2010 Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellowship Honorees
The Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellowships are supported by a generous multi-year gift from Stephanie Whitehurst and Bill Whitehurst, ‘70. Each summer, the Whitehursts name the fellowships for lawyers and others they admire in hopes that the recipients will be inspired by the honorees’ work in the public interest.
Summer 2010 Whitehurst Public Interest Fellowship Honorees
The Chip Brees Public Interest Law Fellowship
Eugene W. (Chip) Brees graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1976. He practiced almost 26 years as a defense lawyer with Thompson & Knight in Dallas and Austin, handling insurance defense and personal injury cases including medical negligence, drug and chemical liability, toxic tort, and product liability, in addition to complex business litigation. For the last eight years, he has been on the plaintiff’s side of the docket as a trial lawyer with Whitehurst, Harkness, Brees & Cheng, P.C., in Austin.
Chip has been named as one of the Best Lawyers in Austin and as a Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly magazine. He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America. He was selected as a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers., Chip is Board Certified in Personal Injury Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
More importantly, Chip is an example of one who has kept public service and public interest law as a significant element in his everyday life. He maintains a pro bono docket working with the Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas to assist our indigent population. He has given freely of his legal expertise to his church where he has served as Chair of his Church Council, Chair of Deacons and on numerous committees. He did the same for the public schools his children attended and, along with his wife, Amy, raised three great children. He served as a member of the Paramount Theater Producers and has been active in the Miracle Foundation which sponsors orphanages in India.
Although Chip has become most well-known lately as father of the 2010 Super Bowl MVP, New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, he was himself honored by the Austin Young Lawyers Association Foundation as the 2006 Outstanding Mentor of the Year.
The Chip Brees Public Interest Law Fellowship is awarded in hopes that the recipient will be inspired by what successful lawyers like Chip do in the public’s interest as an essential part of their career, and will make the same commitment.
The Michelle Cheng Public Interest Law Fellowship
Michelle Cheng received her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering in 1992 from the University of Michigan and worked in Austin as a design engineer before getting her law degree from the University of Texas Law School. She practices plaintiff’s trial and appellate law and is also a certified mediator. The Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association awarded her its Litigation Award in 2004, she received the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Austin Award in 2006, and she is listed as a Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly magazine.
Most importantly, Michelle balances a busy private law practice with a serious dedication to public service and public interest law. She has served seven years, including two years as Chair, on the Advisory Board of the Capital Area AIDS Legal Project, a project that provides free legal services to low-income persons affected by HIV/AIDS. She also served three years, including one as Chair, on the State Bar of Texas’ Client Security Fund, a fund that assists clients who have lost money or property as a result of an attorney’s dishonest conduct. In addition, she serves alongside public volunteers on the State Bar of Texas District 9A Grievance Committee, co-chaired the Austin Bar Association’s Katrina Relief Committee, serves as a volunteer for the Travis County Law Library Pro Se Divorce Reference Attorneys, co-chaired both the Community Service and Legal Services for the Poor committees for the Austin Young Lawyers Association, and was recently appointed to the Texas Access to Justice Commission. Michelle also assists her firm’s pro bono docket, including the representation of an indigent death row inmate on a post-conviction federal appeal. She recently completed a three-year term on the Board of Directors for the State Bar of Texas and is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Austin.
The Michelle Cheng Public Interest Law Fellowship is awarded in hopes that the recipient will be inspired by what successful lawyers like Michelle do in the public’s interest as an essential part of their career, and will make the same commitment.
The Tom Harkness Public Interest Law Fellowship
After graduating from the Air Force Academy, Tom Harkness attended the University of Texas Law School, where he served on the Law Review, was Order of the Coif and Order of the Barristers, and graduated with honors in 1971. He began his private practice as an aviation/product liability lawyer at the Bronson firm in San Francisco. In 1978, he joined Mack Kidd and Bill Whitehurst in Austin to form the firm Kidd, Whitehurst & Harkness (now Whitehurst, Harkness, Brees & Cheng), where he has practiced for 32 years.
Tom is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has been selected as one of the Best Lawyers in Austin and as a Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly magazine. He is also listed in the publication The Best Lawyers in America. Tom has been inducted as a fellow in both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He specializes in product liability, natural gas explosions, aviation litigation and complex general negligence law and he has obtained the largest product liability verdict in Travis County. Tom just completed a case where he successfully represented the families of fourteen soldiers who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq caused by negligent maintenance.
More importantly, Tom has combined a busy and successful law practice with public service and public interest law. For seven years, he shared his legal expertise on the board of Austin Children’s Museum, serving one year as its President. For four years, with one year as President, he served as a Trustee for the American Board of Trial Advocates Foundation, which funds and maintains a national education program promoting our jury system. As a part of Austin Samaritans, Tom recently traveled to Managua, Nicaragua to help build homes for young women who grew up literally in a trash dump and had turned to prostitution. He also volunteered to teach at the Lagarski Law School in Warsaw, Poland to further the rule of law. As do all lawyers in his firm, Tom also handles pro bono cases for the indigent in Austin.
