Class Notes

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In Memoriam

Motl portrait

Terri Lynn Harris Motl

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Terri Lynn Harris Motl passed away on Dec. 13, 2024. Motl was one of the first board-certified family law attorneys in San Angelo, Texas.

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Joseph Bart Budetti

Joseph Bart Budetti

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Joseph Bart Budetti passed away on Dec. 11, 2024. After starting his legal career in Florida including nine years as Broward County judge, Budetti was the senior assistant city attorney in Overland Park, Kansas, for 21 years.

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Photograph of Jeri Stone.

Jeri Stone

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Jeri Stone passed away Nov. 26, 2024. Stone worked as a writer, attorney, and lobbyist with the Texas Classroom Teachers Association for over four decades and served as executive director from 1985 – 2022.

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Photograph of John "Buck" Ritts.

John “Buck” Ritts

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John “Buck” Ritts passed away Nov. 23, 2024. Prior to spending 25 years as an assistant attorney general for the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Ritts was assistant county attorney for Travis County. He also worked with the Water Rights Commission, private law firms, and the Independent Cattlemen’s Association.

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Photograph of Robert Barnes Thornton.

Robert Barnes Thornton

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Robert “Bob” Barnes Thornton passed away Nov. 22, 2024. Thornton co-founded the firm Thornton & Summers in San Antonio, which later became Thornton, Biechlin, Reynolds and Guerra with additional offices in Houston, Austin, Corpus Christi and McAllen.

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Photograph of Clyde Wesley (Wes) Clements.

Clyde Wesley (Wes) Clements

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Clyde Wesley (Wes) Clements passed away Dec. 9, 1941. A member of the Texas Bar Association, Clements practiced criminal law in Houston until 2022.

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Photograph of George Walter Rockwell.

George Walter Rockwell

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George Walter Rockwell passed away Nov. 29, 2024. Following law school graduation, Rockwell moved to Houston, where he practiced corporate law for 56 years.

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Photograph of Judge Ogden Bass.

Ogden Bass

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Judge Ogden Bass passed away Nov. 23, 2024. Judge Bass served as Brazoria County District Attorney for four terms and also served three terms as a judge in the 300th District.

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Mack Ray Hernandez headshot

Mack Ray Hernandez

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Mack Ray Hernandez passed away in late August of 2024 after more than 20 years of battling metastatic breast cancer. A double Longhorn, he had his own practice—the Hernandez Law Firm in Austin—where he specialized in wills, probate, and real estate.

Photograph of Bert Massey.

Bert Massey

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Bert Massey passed away Nov. 13, 2024. Massey served as mayor of Brownwood, Texas, for 26 years and previously was a partner in the law firm of Massey, Shaw, and West.

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Photograph of Erton Frank Tate.

Erton Frank Tate

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Erton Frank Tate passed away Nov. 14, 2024. Tate, who practiced both law and accounting throughout his career, spent more than 50 years helping clients at Tate, Gowan & Wilson and its predecessors.

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Photograph of Olney Wallis.

Olney Gray Wallis

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Olney Gray Wallis passed away Nov. 19, 2024. Wallis spent much of his legal career with Wallis and Short and was cited for outstanding performance by the United States Department of Justice.

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Portrait of Edward Dunbar

Edward Dunbar

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Edward Dunbar passed away on Oct. 30, 2024. After starting his legal career as a public defender, Dunbar committed over 30 years to developing El Paso Community College. He specialized in school and labor law, serving as general counsel to the college and other educational institutions and school districts in the area.

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Portrait of Frank McClendon

Frank McClendon Jr.

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Frank McClendon Jr. passed away on Oct. 28, 2024. During McClendon’s 50-year legal career as an expert in negotiating major construction contracts, he worked in 35 countries and 30 states for various companies. He later founded his own firm, McClendon & Associates.

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Edward C

Edward Carstarphen

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Edward Carstarphen passed away passed away on Oct. 16, 2024. Carstarphen served a 40-year career as a civil trial lawyer in Houston, representing Fortune 500 corporations in product liability and toxic tort litigation. He was a life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a fellow of Litigation Counsel of America, and served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William Cornelius of the Court of Appeals, Sixth District of Texas.

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Richard Grainger

Richard Grainger

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Richard Grainger passed away on Nov. 1, 2024. Grainger practiced law for over six decades in East Texas originally with the Ramey firm, then later focusing on mediation in the areas of infringement and personal injury. Grainger served the legal community in many leadership roles including president of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, the International Defense Lawyers Association, and the Eastern District of Texas Bar Association. He also was a member of the Texas Law Dean’s Roundtable of distinguished alumni and attorney advisor to the American Civil Liberties Union.

