News

The Baylor University Bookstore will host an in-store book signing event on Friday, October 15th from 4 to 6 pm for visitors to meet and have books signed by Walt Shelton, Adjunct Professor at Baylor Law and one of the most-read faith columnists in Texas.

Baylor University School of Law has announced the 14 law schools that will participate in the sixth annual The Closer Transactional Law Competition in January 2022. The Closer is a highly selective competition with invitations extended to law schools whose programming demonstrates a commitment to excellence in practical transactional law training.

Baylor Law’s Director of Business Law Programs and Leadership Development, Professor Leah Teague, was recently interviewed by Dean Patricia Roberts of St. Mary’s Law School for the EdUp Legal Podcast. The duo discussed Professor Teague’s work in creating a national movement of intentional leadership development in law schools.

The week of October 4 – 10 has been designated ‘Law Student Mental Health Week’ by the ABA Law Student Division and the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs. To celebrate, Baylor Law has scheduled several events for student.

Award-winning prosecutor, successful author, and Baylor Law adjunct professor Richard Alpert led another successful Criminal Law Boot Camp for Baylor Law students. Baylor Law’s unique Bootcamp exposes students to the legal, practical, and ethical Challenges faced by prosecutors and defense Attorneys in Criminal Practice.

On Thursday evening, September 23, Baylor Law and Baylor University’s ‘Baylor in Washington’ program, hosted a special event to discuss a variety of current and future issues within the American policing system.

On Tuesday, October 5th at 7 pm, Professor Laura Hernández, a leading authority on immigration law and civil rights actions, will join a distinguished panel of policy experts at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum’s Civil Discourse Series on U.S. Immigration Policy.

Baylor Law School's annual Dawson & Sodd, LLP Moot Court Competition, a week-long intramural event held every fall, ended on Monday, September 27th, with students Michaelina Sirkel and Amanda Hildebrand winning the top spots. The team of Victor Jarvis and Hope Burkhalter took 2nd place.

September 15th marked the start of Hispanic Heritage month, a four-week cultural celebration that runs through October 15th. To celebrate, Baylor Law’s Hispanic Law Student Association (HALSA) is hosting several events for the Baylor Law community to shed light on the contributions that the Hispanic and Latino cultures have brought to the United States.

The Texas Access to Justice Foundation has announced its continued support of Baylor Law’s Veterans Clinic program. This grant allows Baylor Law and its Veterans Clinic to continue its monthly clinical program for local veterans to receive legal advice and counsel from faculty and local attorneys with assistance from law students.

Walter Umphrey – along with his beloved life partner and best friend, Sheila – have touched a legion of lives for the better. For decades, Walter has been on every listing of “go-to” lawyers by advocating on behalf of those to whom harm had been done, but who otherwise would not have had a champion to represent them in our judicial system.

Rachel Kincaid, former prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice and civil rights advocate, has joined the Baylor Law faculty. She is slated to teach criminal law and criminal procedure, and her scholarship focuses on criminal law reform and civil rights.

Changes are underway at Baylor Law as the Law School prepares to welcome a highly credentialed fall entering class. Dean Leah Teague (JD ’85) has announced that she is stepping away from her role as Associate Dean to return to a full-time faculty position. Patricia Wilson, a member of Baylor Law’s faculty since 1993, has agreed to serve as Associate Dean, with responsibilities focusing on academic-related matters involving faculty or students.

Baylor Law's Summer 2021 Commencement ceremony will take place July 31, 2021 at 10:00am CDT at First Baptist Church of Waco. Click here to view the livestream beginning at 9:45am.

The movie “12 Mighty Orphans,” tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the Depression-era football teams from the Masonic Home and School of Texas. This inspiring true story is of particular interest to those associated with Baylor University and Baylor Law: Judge Abner Vernon McCall, who served as the Dean of the law school for eleven years beginning in 1948 was one of the Mighty Mites.

The Texas Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates (TEX-ABOTA) has selected Baylor Lawyer and Jaworski Fellow Kathryn Snapka (JD ’80) as the 2021 Trial Lawyer of the Year. Snapka will receive her award on Saturday, October 30th at the TEX-ABOTA Annual Dinner in Santa Fe.

