[2] Wainwright was initially elected to a six-year term, in November 2002, to replace Deborah Hankinson.

[citation needed] On September 30, 2012, Wainwright officially resigned from the Texas Supreme Court after nearly a decade of service.

He subsequently joined the Austin office of the law firm Bracewell and Giuliani.

His successor on the court, effective December 3, 2012, was Jeffrey S. Boyd, a former chief of staff of then Texas Governor Rick Perry.

[citation needed] Wainwright and Wallace B. Jefferson were the first African Americans to be elected to the Texas Supreme Court.