Reflections - Texas Wesleyan School of Law - Texas Wesleyan ...

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On Sept. 25, we kicked off Texas Wesleyan University
School of Law’s 20th anniversary campaign. We
have come such a very long way since our early
beginnings two decades ago. Perhaps what has shaped
the law school to a greater degree than any other is the
faith and courage of our first classes. Twenty years ago,
their determination to pursue a law degree – without any
guarantee that one would be granted – helped establish the
character of this institution.
Four of our “founding fathers” – Professors Frank
Elliott, Joe Spurlock, Stephen Alton and Jim
Hambleton – reflect back on the first 20 years in the
cover feature. All of them still remain on the law
faculty, and they have continued to serve the law
school in various capacities since its inception.
Frank Elliott was the first permanent dean and Joe
Spurlock taught the very first class in 1989.
Over the years, the law school has
been blessed by the generosity of
many supportive individuals in the
North Texas legal community. Our
20th anniversary kickoff event on
Sept. 25 recognized one of these
benefactors, former Chief Justice Joe
Greenhill. Through the efforts of Justice
Greenhill and the Greenhill family, a
substantial collection of memorabilia from
his years of legal service has been donated
to the law school and will soon be on display
in a special collections room located in the
Dee J. Kelly Law Library. Please turn to
page 14 to see the details of the dedication
ceremony and the presentation of the first
ever Chief Justice Joe Greenhill Scholarship
award, as well as page 13 for a review of last
spring’s soggy second annual Chief Justice
Joe Greenhill Golf Tournament, which funds
the scholarship.
Following the dedication of the Greenhill
memorabilia at the law school, the 20th anniversary celebration was held across the
street at the Ashton Depot. It was an honor
for me to recognize the past deans of the law
school – Frank Elliott, Frank Walwer, Richard
Gershon, Frederick Slabach and Cynthia
Fountaine. The evening’s festivities are
highlighted on page 16. It was a great night of
good friends, alumni and memories.
The backbone of an educational institution is
its faculty. I am proud to welcome seven new
members to our faculty for the fall semester –
from the dean
H. Brian Holland, Timothy M. Mulvaney, John F. Murphy,
Mary Margaret “Meg” Penrose, Tanya J. Pierce, Michelle
Rigual and Wade J. Savoy. Professor Rigual is also the new
director of the Dee J. Kelly Law Library. You can read about
them beginning on page 24.
An exciting development this fall has been the establishment
of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property (CLIP),
which wrestles not only with current IP issues, but also with
the legal foundations of those issues. Four CLIP workshops
are being held in partnership with the Arts Council of
Fort Worth & Tarrant County and are detailed on page
29. Professor Megan Carpenter is leading our CLIP
efforts.
In an attempt to create additional alliances within
the Fort Worth community, the law school partnered
for the first time with the Fort Worth Business Press as
the presenting sponsor of the Power Attorneys
luncheon at which 12 pre-eminent local attorneys
were recognized. During the luncheon it was
my distinct privilege to present the inaugural
Texas Wesleyan University Excellence in
Justice Award to United States Magistrate
Judge Charles Bleil.
Next spring, members of the Texas Wesleyan
Law Review will be hosting the National
Conference of Law Reviews (NCLR) here
in Fort Worth. Texas Wesleyan School
of Law is the current NCLR national
headquarters. Please see page 28 for
additional information on the upcoming
conference, as well as on the recent law
review symposium The Role of Lawyers
of Color.
The support of our alumni is absolutely vital
to the law school’s future. In addition to
alumni updates beginning on page 38, three
of our alumni – Stephen Mosher ’95, Rachel
Ingley Davis ’07 and Alesha Williams ’04 – are
featured in alumni profiles.
And last, we are proud to congratulate
our July bar exam passers. Their 93.29
percent first-time rate was the best in our
20-year history!
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Sincerely,
Frederic White
Dean and Professor of Law