Class Notes

Laurier Bernard McDonald Jr. passed away on Oct. 10, 2025. McDonald served as a special agent with the FBI and as the United States Commissioner before the office was abolished.

Louis Dayne Miller passed away on Oct. 6, 2025. After spending many years in General Dynamics Corporation’s legal department, Miller started his own law practice in Graham, Texas, then served as the Young County attorney until his retirement.

Theodore Thomas Hollen III passed away on Oct. 13, 2025. He began his career at Pearson & Pearson in El Paso, Texas, before launching his independent law practice in Austin, Ted Hollen Attorney at Law. He retired in May of 2025.

James “Jim” Bertrand passed away on Sept. 29, 2025. Bertrand, who served in the Navy for two years before coming to Texas Law, eventually became a partner at Vinson & Elkins, where he worked for over 30 years.

Gary Truman passed away on July 13, 2025. He worked as an employment lawyer at Bradley Campbell Carney & Madsen before founding his own company, Gary Truman, LLC, and working as a landman for 15 years.

Stephen Lawrence Jenks passed away on August 8, 2025. He spent over 31 years with the FBI, working on many high-profile cases from the bureau’s Palo Alto office for the majority of his career.

Jerry Monroe Coleman passed away on Sept. 16, 2025. During his career included he was partner with the Austin office of the firm Long, Coleman, Dugger & Cotton, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Citizens National Bank of Austin, and a real estate developer.

Charles Taylor Gandy passed away Sept. 16, 2025. Gandy, a double Longhorn, served as mayor pro tem in Tarrant County, and was a certified specialist in probate and estate planning, a devoted philanthropist, and a real estate developer.

Thomas Hight Jr. passed away on August 19, 2025. He practiced law at the Dallas-based firm Hight and Hight for over two decades before ending his career as an administrative law judge for the state of Texas.

Senior U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks passed away on Sept. 17, 2025. His federal judicial career spanned over 30 years, becoming a senior judge in 2017 who presided over many of the most high-profile and consequential federal cases in Central Texas.

The Honorable Amy Martin passed away on Sept. 7, 2025. She served a four-year term on the bench of the 263rd District Court of Harris County before returning to private practice and eventually joining the University of Houston Law Center as the director of student advisement.

Will Paxton “Bill” Ellis passed away on Sept. 13, 2025. He established the law firm Ellis, Koeneke & Ramirez in 1982 and spent his legal career serving his clients in the estate planning and probate legal field in South Texas.

John Jackson (Jack) McClendon Jr. passed away on Sept. 11, 2025. He enjoyed a successful legal career than spanned over five decades and also served his community in Lubbock, Texas, by serving on or leading many boards and committees.

Parks Harding Stearns Jr. passed away on Sept. 11, 2025. He served in the FBI as a legal liaison for over 30 years before joining Unitrin and Kemper Insurance Investigation at the end of his distinguished career.

Sharon Kay Talley passed away on August 21, 2025. She served the Austin community for over 40 years—both in private practice and for the Travis County Attorney’s Office—specializing in the protection of victims of family violence, the environment, and animals.

Bennett “Ben” Wilson Cervin passed away on September 1, 2025. Cervin retired as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and also served in the Texas Air National Guard. An expert in labor and employment law, he was a senior partner, then of counsel, at Thompson & Knight.

Donald Patrick Dorsey passed away on August 12, 2025. His distinguished legal career as an attorney spanned nearly six decades, devoted to serving his community in Kerrville, Texas.

Christina Lynn Falkiewicz passed away on August 23, 2025. Falkiewicz helped families in the San Antonio area through her personal probate, estate planning and guardianship matters practice before joining UTSA as a guest lecturer.

Alistair Byrne Dawson passed away on August 30, 2025. A respected partner and trial attorney at Beck Redden, Dawson served as a president of the Houston Bar Association, chairman of the Texas Bar Foundation, fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Stephen “Steve” Edwards passed away on August 14, 2025. A double Longhorn, he practiced as an assistant district attorney in Travis County before entering private practice.

Samuel Tevis Grinstead passed away on August 9, 2025. A double Longhorn, he served as a partner at Vinson & Elkins in Houston for over three decades.

Albert W. Schorre Jr. passed away on August 6, 2025. After working as a partner at Stubbeman Mcrae law firm handling oil and gas litigation, he went on to serve as district attorney for West Texas from 1985 to 2007, and also chaired state drug policy and criminal justice advisory panels.

Edmunds Travis Jr. passed away August 1, 2025, just a year shy of his 100th birthday. An Army veteran, Travis went on to served as assistant attorney general of Texas before joining the legal department of Humble Oil and Refining Company. He then rose to the rank of chief attorney in Exxon’s Legal Department, Natural Gas Section.

Michael Joseph Whitten passed away on July 26, 2025. Whitten was a respected Denton attorney, earning recognition for his trial skill, mediation work, and dedication to pro bono service, while remaining deeply devoted to his family and community.

Gilbert Prud’homme passed away on May 24, 2024. An Austin attorney for six decades, he specialized in real estate law and estate/probate law and was known for community involvement and dedication to many charitable organizations.

Haskell H. Shelton passed away on August 1, 2025. Throughout his career, he served as an assistant U.S. prosecuting attorney, member of the U.S. Strike Force on Organized Crime, and in roles with Ford Motor Company and Dow Chemical, specializing in toxic tort litigation.

