After that position, Morales was Deputy General Counsel to the University of Texas System Board of Regents.

Immediately before becoming a judge, he was a partner at Kelly, Hart & Hallman, where he specialized in education and administrative law.

He was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge Janis Graham Jack, who assumed senior status on June 1, 2011.

[5] On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.

On January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Morales for a federal judgeship.