerk of Court, and the Marshal's Division. | am proud to note that in the almost

six years | have served as a Superior Court judge, | have entered more than 11,310 orders

and closed, as of April 16, 2005, some 1,657 cases. My current case log is 203 cases

(although 14 of these are conservatorships, 116 are guardianships, and 13 are involuntary



commitments.)



But performance as a judge cannot be all about numbers — though they are



decidedly important. Therefore, in my presentation today, | hope to inform you of the type

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of judge and person that | am and/or aspire to be. Speaking about myself and even



lauding myself is difficult, so bear with me.



| was born to my married parents, Marie Louise Espinosa Gallivan and Joseph

John Gallivan, in Miami, Florida. While my mother was born on St. Croix, she was living

and working in Miami when she met my father. | am the granddaughter of Margrethe

Pedersen Espinosa and Pedro Espinosa Almestica. My grandmother was born on St.

Croix and my grandfather migrated to St. Croix from Culebra. Senator and Attorney

Marise James is my first cousin, as her mother and my mother were sisters. Our family’s

roots on St. Croix date back to the 1800s. The Virgin Islands is and always has been my



home, and | am (like others in my family) dedicated to our Virgin Islands community.



When my mother and father divorced, she brought my siblings and me back to the

Virgin Islands. Facing the prospect of life as a divorcee with small children, we moved

into the JFK housing community. We did not have much, in fact we were poor, but my

mother saw to it that we received a parochial elementary education at the St. Mary's

Catholic School. | later attended and graduated from the St. Croix Central High School in

1981. | attended the University of the Virgin Islands, where | graduated with a bachelor's

and master’s degree in business administration in 1987 and 1992. In 1992, | enrolled in

law school at the Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas.

| obtained my juris doctor in 1995, thirty years ago. | am admitted to practice in the State



of Texas since 1995, and in the Virgin Islands since February 1996.



| have worked as a student attorney and chief student counsel in SMU’s

immigration clinic. | have clerked for a most learned judge in the person of the Honorable

Ishmael A. Meyers, and | have worked in private practice for prominent and successful



attorneys in matters such as family and domestic issues, insurance defense, labor

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litigation, and criminal defense. | have been the beneficiary of mentorship from colleagues

such as the Honorable Patricia D. Steele. Emphatically, | note that | have achieved the

most satisfaction in my legal career from public service work, such as my work as an

assistant attorney general, as a chief labor negotiator, as a magistrate judge, and now a



trial judge.



| love my job as a judge, and | am intentional about it. i help people find workable

solutions to their everyday and sometimes not so everyday issues. Some | see in

hearings and some | simply process their paperwork. Some can be unruly, and some are

challenging and unpredictable, but all deserve respect, an efficient and fair proceeding,



and a just outcome. | work daily to make this happen.



| interact with court staff, lawyers, litigants, department representatives and busy

professionals. | serve families, including children, people with intellectual disabilities and

mental diseases, and people who are just trying to make it. | strive to listen intently to

each side's evidence and argument. | do my best to wait patiently for all of the evidence

before drawing any conclusions or making any final judgment. | aim to make decisions

free of bias or prejudice, whether conscious or unconscious. | am open to being corrected,

to seeing things | had not seen before, and | believe that | can learn from anyone. | do

not hold myself out as aloof, but as a mere public servant given the privilege to make



decisions when others cannot or will not and, as always, | aim to help and not hurt.



Outside of court, | have helped coordinate jobs and summer employment for our

youth. | have matched some with mentors and | often meet and talk with them. | have

visited our schools and HeadStart programs and read to children, and | have made school

presentations. Almost every year since | have been on the bench, | have hosted young



high school students for a week to learn about our court system. For the last two years,

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my office has hosted (in conjunction with the Court's Improvement Program) gatherings

for at risk youth. This last year, the gathering included a tour of the medical simulation

facility at UVI. In 2023, | organized a cleanup at the Youth Rehabilitation Center, where a

group of us cleaned, painted, and planted alongside some of the youth who were placed



there.



Among the most difficult cases | hear are those involving abused and neglected

children and the mentally ill. | work arduously to meet benchmarks for moving a case

involving children from removal to permanency - whether through reunification or

alternative placements. For those involuntarily committed, | insist on regular proceedings

to review their care, ensure their appropriate treatment, and their return to the community

once they no longer meet the criteria for commitment. Together, | believe that we have

raised the standard for addressing, managing, and caring for these vulnerable



populations.



Is there more work to do? Most definitely, but | am committed to the task. If

confirmed, | will bring the same energy to processing my cases timely and efficiently. |

will continue to be a jurist who is experienced, active, learned, compassionate, caring,

hardworking, connected to our community, firm, fair, sympathetic and empathetic to the

plight of the poor and underserved. | will remain open to learning, with a sincere desire



to serve well. | will continue to respect and apply the rule of law.



| respectfully ask for your approval, and | invite you now to ask your questions.



© ae ALLIVAN



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