Class Notes

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In Memoriam

Paul Alexander

Paul Alexander

Class of

Paul Alexander passed away on March 11, 2024. Alexander was an accomplished lawyer, author, and paralytic polio survivor, gaining recognition for being the last living man in an iron lung.

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Mark S. Partin

Class of

Mark S. Partin passed away Feb. 26, 2024. Partin was a successful disability rights attorney licensed to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court, several Circuit Courts, and the Federal Court, and spent his career representing and educating individuals with disabilities and their families.

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Glen A. Rosenbaum

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Glen A. Rosenbaum passed away on Feb. 28, 2024. Rosenbaum was a double Longhorn and a celebrated attorney at Vinson & Elkins since 1973, where he worked until his passing.

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Photograph of John Wesley Tunnell

John Wesley Tunnell

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John Wesley Tunnell passed away Feb. 15, 2024. Dedicated to criminal defense, Tunnell served as an assistant district attorney, general counsel to the Texas Secretary of State, and general counsel for the first Texas Ethics Commission before returning to private practice.

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Campbell Houston “Cam” Gillespie III

Class of

Campbell Houston “Cam” Gillespie III passed away on Feb. 24, 2024. A double Longhorn with a bachelor’s degree in history, he practiced law alongside his father, Campbell H. Gillespie, Jr., for many years. The practice focused on real estate, will/trusts/probate and school law; Gillespie retired in 2020.

 

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Image of a Peregrinus.

Norvell Ford “N.F.” Jackson

Class of

Norvell Ford “N.F.” Jackson passed away on Feb. 9, 2024. Atter working in his family business, Jackson dedicated himself to 23 years of service in the Navy, followed by an additional four years in the judicial system as the Superior Court administrator, county clerk, and court commissioner in Bellingham, Washington.

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Franklin Houser

Franklin D. Houser

Class of

Franklin D. Houser passed away on Feb. 6, 2024. An Army veteran, Houser spent the first decade of his career at a San Antonio defense firm before starting his own firm, Tinsman and Houser. Houser, who was featured in the first edition of “The Best Lawyers in America,” opened a winery after retiring from his legal career.

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Ken Glaser

Ken Glaser

Class of

Ken Glaser passed away on Feb. 23, 2024. Glaser was a dedicated attorney, establishing his own patent and trademark law firm and in 2001 joining Gardere until his retirement in 2021.

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John E. Clark

Class of
The Honorable

The Hon. John E. Clark passed away on Feb. 13, 2024. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Clark served as a federal prosecutor, state appellate judge, and author of a non-fiction bestseller and a number of law journals.

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Scott D. Simmons

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Scott D. Simmons has passed away. Simmons was an assistant attorney general, and later, senior counsel for the State of Texas.

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Linda Lee Aaker

Linda Lee Aaker

Class of

Linda Lee Aaker passed away on Feb. 15, 2024. Aaker spent a decade in the Texas Attorney General’s Office, then was a partner at Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan, Kever & McDaniel before being appointed to the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Photograph of C. Albert Tatum.

C. Albert Tatum

Class of

C. Albert Tatum passed away Feb. 6, 2024. After serving at Locke, Purnell, Boren, Laney and Neely law firm, Tatum became an investor in shopping centers and later a financial adviser.

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A photograph of Sander Shapiro.

Sander “Sandy” Shapiro

Class of

Sander “Sandy” Shapiro passed away Feb. 10, 2024. As the first tax lawyer in Austin, Shapiro was hugely influential in the development of sales tax, use tax and franchise tax law in Texas. In 2015, he was named Outstanding Tax Lawyer and heralded as a “Texas Tax Legend” by the Texas State Bar Tax Section.

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Louis Taylor

Class of

Louis Taylor passed away on Jan. 21, 2024. Taylor served as the chief counsel and staff director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and was responsible for enacting key policies benefiting American small business owners.

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Rene Oliveira

Class of

Rene Oliveira passed away on Jan. 23, 2023. Oliveria was a former state lawmaker who served in the Legislature from 1982 to 2019, and helped establish the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine.

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Gordon Lemin Jones, Jr.

Class of

Gordon Jones passed away Nov. 14, 2023. Jones—who had stints working in accounting and real estate after practicing law in Austin—will be remembered for his brilliant mind, wisdom informed by experience, absolute love for learning, compassion for others, loyalty, and insightful wit.

