Rocket Docket | March 2021

Rocket Docket Newsletter

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March 2021
Past Issues

Baylor Law Announces Participation in ‘Giving Day, 2021’

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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. . . Full Story


Baylor Law Team Wins National Championship at Conrad B. Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition

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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. . . Full Story


Baylor Law Transactional Teams Take Two Big Wins to Start Competitive Season

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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. . . Full Story


William de los Santos Wins Baylor Law’s 2021 Ultimate Writer Competition

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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. . . Full Story


Baylor Law Moot Court Teams Take ‘Most Outstanding Law School Award’ at John R. Brown National Admiralty Law Moot Court Competition

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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. . . Full Story


Jean-Marie Anderson and Christine Barfield Win Baylor Law's 2021 Faegre Drinker Spring Moot Court Competition

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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. . . Full Story


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Alumni Notes
Alumni Notes are published based on the information we receive from our alumni.
If you have been recognized or have other professional news to share, please e-mail law_alumni@baylor.edu for inclusion in a future issue of Rocket Docket.

Sheila L. Old, JD ’89, was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) Board of Directors. The GBRA oversees water resources for the communities in its ten-county district.
Phillip Linder, JD ’91, founder of The Linder Firm, was recently profiled in the Attorney at Law Magazine for his thirty years of service to the profession. Aside from his dedication to law, the article highlights his passion for cycling and his tenets for success: wisdom, integrity, perseverance, and patience.
Jason Stephens, JD ’97, founder of Stephens Law, a Fort Worth law firm focusing exclusively on serious personal injury and wrongful death claims, received multiple professional recognitions from his peers and the media in 2020. He received his 17th consecutive appearance on the Super Lawyers list, was named to The Best Lawyers in America for the fifth year in a row, was selected to The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100, was named Fort Worth Magazine’s Top Lawyer every year since 2003, was named to 360 West’s Attorneys Worth Knowing, and was recognized as “The Face of Personal Injury Law” by 76107 Magazine. He is also a Lifetime Member of the Multi-Million-Dollar Advocates Forum and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Brad Taylor, JD ’98, was appointed to the board of Iconic Labs PLC as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director.
Rachel Donnelly, JD ’03, was appointed Assistant General Counsel of USAA Real Estate.
Matthew Matheny, JD ’03, was named equity partner at Provost Umphrey in Beaumont. He is board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and was honored as the Baylor Law Young Lawyer of the Year in 2015.
Jenny Palmer, JD ’05, became the District Attorney for Henderson County.
Devon D. Sharp, JD ’07, Labor and Employment Shareholder with Munsch Hardt, was recently named to the 2021 Texas “Rising Stars” list by Super Lawyers.
Anne Idsal Austin, JD ’10, former Chief of the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation, has joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in the Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas, offices. Anne will counsel clients on state and federal environmental regulations and policy as well as industry transitions.
Jason T. Weber, JD ’10, has joined the Dallas office of Polsinelli as a shareholder in the firm’s Labor and Employment Department. Weber is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and focuses his practice on business disputes and employment-related consulting and litigation. Jason has been named to the 2021 Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch” list, has been recognized as one of D Magazine’s 2019 and 2020 “Best Lawyers Under 40 in Dallas,” was named to the 2019 and 2020 “Top 100 Lawyers Under 40” list by Texas Super Lawyers, has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer “Rising Star” for 2016-2020, and was named a Texas Lawyer “Litigator of the Week” in 2015. He is also a member of the State Bar of Texas Employment Law Section, Dallas Bar Association, Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit, and William “Mac” Taylor, Jr. American Inn of Court.
Sameer S. Karim, JD ’11, Labor and Employment Shareholder with Munsch Hardt, was recently named to the 2021 Texas “Rising Stars” list by Super Lawyers.
Amanda Stephens, JD ’11, was promoted to partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Amanda is a member of the firm’s Public Finance team, based in Houston. Recently named a 2020 Bond Buyer Rising Star, Amanda is a leading advisor on charter school financings, having counseled on more than $2 billion of both publicly offered and privately placed charter school financings. Amanda also serves as bond, disclosure, issuer’s, borrower’s, lender’s, and underwriter’s counsel on a broad range of public finance matters. She serves on the Executive Council and as Board Secretary for the Texas Women in Public Finance and serves on the Board of a Houston charter school.
Kevin Keller, JD ’13, will be serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law for the spring 2022 semester teaching “Topics in Prosecution.” Kevin was awarded the 2019-2020 Prosecutor of the Year Award by the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police.
Andrew Valencia, JD ’16, an Associate with Ballard Spahr Litigation, has been accepted into the Downtown Denver Partnership’s 2021 Leadership Program. The Leadership Program educates participants about the economic importance of downtown Denver and engages them in the creation of the area’s future. The participants represent a cross-section of metro-area employees and public, private, and non-profit employers. They have demonstrated a strong commitment to the community, a passion for downtown Denver, and an interest in building their leadership skills. Andrew represents and defends commercial clients in a range of matters, including antitrust and internal investigations, mediations, and discrimination claims.
Aynsley K. Young, JD ’16, Commercial Litigation Associate with Munsch Hardt, was recently named to the 2021 Texas “Rising Stars” list by Super Lawyers.
Kieron Buck, JD ’18, has joined The Kelly Legal Group PLLC in Austin as an Associate Attorney. He will focus his practice on real estate and business legal issues.
In Memoriam
Damon Grant Cook, JD ’61, Full Obituary

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