Charles William Bailey passed away on July 24, 2025. He spent the majority of his career as a plastic surgeon in private practice in Houston, served as president of the Texas Medical Association, and was honored alongside his father as the only father-son pair of physician-attorneys in the American College of Legal Medicine.

George William Wilhite passed away on July 22, 2025. A civil trial lawyer, he tried over 200 jury trials during a 65-year career, placing him among the top one percent of his peers. In addition to his leadership at Wilhite & Associates P.C., he served as of counsel for David Bryant Law Firm in Conroe, Texas, and raised Longhorn cattle at his ranch.

Louis Eugene McCarter passed away on July 20, 2025. A Vietnam War captain, he  became a partner at the Houston law firm of Vinson & Elkins, receiving numerous medals and honors for both his military service and distinguished career as a trial lawyer.

Willis Wilson Mitchell II passed away on July 19, 2025. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany, before his over 50-year career in private practice as a certified trial attorney in Dallas.

Ralph William “Skip” Scoggins passed away on June 15, 2025. Scoggins served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict and later built his legal and political career in El Paso.  He served consecutive terms on the Texas House of Representatives from 1964 to 1969, then returned as a state representative between 1973 and 1975 in the Texas House and as judge of the 41st District Court.

Milton Henry Steffen, Jr. passed away on July 15, 2025. After graduating from the law school, he became both a licensed attorney and CPA. He spent most of his life in Houston, where he built a respected legal career.

Judge Mike Westergren, formerly a judge for the 214th District Court in Nueces County, passed away on July 17, 2025. Westergren, who also served as the Nueces county attorney and worked  in private practice later in his career, was best known for presiding over the murder case of singer Selena,

Samuel James Johnson passed away on July 13, 2025. He spent the majority of his career as a trial lawyer at Scott, Douglass, & McConnico where he served as a partner for over three decades.

Jon Bible passed away on July 12, 2025. Bible, a triple Longhorn, was a Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame umpire, a veteran football official, and taught business law at Texas State University for more than 30 years.

Mac Arnold passed away June 23, 2025. A former federal prosecutor, he later practiced construction law in Virginia. He also served on the Clifton Town Council and was active in community service, including leading fundraising efforts for Parkinson’s research.

Cullen Rogers passed away June 19, 2025. Rogers worked for 22 years at Dallas Federal Savings and Loan and its successors, rising to associate general counsel. His subsequent years of private practice focused on estate planning and probate.

Marilyn Jean Kretsinger passed away June 24, 2025. After earning her J.D. from Texas Law, Kretsinger went on to serve for 25 years as associate general counsel at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a copyright attorney.

Elliot Branson passed away on June 1, 2025. Throughout his legal career, he worked in the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Mexican American Legal Aid and Defense, Texas Rural Legal Aid, and ultimately in private practice, representing injured patients in medical malpractice cases.

Joseph Royce passed away on April 25, 2025. Over his 57-year legal career specializing in trust and estate work, he served on various bar associations, was listed among “The Best Lawyers in America” in two different categories, and ultimately retired from Gray Reed in 2023.

E. William “Bill” Barnett passed away on June 15, 2025. He served as managing partner and senior counsel at Baker Botts LLP until his retirement, in addition to holding various chairman and director positions throughout his distinguished career in commercial litigation and antitrust law.

Robert Newey passed away on June 6, 2025. He began his career in the legal department of Texaco before becoming a partner at various law firms, establishing his own private practice in Houston, and serving as an associate judge for multiple family judicial district courts in Harris County until his retirement.

H. Lee Godfrey passed away on June 2, 2025. One of the top trial lawyers in the world and recipient of many honors and awards, Godfrey’s highly distinguished legal career began after serving in the Air Force.  He was a partner at Wood Campbell Moody & Gibbs, then joined his old friend Steve Susman in 1982 to found the firm that would become Susman Godfrey. Godfrey was nominated by former President Clinton as the U.S. ambassador to Brazil.

Charles Rufus Ramsay Jr. passed away on May 26, 2025. He was first elected to public office in 1963 as county attorney and was appointed as the first judge of the newly created county court at law in 1978. In 1981, he was elected to the 22nd Judicial District Court, where he served for 31 years.

Keith Stanton Richey passed away on May 20, 2025. After starting his career at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Houston, Richey became an international tax attorney at Exxon, then Mobil. He continued his career as an international tax counsel for firms including Citibank, Xerox, ITT, and Xylem.

Charles Henry “Hank” Still passed away on May 2, 2025. He had a distinguished career as a corporate lawyer at Fulbright & Jaworski (now Norton Rose Fulbright), where he was a partner from 1975 until his retirement in 2007. Still, who later returned to the firm as of counsel, was known as an expert in corporate governance, authoring a widely consulted treatise on that topic published by Fulbright.

Mark Hanna passed away on May 23, 2025. After serving in the U.S. Army as an airborne combat medic, he had a career as a respected attorney and successful lobbyist supporting the professional practices of thousands of Texas licensees, their patients, and clients.

James Alton Bruen passed away on April 7, 2025. He began his law practice specializing in defending objectors to the Vietnam War before establishing the firm Bruen, Kaufman & Hatfield and later joining a group of attorneys at a successful practice to help small businesses thrive and grow.

Joseph Putnam passed away on May 8, 2025. After practicing law in Mesquite for a year, he moved to Irving, Texas, where he began a 57-year career in law and politics, serving as mayor for two terms and as a member of the city council for part of every decade from the 1970s through the 2010s.