Baylor Law 3L Tara Smith was recently awarded the State Bar of Texas Tax Section annual scholarship. Smith graduates from Baylor Law and plans to take the bar in July. She has accepted an offer from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and will work in the Large and International Business Division in Dallas.

Members of Baylor Law’s Black Law Student Association along with fellow students, faculty, and staff celebrated Juneteenth with an informal gathering and information sharing session on Friday, June 18, 2021.

Baylor Law’s Professor Jerry Powell (JD ’77) has been selected by the Texas Young Lawyers Association to receive the 2020 Outstanding Mentor of Texas award for his tireless dedication to training, mentoring, and guiding young lawyers.

Following two years as an Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering at NYU School of Law, Prof. Chris Jaeger joined the Baylor Law faculty in the Summer Quarter 2021. In addition to continuing his research, Jaeger will be teaching Contracts I and II.

Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Jenny Branson was selected by the Waco-McLennan County Young Lawyers Association (WMCYLA) as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of McLennan County for 2021.

Baylor Law student Kinsey Lakey is the latest Baylor Law School 'Mad Dog,' after winning the Spring 2021 Mad Dog Mock Trial Competition. Fellow student Nicho Stevens was the finalist.

Zoe Appler of Chicago-Kent College of Law was crowned the winner of Baylor Law’s 2021 edition of the Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition, narrowly defeating Jenna Forster of the University of California Berkeley School of Law.

Baylor Law’s Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition is the most challenging mock trial competition in the country. The invitation-only tournament, now in its 12th year, pits the best advocates from 16 trial advocacy schools against one another in a head-to-head, winner-takes-all tournament, that will be held June 4-6 at Baylor Law.

The Business Law Boot Camp is an intensive week-long program that provides Baylor Law students with a practical overview of several areas of law that are integral to corporate and transactional practice. Now in its sixth year, the Business Law Boot Camp covers several substantive areas and skills, with the content woven into the context of real-world experiences and delivered by distinguished transactional lawyers from around the country.

The Business Law Boot Camp is an intensive week-long program that provides Baylor Law students with a practical overview of several areas of law that are integral to corporate and transactional practice. Now in its sixth year, the Business Law Boot Camp covers a number of substantive areas and skills with the content woven into the context of real-world experiences and delivered by distinguished transactional lawyers from around the country.

Baylor Law's Spring 2021 Commencement ceremony takes place May 1, 2021 at 10:00am CST. Click here to view the livestream beginning at 9:45am.

"Protecting the Assets of those who protect us." During the month of May, Baylor Law’s Legal Clinics are honoring the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice of McLennan County’s law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency medical services by providing free simple estate planning services for active or retired full-time first responders and their spouses.

On April 10th, Baylor Law finished 3rd in the National Trial Competition sponsored by the Texas Young Lawyers Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers. This was Baylor Law’s second straight ‘final-four’ showing at this national tournament. Then, on Sunday, April 18th, another Baylor Law team took home championship rings for their first-place win at the Trials and Tribulations mock trial tournament. Rounding out the month of April, a third mock trial team made it all the way to the championship round and finished second at the invitation-only Puerto Rico Trial Advocacy Competition hosted by the Inter American University School of Law.

Baylor Law is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 The Paper Chase Legal Writing Competition, the most competitive legal writing contest in Texas. The Paper Chase is hosted by Baylor Law and entrants are judged by members of the Texas Young Lawyer Association (TYLA). FVF Law generously sponsors the competition’s prizes.

On Tuesday, March 30th, Jerri Cunningham, Baylor Law’s long-serving registrar, was recognized by the National Network of Law School Officers (NNLSO) for her years of service to the organization.

Baylor Giving Day is a university-wide, 24-hour fundraising event scheduled to be held on April 14, 2021. Baylor Giving Day provides alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff, and students an opportunity to be a part of Baylor’s future and impact existing and new programs, student scholarships and priority funds across the University.

Grant Jones & Caroline Lowery advanced to the final round of the competition, finishing in 2nd place. Brief writer Elizabeth Allen was awarded Best Petitioner’s Brief. A second Baylor Law team, Sarah Cureton and Asher Miller, advanced to the quarterfinals, and was named Second Best Oral Advocacy Team. Asher was named the Second-Best Advocate of the competition.