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Patrick William Ferchill

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Patrick William Ferchill passed away Nov. 1, 2024. Ferchill had a distinguished judicial career in Tarrant County for more than 35 years, including many years as chief judge of the Probate Court of Law No. 2.

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Photograph of Troy Allen.

Troy Steven Allen

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Troy Steven Allen passed away on June 30, 2024. Allen counseled numerous energy companies throughout his career and most recently served as assistant general counsel at QuarterNorth Energy.

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Photograph of James Lee Watters.

James Lee Watters

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James Lee Watters passed away October 20, 2024. Throughout his career with the FBI, Watters served in field offices in Alabama, California, and Virginia, as well as headquarters in Washington, DC.

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Photograph of Jordan Garrison Allen.

Jordan Garrison Allen

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Jordan Garrison Allen passed away March 23, 2024. Allen, who graduated from Texas Law 2004, was an active volunteer at her church.

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Photograph of Jon Allen Green.

Jon Allen Green

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Jon Allen Green passed away August 12, 2024. In addition to his law career, Green volunteered for the Volunteer Lawyers Program and was a talented thespian, emcee, and auctioneer.

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Photograph of Donald Lee Mau.

Donald Lee Mau

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Donald Lee Mau passed away Sept. 28, 2024. Following his retirement from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel, Mau earned his law degree from Texas Law and enjoyed a second career in philanthropy and fundraising including time with the Texas Law School Foundation.

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Photograph of William Barr.

William Andrew Barr

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William Andrew Barr passed away Oct. 6, 2024. A double Longhorn, Barr was assistant U.S. attorney in Dallas before serving as a corporate litigation partner at Locke Purnell Boren Laney & Neely and its successors.

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Photograph of Melvin Priester Sr.

Melvin Priester Sr.

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Melvin Priester Sr. passed away Oct. 2, 2024. Priester’s public service career spanned nearly 40 years, including more than nine years on the Hinds County Court.

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Photograph of Samuel Bryan Moore Jr.

Samuel Bryan Moore Jr.

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Samuel Bryan Moore Jr. passed away Sept. 19, 2024. A double Longhorn, Moore served as a county judge in Dallas County before moving to Colorado, where he practiced law and advocated for workers’ rights until his passing.

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Photograph of Frank Aguilar.

Frank Aguilar

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Frank Aguilar passed away Sept. 29, 2024. Aguilar was elected as judge for the 228th Criminal District Court of Harris County in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022.

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Photograph of Margaret Ingram.

Margaret Ingram

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Margaret Ingram passed away Sept. 9, 2024. In her position with the Texas Legislative Council, Ingram drafted legislation for nearly two decades specializing in water law.

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Photograph of Alexander Hughes.

Alexander Hughes

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Alexander Hughes passed away Sept. 14, 2024. Hughes clerked for the Honorable Gregg Costa following law school and most recently served as Chief Legal Officer at Sandclock.

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David Tate '62

David Tate

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David Tate passed away Sept. 21, 2024. Tate, whose legal career spanned 50 years with the same firm, served numerous clients in Wichita Falls, Texas, then later Fort Worth.

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Cynthia Fuller Leigh '84

Cynthia Fuller Leigh

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Cynthia Fuller Leigh passed away Sept. 14, 2024. Leigh, who was a board-certified attorney in immigration and nationality law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, practiced immigration law and represented thousands of immigrants in her career.

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Photograph of Dan Sharp.

Daniel Wade Sharp

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Daniel Wade Sharp passed away Sept. 15, 2024. Sharp, who most recently served as senior corporate intellectual property counsel at Rimini Street, founded Sharp Family Vineyards  with his wife.

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Photograph of Lawrence Allen Mann.

Lawrence Allen Mann

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Lawrence Allen Mann passed away Sept. 10, 2024. Mann was the third generation of his family to practice law in Laredo and enjoyed a 29-year legal career with the Mann firm.

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Photograph of Urban O'Brien.

Urban “Obie” O’Brien

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Urban “Obie” O’Brien passed away July 26, 2024. O’Brien joined the campaigns to elect U.S. Rep. Mike Andrews and U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, worked for George Mitchell in the oil and gas industry, and later joined Apache Corporation and Raymond Plank.

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Robert Sherman headshot

Robert Allen Sherman

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Robert Sherman passed away on Sept. 15, 2024 after a courageous battle with cancer. Sherman was a partner at Morris & Campbell in Houston before moving to Carthage, Texas, where he founded a law practice, a title company, and an energy company.

