John G. Escamilla was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History in 1991 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1995. During law school, he received a Cain Foundation Public Interest Fellowship, clerked at Texas Rural Legal Aid in Weslaco, Texas, and served as Articles and Notes Editor for the Texas International Law Journal. After graduation, John served as the briefing attorney for the Honorable Linda Reyna Yanez at the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in Edinburg, Texas. In 1998, he joined the litigation firm of Rodriguez, Pruneda, Tovar, Calvillo & Garcia, L.L.P., in McAllen, Texas. Over the next five years, John represented clients in an array of lawsuits involving personal injuries, medical malpractice, product liability, civil rights, employment, contracts and various commercial disputes. He joined the Watts Law Firm, L.L.P. in 2004.

John has successfully tried cases to juries in Hidalgo and Cameron counties. In addition to his trial practice, he has handled over thirty appellate matters, examples of which include the following: Southwestern Bell Telephone v. Garza, 58 S.W.3d 214 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 2001), Haggar Apparel v. Maria Leal, 100 S.W.3d (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 2002), Catarina Reyes et al. v. City of Houston, 4 S.W.3d 459 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1999), Rivera & Associates v. David Calvillo, 986 S.W. 2d 795 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 1999) and Cherubino Valsangiacomo S.A. de C.V. v. Americana Juice Imports, 30 S.W.3d 201 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 2000). John is licensed to practice in the state courts of Texas, the United States Court for the Southern District of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the United States Court of Federal Claims. He is a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) and the Bar Association for the Fifth Federal Circuit. John serves on the Board of Directors for the Hidalgo County Bar Association and the Advocacy Resource Center for Housing. He sits on the City of McAllen's Police Relations Committee and is a judge for the city's Teen Court. John is fluent in written and spoken Spanish.