The legal writing team at Baylor Law is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Ultimate Writer Legal Writing Competition. First-place winner: William de los Santos; Second Place: Grace Bregard; Third Place: Catherine Helm; and Honorable Mentions: Timothy Phillips and Tom Evans

Baylor Law’s annual Faegre Drinker Spring Moot Court Competition ended on Monday, March 22nd with students Jean-Marie Anderson and Christine Barfield taking the top spots!

Baylor Law’s transactional teams are competing against teams from strong traditional transactional programs and shaking up the competitive landscape... recently taking the top spots at both the Duke Interscholastic Transactional Law Competition and 2021 UCLA Transactional Law Competition.

Baylor Law students Caitlin Huettemann and Lexi Winter, along with their brief writer, Alejandra Garcia Castro, took top honors at the 29th annual Conrad B. Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, February 27 through March 1, 2021.

Renowned author, speaker, policy analyst, and granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Susan Eisenhower, will share her insight on the principles behind the decision-making process of one of America’s greatest leaders on Friday March 3, at Baylor Law. Ms. Eisenhower will be Interviewed by renowned attorney and author Talmage Boston, during this free, virtual event.

On February 8, 2021, Baylor Law awarded LL.M. degrees to the second graduating class of its Executive LL.M. in Litigation Management. This graduating cohort was composed of 15 legal professionals who serve as senior partners, trial consultants, general counsel and litigation leaders from prestigious companies and law firms around the country.

Baylor Law is pleased to announce the Fifth Annual The Paper Chase Legal Writing Competition. The competition is the premier legal writing competition in Texas and winners receive bragging rights as well as cash prizes, sponsored by FVF Law, totaling $7,000.

The People's Law School at Baylor Law will return for its 16th consecutive year on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021 in an all-virtual format. Each People's Law course will be taught by a Baylor Law professor or licensed attorney. Register and view the complete course list at www.baylor.edu/law/PLS.

I write to encourage you to vote to adopt Proposed Rule 6.05 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. As you know, our current Texas conflicts rule requires that each lawyer ensure that there is not a conflict with a potential client before meeting with the potential client to learn about the situation and give advice and counsel. However, this sound rule does have an unintended consequence. The rule poses a particular hardship for law school clinics and pro bono providers across the state who have walk-in clients

Baylor Law’s Executive LL.M. in Litigation Management leads the field in teaching effective litigation strategy and developing innovative and systematic approaches for lowering and controlling litigation costs. To enhance this expertise, Baylor Law announces the creation of a National Advisory Panel. Comprised of nationally recognized experts, the Panel includes elite trial lawyers representing both sides of the docket, top in-house counsel, judges, and legal technology specialists.

On Jan. 29, Richard Susskind, President of the Society for Computers and Law, a best-selling author, futurist, legal tech expert, and adviser to major law firms and national governments, will discuss how lawyers may prepare for the disruption brought by technology, costs, and competition to litigation and advocacy. He will share how lawyers can adapt to new and evolving technologies radically changing the litigation landscape. REGISTER TODAY!

On Sunday, January 17th, Floy Gaidarski, of SMU Dedman School of Law, and Preston Chaffee, of University of San Diego School of Law, were named the winners of the 2021 The Closer Competition, the most challenging transactional law competition in the country. Runners up for this year's competition were Madalyn Clary of Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and Jacob Landsberg of University of Oregon School of Law.

Dean Brad Toben and Professor David Guinn discuss Professor Guinn's 50 years of teaching Constitutional Law, highlighting landmark United States Supreme Court decisions that have impacted our society and the practice of law.

Since its inception over a century ago, the bedrock of Baylor Law’s Practice Court Program has been a commitment to preparing Baylor Lawyers for excellence in the practice of advocacy, precise knowledge of evidence and procedure, and the highest degree of professional conduct. This is our story.

The fifth annual The Closer transactional law competition will see students from the nation’s top transactional law programs vying for a total of $10,000 in cash prizes and bragging rights as a top closer.

Even in our current COVID environment, nothing could stop the commitment of the Baylor Law Public Interest Legal Society and Professor of Law Bridget Fuselier to continue to celebrate McLennan County’s Adoption Day on Friday, November 2oth. For thirteen straight years, Baylor Law has celebrated the joys of adoption and encouraged more people to pursue adoption as a way to give children permanent families.

