William Hamer Beardall Jr.

Biography

Bill Beardall directs the Law School's ground-breaking Transnational Worker Rights Clinic. He has practiced as a public interest employment lawyer for low-income working men and women since 1978. Mr. Beardall also serves as Executive Director of the Equal Justice Center, a non-profit employment justice and civil rights organization with offices in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.

Widely recognized for his experience in reforming public justice systems and private employment practices, Mr. Beardall is a leading expert in low-income employment law and in securing access to the justice system for working people regardless of their income or immigration status. From 1984-2000 he served as Director of the Migrant Worker Division of Texas Rural Legal Aid and from 2000-2001 he was Legal Director for Texas Appleseed. In 2001 he founded the Equal Justice Center which, under his leadership, has become the leading law firm specialized in enforcing the workplace rights of immigrant and low-wage workers in Texas and the surrounding region. He has also directed the Law School's Transnational Worker Rights Clinic since 2004 establishing it as one of the nation's foremost law school clinics specializing in employment litigation and the evolution of U.S. employment law in a transnational labor market.  The Clinic is operated as a partnership between the UT Law School and the Equal Justice Center.

Mr. Beardall has been honored with numerous awards recognizing his career as a leading public interest lawyer and advocate for low-wage working people, including: a 1997 Harvard Law School Wasserstein Fellowship; the 2000 John Minor Wisdom Award from the American Bar Association's Litigation Section; a 2008 Excellence in Public Service Award from Texas Law Fellowships; the 2012 Harvard Law School Gary Bellow Award for social justice; and the 2017 Noble Award conferred by the State Bar of Texas Poverty Law Section.