Leah Jackson
Associate Dean and Professor of Law
B.B.A., Baylor UniversityJ.D., Baylor Law School
Leah Jackson has been associate dean for 18 years, a tenure unique in law school academe, especially at the same law school. When asked why and how she has been able to stay in this position when the average tenure at most other law school is three to six years, her reply is “I love Baylor Law School and I believe in our mission. Baylor Law is a very special place. Baylor is rich in the tradition of faculty, staff and even deans loving what they do here and choose to stay long term. Dean Toben has been dean for 18 years. He and I work as a team along with an incredible faculty who are just as committed as we are to our first priority – teaching and training of the next generation of Baylor lawyers. We have a great working relationship among the faculty and staff and we have talented and hard-working students. What more could I ask for?”
Dean Jackson comes from a Baylor family. She followed in the footsteps of her father and brother and attended Baylor University (1983, BBA, summa cum laude). She never looked at another law school even though she was fairly certain at the time she entered Baylor Law School that with her accounting background she was not likely to want to be a trial lawyer. She recalls that she was surprised to find that she “enjoyed” the Practice Court experience, as much as one can. After earning her J.D. cum laude in 1985, she entered private practice with the Waco law firm of Naman Howell Smith & Lee, where she practiced for four years in the firm’s business section. Her primary interest and focus was tax planning. In practice her appreciation for Baylor Law School’s approach to legal education only grew as she recognized that the skills taught in Practice Court translate proficiently into a transactional practice.
Jackson has been the primary tax professor at Baylor for her entire tenure. She currently teaches the second-year required Basic Tax and Accounting for Lawyers course. She also teaches Individual Taxation and Partnership Taxation. Until recently she also taught Corporate Taxation giving her a teaching load that is equivalent to that of a full-time professor at many other law schools. She chooses to maintain a heavier than expected teaching load while associate dean in order to maintain a connection with the students.
“Making tax interesting and appealing to law students from all backgrounds is tough. Balancing my teaching duties with my administrative and other responsibilities is also a real challenge much of the time, but I cannot image not being the one to try to explain income, deduction and financial statements, and their relevancy, to our students,” she said.
She believes in an integrated approach to teaching the practical applications of tax planning. “Tax planning affects all of us in our daily lives. I want our students to be prepared to handle the simple tax issues that affect their clients, no matter what type of practice they have, and to recognize when they need a tax lawyer to help with the more complicated issues.”
By using common business and investment transactions as examples, she also incorporates discussions about difficult, and sometimes delicate, professional responsibility issues they will face in practice. By talking about those issues in law school, she knows her students will be better prepared to make the right choices when facing such dilemmas in practice.
“Practicing law with honor and integrity sometimes places the lawyer at odds with the ‘bottom-line’ orientation of a profession that has become big business. Our students need to develop a strong moral compass to guide them through the moray of ethical issues they will face in practice,” she said.
Dean Jackson recognizes that being a lawyer is a privilege that requires her to give back to society. She serves as a mentor to four ninth-grade girls through the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce LEAD program. She is an appointed member of the national Network Executive Board of the American Council on Education’s Office of Women in Higher Education. She is the Immediate Past Chair for the Texas Women in Higher Education, a founding member of the Greater Waco Community Education Alliance, and a member of Waco’s Partners in Education Advisory Board. She is an elected member of the Texas Bar Foundation and a past President of the Waco McLennan County Bar Association and Midway Education Foundation. She is an alumna of the Leadership Texas and Leadership America programs. She has been recognized as an Outstanding Alumnus for Leadership Waco and a Woman of Distinction by the Bluebonnet Council of Girl Scouts. She has participated in two Oxford Round Tables to discuss the status of women leaders in society. She writes and speaks on tax, business, non-profit and leadership topics.
For many years, she spent a significant amount of time assisting with her two daughters’ softball and volleyball teams which required long hours of practice and lots of travel.
“We spent countless nights and weekends practicing and training, and we traveled to more places than I can remember, but I treasure every experience with them, even my broken fingers and other minor injuries along the way. My daughters (and I) learned many valuable life lessons through their athletic experiences,” she said.
Now that her daughters are in graduate school and college, Dean Jackson has turned her attention to other interests in her evening and weekend hours. She paints - with oils being her favorite medium. She bakes and decorates cakes – some of which can be very elaborate.
“I’m known for staying up until the wee hours of the morning to put the finishing touches on a cake to make it unique and special for the occasion,” she said.
Last year she went on a five-day back-packing trip in the mountains on the Alaskan-Canadian border with a group from the Law School. Currently she is training for a marathon and triathlon.
“I have always been a runner but never for the kind of distances that I am now,” she said. “My goal is to complete at least one marathon before my knees tell me ‘no more.’ Since I love to swim, a triathlon seems to be a natural progression for me. Staying active is not a luxury for me, it’s a necessity.”