Angela Cruseturner (JD ’02), Assistant Dean of Career Development at Baylor Law, was honored as the 2020 Young Baylor Lawyer of the Year at a private ceremony. Under Angela’s direction, Baylor Law’s Career Development Office has posted record employment statistics for recent graduates, and the Professional Development Program has been recognized as one of the premier professional formation programs in the nation.

Ike Vanden Eykel (JD ’73), has been selected as the 2020 Baylor Lawyer of the Year by the Executive Committee of the Baylor Law Alumni Association.

On Sunday, January 17, Floy Gaidarski of SMU Dedman School of Law and Preston Chaffee of the University of San Diego School of Law were named the winners of the 2021 The Closer Competition, the country’s most challenging transactional law competition. 

It doesn’t take a cape and a mask to be a hero – it takes a big heart and a lot of love. This was the message Baylor Law Professor Bridget Fuselier had for members of the 20 foster families who adopted children into their forever homes during Baylor Law’s Adoption Day in November.

Baylor Law School graduate AJ Jameel, JD ’19, is the first Baylor Lawyer in history to graduate with the ambition of being an “esports attorney.” According to Jameel, esports is an exciting new industry with a desperate need for legal counsel. “There is a huge and growing demand for attorneys who understand the quirks of how this industry works and who can step in and help the young professionals who are trying to navigate the system.”

Lewis R. Sifford, accomplished trial lawyer and founding officer of Sifford, Anderson & Company, P.C. in Dallas has been honored by Baylor Law as its 2019 Baylor Lawyer of the Year. To honor Sifford, Baylor Law hosted a luncheon at the Belo Mansion on May 1, 2019. Sifford, a 1972 Baylor law graduate, received the recognition from Dean Brad Toben and Ike Vanden Eykel, president of the Baylor Law Alumni Association.

Rajdeep Roger Bains of the University of San Diego School of Law and Westford Lang of the University of Colorado Law School are this year's winners of The Closer, the most challenging transactional law competition in the country

On Friday, November 16, Baylor Law School, in partnership with McLennan County Department of Families and Child Protective Services, celebrated its 11th annual National Adoption Day with more than two dozen central Texas families as their adoptions were finalized.

The Honorable J. Rodney Gilstrap, J.D. '81, Chief District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, has been selected by the Baylor Law Alumni Association Executive Committee as the 2018 Baylor Lawyer of the Year.

Brian K. Adams, Jr. from the University of Tennessee College of Law and Ericha Penzien from American University, Washington College of Law are this year’s winners of The Closer, the nation’s most challenging transactional law competition. This is the second consecutive year that a student from the University of Tennessee College of Law has taken a top spot in The Closer.

In its inaugural year, Alexia Boggs of the University of Mississippi School of Law and Bobby Bramhall from the University of Tennessee College of Law are the winners of Baylor Law School’s innovative transactional law competition The Closer.

The Closer is an invitation-only transactional law competition reflecting Baylor Law School’s commitment to training practice-ready lawyers. 

Baylor Law School hosts Adoption Day in recognition of November as National Adoption Month. Each year, Baylor Law School celebrates the joys of adoption and encourages more people to pursue adoption to give children permanent families. Baylor Law School's ninth annual celebration is part of a nationwide effort to call special attention to the foster children waiting in the United States and to celebrate all loving families that adopt.

Each year, November is recognized as National Adoption Month and for the eighth consecutive year, Baylor Law hosted its pro bono Adoption Day clinic. The Hon. Gary Coley of the 74th State District Court presided over the adoptions of 32 children who were welcomed into new families.

The Baylor Public Interest Legal Society (BPILS) hosted the eighth annual Adoption Day celebration at Baylor Law on November 21, 2014. Faculty, students, and friends joined in celebrating the adoption of twenty-five children in McLennan County by their new families before the Hon. Gary Coley of the 74th State District Court.

For the sixth year in a row, Baylor Law School hosted Adoption Day in McLennan County. On Nov. 22, judges, attorneys, community organizations, professional organizations, county employees, businesses and CASA volunteers gathered at Baylor Law to finalize adoptions and create forever homes for children in foster care.