The Tom Harkness Public Interest Law Fellowship is awarded in hopes that the recipient will be inspired by what successful lawyers like Tom do in the public interest as an essential part of their career, and will make the same commitment.
The Eden Harrington Public Interest Law Fellowship
Eden Harrington serves as Associate Dean of Experiential Education, Director of the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, and as a Clinical Professor at the University of Texas Law School. She teaches a seminar on Public Service Lawyering and internship courses linked to non-profit organizations, government agencies and legislative offices. A graduate of Rice University and Columbia Law School, she epitomizes the lawyer who has chosen public interest law as a career path. Eden is largely responsible for redirecting virtually every aspect of the Law School to include public interest law such that it is becoming an essential part of the school’s national reputation and identity.
Prior to joining the faculty in 2000, Eden taught clinics and served as Director of Public Interest Programs at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio. She previously worked for nine years (including as Executive Director) with the Texas Resource Center, a federally-funded community defender organization representing death-sentenced inmates in post conviction appeals. She also worked with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Fifth Circuit Death Penalty Project, Texas Rural Legal Aid, and the Medicare Advocacy Project in Los Angeles.
Eden has had a profound influence on lawyers and law students over many years. Her accomplishments are even more impressive when you extend that influence to a husband and two precocious children. The Eden Harrington Public Interest Law Fellowship is awarded in hopes that the recipient will be inspired by Eden’s remarkable career and dedication, and make the same commitment whether as a full-time professional or part-time volunteer.
The Mack Kidd Public Interest Law Fellowship
Kenneth Malcolm “Mack” Kidd (1941-2005) was an extremely bright, naturally talented and highly accomplished trial lawyer. At the peak of his career, he chose to serve the public full time and was elected to the Court of Appeals, Third District of Texas, where he served unopposed for fourteen years. He set the standard for practicing law and for public service.
Mack earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas and later founded the firm known then as Kidd, Doggett & Jacks and later as Kidd, Whitehurst, Harkness & Watson. Many of his partners developed into eminent lawyers, including a U.S. Congressman, State Senator and Texas Supreme Court Justice, a mayor of Austin, a president of the State Bar of Texas, three presidents of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and three chairs of the Travis County Democratic Party. All were active in providing legal services to the poor through organizations devoted to pro bono activities and equal access to justice, as well as giving time, talent and money to numerous non-profit organizations.
Known for his great competitive spirit, Mack was a passionate advocate for the American jury system. He bonded with clients as most lawyers never could, which allowed him to be highly effective in the courtroom. He served as President of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, President of the Retarded Citizens of Austin, and Chair of the Travis County Democratic Party. His life was made complete by his wife, Charlotte, and three children, Amy, Russell and Kevin.
Justice Kidd exemplified what the University of Texas Law School tries to instill in every graduate: public service should be a part of every lawyer’s career, whether as a full-time professional or a part-time volunteer. The Mack Kidd Public Interest Law Fellowship is awarded in hopes that the recipient will be inspired by Mack’s life and career to make the same commitment.
The Scott Ozmun Public Interest Law Fellowship
Scott Ozmun was only 50 years old when he died from cancer. He was a highly respected and very successful trial lawyer who, shortly before his death, entered full-time public service as a District Court,Judge.
Scott attended Georgetown University, where he served as student body president, and attended the University of Texas Law School, where he served on the Law Review, Order of the Coif, Order of the Barristers, and graduated with honors in 1985. He worked as a briefing attorney for Justice William Kilgarlin of the Texas Supreme Court. Scott then spent 21 years with his firm, which included UT Law graduates Bill Whitehurst, Tom Harkness, Mack Kidd, Chip Brees and Michelle Cheng, specializing in plaintiffs’ product liability, medical malpractice and catastrophic personal injury law. One of the last cases Scott tried resulted in an $8.7 million verdict for his client. In addition, he obtained one of the largest civil rights settlements in the nation.
Scott was Board Certified in Personal Injury Law and in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He was named a Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly magazine and was listed in the publication, Best Lawyers in America.
At the time of his death, Scott was President-elect of the Austin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and was on the Board of Directors of the Austin Bar Association. He had also served as president of the Board of Volunteer Legal Services, the Legal Aid Society of Central Texas, and the Austin Young Lawyers Association. In 1999, he received the J. Chrys Dougherty Award for his dedication to legal services for the poor.
For twenty years, Scott was married to Beth Collum Ozmun, also a Texas Law graduate, and they have two beautiful daughters, Delaney Elizabeth and Kendall Lynne.
Although his life was cut far too short, Scott exemplified what the University of Texas School of Law tries to instill in every graduate: public service should be a part of every lawyer’s career, whether as a full-time professional or a part-time volunteer. The Scott Ozmun Public Interest Law Fellowship is awarded in hopes that the recipient will be inspired by Scott’s life and career to make the same commitment