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Judge Harriett Murphy

Harriet Murphy

Class of
The Honorable

Judge Harriet Mitchell Murphy has passed away. A friend of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Justice Thurgood Marshall, Murphy was considered a legend by many for her trailblazing activism and her role as the first African-American woman permanently appointed to a judgeship in Texas. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, gifts be made to the Judge Harriet Murphy Memorial Scholarship in Law.

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Sam G. Croom Jr. headshot

Sam G. Croom Jr.

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Sam G. Croom Jr. passed away on Jan. 13, 2023. A Navy veteran, Croom went on to practice at Baker Botts until his retirement as a partner in 1993.

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Jerry Johnson

Jerry Johnson

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Jerry Johnson passed away on Jan. 4, 2023. Johnson practiced law in Dallas for nearly 50 years, specializing in commercial real estate.

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Photograph of Jerry L. Adams

Jerry L. Adams

Class of

Jerry L. Adams passed away Jan. 6, 2024. He spent his 41-year legal career with Greer Herz & Adams L.L.P. and was the firm’s managing partner for many years. While at Texas Law, Adams was honored as a Chancellor and was associate editor of the Texas Law Review.

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Photograph of Jennifer Goldman.

Jennifer Monday Goldman

Class of

Jennifer Monday Goldman passed away Jan. 6, 2024. Goldman served Texas Law and Texas Development as Director of Gift and Estate Planning. Previously, she practiced law at Vinson & Elkins before transitioning to a career in financial planning and estate law.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be made to the Jennifer Monday Goldman Memorial Scholarship at Texas Law fund established to support excellence and access for Texas Law Scholars, a goal near and dear to Jenn’s heart and professional work.

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Photograph of John Davis "Jd" Head Jr.

John Davis “JD” Head Jr.

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John Davis “JD” Head Jr. passed away Dec. 11, 2023. Head served as a director of the Legal Division and general counsel of the Texas Environmental Regulatory Agency before becoming a senior partner at Fritz, Byrne, Head & Gilstrap, PLLC.

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James Hammett Jr. headshot

James Hammett, Jr.

Class of

James Hammett, Jr. passed away on Dec. 31, 2023. Hammett was a highly regarded oil and gas litigator, and managing partner at Stubbeman, McRae, Sealy, Laughlin, and Browder.

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Diana Lynn Holt

Class of

Diana Lynn Holt passed away on Dec. 18, 2023. Holt had an accomplished 30-year career representing indigent death-sentenced inmates, resulting in recognition by national and local media outlets.

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Janice Pardue

Janice Pardue

Class of

Janice Pardue passed away on Dec. 21, 2023. Pardue was a celebrated family lawyer,  selected by her peers as a Super Lawyer and serving as chair of the HBA Family Law Section, Gulf Coast Family Lawyers, the Collaborative Law Section and Association of Women Attorneys.

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George M. Callahan

Class of

George M. Callahan passed away on Dec. 21, 2023. Callahan was a domestic lawyer for more than 30 years and served as the state chair of the Arkansas Chapter of Ducks Unlimited.

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Richard “Rick” C. King

Class of

Richard “Rick” C. King passed away on Nov. 27, 2023. King was a double Longhorn who previously worked at Baker Botts and as a partner at Munsch Hardt, before joining the King Law Group in 2011.

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Edward Kellenberger

Class of

Edward Kellenberger passed away on Dec. 10, 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Kellenberger was a successful real estate lawyer for more than 40 years, spending a large part of his career with the law firm of Newcomer & Douglass in Colorado and eventually opening his own firm.

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Donald Schofield

Donald Frank “Don” Schofield

Class of

Donald Frank “Don” Schofield passed away on Dec. 2, 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Schofield served as a city judge for Amarillo and practiced law in the Panhandle of Texas until retirement.

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Jack Harold Emmott III

Jack Harold Emmott III

Class of

Jack Harold Emmott III passed away on Nov. 21, 2023. Emmott was a successful lawyer who devoted his practice to resolving family law disputes for clients all over Texas. He was recognized as a Master Credentialed Collaborative Lawyer by Collaborative Divorce Texas, one of only two attorneys in Houston with that designation.

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Ernest Altgelt

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Ernest Altgelt passed away on Oct. 7, 2023. A celebrated veteran, he was recognized by the State Bar of Texas for providing outstanding service to low-income Texans. During his career, he worked for the State of Texas in various departments, in litigation private practice, and in oil and gas corporate practice.

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Photograph of Larry Ray Jones.

Larry Ray Jones

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Larry Ray Jones passed away Nov. 22, 2023. Jones served as head of law enforcement and security at Texas Parks and Wildlife before returning to his hometown of Stephenville to continue practicing law.

