Class Notes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Richard “Rickey” Witte Alexander passed away Nov. 26, 2023. Alexander practiced law for nearly 40 years, during which time he specialized in civil litigation and served as a mentor to many young attorneys.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Joseph Colbert passed away on Sept. 9, 2023. Colbert served in the U.S. Marine Corps prior to attending Texas Law, later opening a practice specializing in personal injury and workers’ compensation.

Harry Jung Jr. passed away on Sept. 9, 2023. Jung was an Army veteran of the Korean War and a double Longhorn. He had a law office in Crosbyton, Texas, and went on to serve as Crosby County Attorney.

Garland Andrews passed away on Sept. 14, 2023. Andrews was a successful patent litigator best known for changing the standard of proving inequitable conduct in virtually every patent case; he retired in 2000.

Maria Arcelia “Arcie” Izquierdo Jordan passed away on Sept. 7, 2023. Jordan was an accomplished international law and immigration lawyer for nearly 25 years and  a former partner at Foley & Lardner LLP.

William Albert Thau Jr. passed away on August 26, 2023. Thau was head of the 50-lawyer Real Estate Section of Jenkins, Anson, Spradley and Gilchrist for 25 years.

Orie Theodore Dinkins Jr. passed away August 26, 2023. Dinkins specialized in probate litigation and co-founded the law firm of Dinkins, Kelly, Lenox & Lamb before opening his own law practice in Brenham, Texas.

Bob F. Young passed away August 23, 2023. Following his 20 years of service in the U.S. Army, Young served as general counsel and vice president at Texas Oil & Gas Corp until his retirement in 1988.

Judge J. Blair Cherry Jr. passed away August 18, 2023. After serving one term as a district attorney, he opened a private law practice and managed his family’s oil and gas business. Cherry went on to serve as District Judge of Lubbock and Crosby counties, then Senior District Judge.

Justice Anne Gardner has passed away. Gardner was a justice on the Second Court of Appeals for 17 years, during which time she served on the Texas Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee and as president of the Tarrant County Bar Association.

Thad Dameris passed away Aug. 16, 2023. After spending 16 years trying cases at Vinson & Elkins LLP, Dameris opened and managed the Houston offices of three international law firms and specialized in litigation arising from aviation and maritime accidents.

Nick Buratto passed away August 3, 2023. Buratto’s legal career spanned the 13th, 2nd and 5th Texas Courts of Appeals in Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, and Dallas.

William “Bill” D. Pargaman passed away August 3, 2023. With his estate planning expertise, Pargaman made significant contributions to the State Bar’s Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law section and was inducted into The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Pargaman was a member of the Chancellor’s Society at Texas Law.

David Watson passed away July 9, 2023. A double Longhorn, Watson was employed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and by the Department of Justice throughout his career.

Hollis Gail Turnham passed away August 5, 2023. Turnham was engaged in advocacy work for the rights of elders and direct care workers, serving as the Michigan State Long-Term Care Ombudsman for 16 years.

Charles Gene Barnett has passed away. Throughout his legal career, Barnett worked with the U.S. Tax Division of Justice, the law firm of Vial, Hamilton, Koch, Tubb, Knox and Stradley, and as in-house counsel with the Southwestern Life and Philadelphia Life insurance companies.

The Honorable Charles F. Sandoval passed away July 25, 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Sandoval served as a State District Judge in Texas for 12 years and was president of both the Plano Bar Association and the Collin County Bar Association.

Morris Jackson Hampton passed away July 21, 2023. An Army veteran, Hampton worked in the Dallas District Attorney’s Office, worked in private practice specializing in criminal and family law, then was appointed as the criminal district judge for the 283rd Criminal District Court in Dallas County.

The Hon. Joe D. Clayton passed away July 14, 2023. Clayton served as a senior state district judge and was active in the State and Smith County Bar Associations in addition to his civic pursuits.

Joseph “J.T.” Moore passed away July 3, 2023. After serving in the U.S. Army, Moore practiced law briefly, then entered into a farming and ranching partnership with his father in 1955. A decade later, he and a friend bought controlling interest in The First National Bank of Pecos and he served as the bank president.