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Photograph of Sharon Sass Feather.

Sharon Sass Feather

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Sharon Sass Feather passed away on August 28, 2024. Before becoming a full-time mother, Feather worked at the Federal Trade Commission and then the firm Sonnenschein, Carlin, Nath & Rosenthal in Chicago.

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Photograph of Jack Rattikin Jr.

Jack Rattikin Jr.

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Jack Rattikin Jr. passed away on Sept. 5, 2024. Following his service in the U.S. Army, Rattikin joined his parents at Rattikin Title Company and was president of both the Texas and American Land Title Associations.

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Photograph of Clint Alfred Harbour.

Clint Alfred Harbour

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Clint Alfred Harbour passed away on August 30, 2024. A trial attorney for the Texas Department of Transportation, Harbour has taught courses on trial advocacy as an adjunct faculty member at Texas Law.

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Photograph of Sarah Burrell Foster

Sarah Burrell Foster

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Sarah Burrell Foster passed away August 1, 2024. Foster, who earned three degrees from UT Austin – a B.A., M.A., and J.D – was a law partner at Haynes & Boone, LLP.

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Photograph of James J. Neel.

James J. Neel

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James J. Neel passed away on August 8, 2024. Neel focused his legal career on helping people of lesser means navigate their legal issues,  partnered with friend and fellow attorney David Horton.

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Ronald R Scott

Ronald R. Scott

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Ronald R. Scott passed away on August 18, 2024. Scott was a partner at Bracewell, leading significant litigation matters such as the firm’s representation of school districts as plaintiffs in asbestos remediation cases and helping open the firm’s New York office.

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Dennis McClendon

Dennis McClendon

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Dennis McClendon passed away on August 8, 2024. McClendon, whose interests and talents were varied and broad, had a lifelong love for the city of Chicago, history, and travel. A well-respected cartographer and designer, he established his own company, Chicago CartoGraphics. McClendon also lectured on a variety of topics and ran the website “Chicago In Maps,” a trusted resource for historic map collections.

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Ben Vaughan

Ben F. Vaughan III

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Ben F. Vaughan III passed away on August 11, 2024. Vaughn was a partner at Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody for 56 years. At Texas Law he served as an associate editor of the Texas Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif.

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John William Stayton

John William Stayton Jr.

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John William Stayton Jr. passed away on August 10, 2024. He was a partner with McGinnis Lochridge in Austin and devoted Texas Longhorn fan.

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Ralph Dean Huston

Ralph Dean Huston

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Ralph Huston passed away on August 1, 2024. Although the ability to help people with his law degree was important to him, his true passion was music.

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Allison Baker

Allison Dickson Baker

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Allison Dickson Baker, a lawyer, lobbyist, and longtime philanthropist, passed away on August 8, 2024. A double Longhorn, she worked as an environmental lawyer at Vinson and Elkins in Houston, before dedicating herself to raising her family, as well as philanthropic and civic pursuits. She founded the nonprofit Cattlemen Care in 2007.

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Robert Scheske

Robert “Bob” Scheske

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Robert “Bob” Scheske, a lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Air Force, passed away on August 11, 2024.  He was the longest-serving county attorney for Gonzales County (1981-2008). Scheske was recognized with the David B. Walshak Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 for his lifelong service and contributions by the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce.

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Jack Lee Brandon

Jack Lee Brandon

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Jack Brandon passed away on July 20, 2024. Brandon served two years with the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army in Okinawa, Japan.  He then became an oil and gas attorney with the law departments of Getty Oil Company and then Kerr-McGee Corporation, serving both in executive leadership positions.

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Michael Markley

Michael Markley

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Michael Markley passed away on July 27, 2024.  After graduating from Texas Law, he practiced entertainment law in Austin and Los Angeles for many years. Markley created an antique import business dedicated to Gothic Revival furniture and ceramics from France.

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Russell Barron

Russell Barron

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Russell Barron passed away on August 7, 2024.  After graduating from Texas Law, Barron moved to Quantico, Virginia, to serve in the FBI for three years. He then relocated to McAllen, where he practiced law as a senior member of the Barron, Orendain, Malany, Flanagan, and Dominguez Law Firm.

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Pete Winstead

Peter Winstead

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Peter Winstead passed away on August 7, 2024. He was a founding shareholder of Winstead PC and a  prominent civic leader.  He was appointed by Gov. George Bush to be the first chair of the Texas Turnpike Authority and chaired the boards of several organizations including the Austin Chamber and the United Way.

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