Matt Cordon

Matt Cordon is the Director of Legal Writing and the A. Royce Stout Chair of Law at Baylor Law, where he has served on the faculty since 2000.

Professor Cordon teaches in Baylor Law’s Legal Analysis, Research, and Communications program and has carried introductory legal writing instruction for more than two decades. He is the author of the textbook used in his LARC courses, developed the Advanced Legal Research course Baylor Law has offered continuously since 2001, and teaches litigation drafting through coursework and independent studies.

His scholarship focuses on legal research, legal writing, and Texas legal materials. He is the coauthor, with Professor Brandon Quarles, of Researching Texas Law and Specialized Topics in Texas Legal Research, both published by William S. Hein & Co. His articles have appeared in Law Library Journal, Baylor Law Review, and The Second Draft, and he has contributed essays to several legal reference works. He presents regularly at legal-writing and legal-research conferences and serves on editorial review and advisory boards.

Professor Cordon has also been a long-time faculty leader at Baylor University. He served as Interim Associate Dean of Baylor Law in 2023–24, chaired Baylor University’s Faculty Senate in 2007–08 and 2020–21, represented the Law School on the Senate for twelve years, and has served on more than a dozen university committees and work groups.

His honors include a national award for outstanding article from the American Association of Law Libraries, Baylor University’s Outstanding Professor Award for Scholarship among tenure-track faculty, and Baylor University’s Outstanding Professor Award for Teaching among tenured faculty. He has also received young alumnus awards from Central Methodist University and the University of North Texas College of Information.

Before joining Baylor Law, Professor Cordon worked as a sportswriter and sports information director. He played tennis and football at Central Methodist University in Missouri. He and his wife, Jennifer, support the Dallas Cowboys, even in trying times. He is active in martial arts and holds black belts in Taekwondo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Courses Taught

Advanced Legal Research, LARC 1, LARC 2, LARC 3 and LARC 5