Baylor Law School’s Veterans Clinic Honors Professor Tom Featherston with Inaugural Champion of Justice Award
Professor Thomas M. Featherston, Jr., was honored by the Baylor Law School Veterans Clinic with the inaugural Champion of Justice Award. The honor, presented at a surprise ceremony, acknowledges his dedicated and longstanding service to veterans and first responders.
The presentation occurred during Professor Featherston’s Trusts & Estates class, where Clinic Director Josh Borderud and multiple law faculty members briefly suspended the session to recognize Featherston’s extraordinary contributions, including Featherston supervising more than 590 student-drafted wills through the clinic since 2016, helping hundreds of Central Texans plan for the future without seeking recognition or fanfare.
“Professor, please pardon this interruption, but we have a presentation to make today,” Borderud began. “Many of you may know Professor Featherston is not only an accomplished scholar and a wonderful teacher, but also has spent the last 10 years overseeing students drafting wills for veterans and first responders in Central Texas. In fact, by the end of this year, he will have supervised 600 wills for veterans and first responders in McLennan County and its surrounding counties. And so we’re honored to present our inaugural Champion of Justice Award to Tom on behalf of the Baylor Law School Veterans Clinic.”
Accepting the award, Featherston expressed gratitude to his students and colleagues.“I truly appreciate this.” Adding. “The continuing success of the program over the years has been due to the great work of our student volunteers and Josh and his staff in the clinic. It is a team effort for which I am grateful. And we can’t forget that the vision for the estate planning clinic was provided by Bridget Fuselier.”
During the ceremony, Dean Jeremy Counseller commended Featherston’s deep commitment to his students and the broader community, noting that his impact reaches far beyond the classroom. “Tom Featherston is not just an outstanding teacher and scholar—he embodies what we strive to instill in our students: service to others,” Counseller said. “He has modeled what it means to use the law to make a difference, and generations of Baylor Lawyers are better for having learned from him.”
The newly established Champion of Justice Award honors individuals who exemplify the spirit of service and advocacy central to Baylor Law School’s mission. Professor Featherston’s decade of leadership with the Veterans Clinic made him an obvious choice to be the inaugural recipient.