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Photograph of the Hon. John L. "Jack" Placke.

Hon. John L. “Jack” Placke

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The Hon. John L. “Jack” Placke passed away Nov. 21, 2023. Placke was appointed 21st Judicial District Judge in 1975 and was re-elected without opposition until his retirement in 2000, after which he served as senior district judge for several years.

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Photograph of Finis Cowan Jr.

Finis Cowan Jr.

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Finis Cowan Jr. passed away Nov. 15, 2023. In addition to serving as U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Cowan tried more than 100 jury trials during his time with law firm Baker Botts in Houston.

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Stephen J. Smith

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Stephen J. Smith of Houston passed away Dec. 8, 2022. Smith was a leader in the Houston legal community, as well as in numerous charitable organizations.

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Robert Bledsoe

Class of

Robert Bledsoe has passed away on Nov. 15, 2023. Bledsoe served in the Air Force during his time at Texas Law, then Baker Botts, before eventually starting his own firm, Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe & Dawson.

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Philip Charles Vitek

Class of

Philip Charles Vitek passed away on Nov. 3, 2023. An Army veteran, Vitek was a celebrated lawyer, entrepreneur, and restaurant owner in Austin.

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John Kenneth “Ken” Vinson

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John Kenneth Vinson passed away on Oct. 22, 2023. In addition to teaching at the University of Mississippi Law School and Florida State University Law School,  Vinson authored many law review articles and a book titled “The Case Against the Law.”

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Robert Neal

Robert Neal

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Robert Neal passed away in August 2023. Neal was a double Longhorn who recently retired from practicing law in Austin after more than 45 years.

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Mary Hall

Mary Hall

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Mary Hall passed away on Nov. 14, 2022. Hall, who also earned an MBA from UT, specialized in family law in her native Vermont and enjoyed traveling around the world.

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Photograph of Horace Coke Wilson Jr.

Horace Coke Wilson Jr.

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Horace Coke Wilson Jr. passed away Oct. 31, 2023. Wilson was a partner at Pravel, Wilson and Gambrell and additionally served as a law professor at both Texas Law and the University of Houston Law Center.

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Doug Sigel

Doug Sigel

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Doug Sigel passed away in October 2023. Sigel was a partner and practice group leader for the Ryan Law Firm’s Sales & Use and Income Tax team based in Austin.

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Photograph of Clayton Hutchins

Clayton Hutchins

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Clayton Hutchins passed away Oct. 20, 2023. Hutchins, who served as  city attorney of Texarkana, Grand Prairie, Bedford and Carrollton,  specialized in trial and appellate law.

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David Hall headshot

David Hall

Class of

David Hall passed away on Oct. 11, 2023. A double Longhorn, Hall was an acclaimed social warrior, serving his home state as director of Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA) for nearly 40 years.

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Ed Auler headshot

Hugo Edwin “Ed” Auler

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Ed Auler passed away on Oct. 14, 2023. After law school, Auler clerked for Judge Joe Greenhill at the Texas Supreme Court before joining the Austin firm of Kendall, Randall, Finch and Osborne. Auler’s career shifted when he and his wife founded Fall Creek Vineyards in the Hill Country region.

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A photograph of Tracy Owen

Tracy Owen

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Tracy Owen passed away Oct. 1, 2023. Owen, who specialized in employee relations legal services, was the senior vice president of industrial relations at Paramount Pictures.

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A photograph of Herbert Haschke Jr.

Herbert Haschke Jr.

Class of

Herbert “Herbie” Haschke Jr. passed away Oct. 9, 2023. In addition to practicing law with Price Waterhouse for 25 years, Haschke opened practices in Tulsa and Clifton, where he was involved in volunteer projects and pro bono legal services.

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Jim Vollers

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Jim Vollers passed away on Sept. 25, 2023. Vollers had a long career in criminal law as a prosecutor, and later, as the Court of Criminal Appeals state’s attorney and judge.

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Lorence Larry Bravenec

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Lorence Larry Bravenec passed away on Sept. 19, 2023. A double Longhorn, Bravenec was an accounting professor at the Texas A&M University Mays School of Business from 1971 to 2010. He also served as mayor of College Station in the 1970s.

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A photograph of Robert J. Glasgow.

Robert J. Glasgow

Class of

Robert J. Glasgow passed away Sept. 22, 2023. After beginning his career as a trial lawyer, Glasgow was elected to the Texas Senate in 1980 and received numerous awards and honors for his commitment to public service.

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