Baylor Law School Grads To Receive Degrees April 28

Follow us on Twitter: @BaylorUMediaCom
Media contact: Lori Fogleman, (254) 710-6275

WACO, Texas (April 27, 2012) - Sixty-seven graduates of Baylor University School of Law are scheduled to receive juris doctor degrees during commencement ceremonies at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 28, in Jones Concert Hall at the Glennis McCrary Music Building on the Baylor University campus.

The keynote speaker, who was selected by the graduating class to deliver the commencement address, will be Professor Jeremy Counseller. Counseller joined the faculty of Baylor Law School in 2003. He graduated from Baylor Law School with honors and was a member of the Baylor Law Review, the Order of the Barristers, and the interscholastic moot court and mock trial teams. He also earned an M.B.A. from Baylor's Hankamer School of Business and a B.A. summa cum laude from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Following his graduation from law school, Counseller served as a law clerk to the Honorable Reynaldo G. Garza of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then entered private practice in Houston, Texas, with Bracewell & Patterson, LLP (now Bracewell & Giuliani LLP), where he was an associate in the trial section. Counseller also served as an Assistant Criminal District Attorney in McLennan County, Texas, where he prosecuted both misdemeanors and felonies.

Counseller has authored articles and presented papers on various evidentiary and procedural issues. He is also the co-author and editor of the Handbook of Texas Evidence (Civil Practice). In 2006, the President of the State Bar of Texas appointed him to serve on the Administration of the Rules of Evidence Committee. He is also the Contributing Evidence Editor of the State Bar of Texas's General Practice Digest. In 2007, Baylor University designated Counseller an outstanding tenure track faculty member in recognition of distinguished teaching.

Counseller teaches Civil Procedure and Texas and Federal Procedure in Baylor Law's renowned Practice Court program. He also is a coach of the Law School's interscholastic moot court and mock trial teams. In 2005, he was the coach of Baylor Law School's Association of Trial Lawyers of America national championship mock trial team.

In addition to Counseller, Debrán Lee Ann Meyer, the highest ranking student in the graduating class, will deliver student remarks.

Diplomas will be presented during the program by Law Dean Brad Toben with assistance by Leah W. Jackson, associate dean and professor of law.

The honor of hooding the graduates will go to David Guinn, Master Teacher and The William A. Olson Professor of Local Government and Constitutional Law, and Gerald Powell, Master Teacher and The Abner V. McCall Professor of Evidence. Kyle Donald Schnitzer, a member of the graduating class, will give the invocation.

After the ceremony, a reception for the graduates and their guests will be hosted by the Baylor Law Alumni Association at the Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center.

About Baylor University

Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.

About Baylor Law School

Ranked fifth in the nation for advocacy by U.S.News and World Report, Baylor Law School is a professional school that combines theory with practice and nurtures a commitment to service and responsibility. Established in 1857, Baylor is centrally located in Waco, Texas, on the banks of the Brazos River. Every year, Baylor Law students achieve one of the highest bar passage rates in the country. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Baylor Law School has a record of producing outstanding lawyers, many of whom decide on a career in public service. The Law School boasts two Texas governors, members or former members of the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate, two former directors of the FBI, ambassadors, federal judges, justices of the Texas Supreme Court and members of the Texas Legislature among its notable alumni.