Baylor Law's 2020 Summer and Spring Commencement ceremonies take place August 1, 2020 at 10:00am and 2:00pm CDT. Click here to view the livestreams beginning at 9:45am.

Baylor Law alumni and Director of Clinical Programs, Joshua G. (Josh) Borderud (JD ‘09) has been selected to receive the prestigious Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service from the American Inns of Court. The Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service is awarded each year to honor an American Inn of Court member in practice for ten or fewer years for excellence in public interest or pro bono activities.

The Texas State Bar Litigation Section has awarded Baylor Lawyer Harper Estes (JD ’79) the Luther (Luke) H. Soules III Award. The award is presented annually to an attorney who “embodies excellence in the practice of law and exemplary service to the Bar through outstanding professionalism and community impact.”

Baylor Lawyer Andrew W. Guthrie (JD '11) has been selected as the 2020 recipient of the Rosner & Rosner Young Lawyers Professionalism Award by the American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Professional Responsibility.

Baylor Lawyer William Steele Sessions (LL.B. '56), former director of the FBI, was laid to rest in a private ceremony on Thursday, June 25, 2020. He passed away peacefully in San Antonio, Texas, on June 12, 2020.

Judge Vikram ‘Vik’ Deivanayagam, JD ’93, of McLennan County Court at Law in Waco, was honored as the 2020 Outstanding Mentor of the Year and Waco attorney Jason Milam, JD ’13, was also honored as the Young Lawyer of the year from the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA).

Baylor Law continues to strengthen its business law and transactional programs and welcomes Allen Page, J.D. ’10, as a full-time professor beginning in the Summer 2020 quarter. Professor Page will bring his extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings, private equity investments, fund formations, and capital markets transactions to Baylor Law’s advanced business law courses.

Baylor Lawyer Jeanine Novosad Rispoli (JD '11), a family lawyer in Waco, TX, has been elected President-Elect of the Texas Young Lawyers Association (“TYLA”)

Simone Leighty of the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law was declared the winner of “Top Gun XI,” Baylor Law’s eleventh anniversary edition of the Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition. The 2020 edition of Top Gun was the first mock trial tournament ever to be held live and completely online, making this already unique tournament unprecedented.

This month, 16 of the best trial advocates from the nation’s top advocacy law schools will compete head-to-head in a winner-takes-all competition for the honor of being named National Top Gun. The 2020 competition, May 27-31st, will be the first-ever national mock trial competition held live, entirely online.

Baylor Lawyer Alicia Alvarado, JD, ’19, will advocate for immigrant rights in Waco and Central Texas through a two-year fellowship with Equal Justice Works, a national program that connects financial support to recent law school graduates who wish to engage in legal advocacy at a qualified non-profit that supports underrepresented populations.

Ike Vanden Eykel (JD ’73), CEO and Managing Partner of KoonsFuller and one of the most respected family lawyers in the country, has been selected as the 2020 Baylor Lawyer of the Year by the Executive Committee of the Baylor Law Alumni Association.

While Covid-19, with its shelter-in-place and social distancing protocols, prevents us from gathering in person for now, today we commemorate the Spring 2020 Commencement virtually and celebrate our Baylor Law graduates with a special online presentation.

The February 2020 bar exam results for the state of Texas have been released and Baylor Law students have again claimed the top pass rate among Texas’ ten law schools for first-time test takers. The Texas Bar exam is given twice each year and Baylor Law has an unparalleled record of success - ranking #1 on 26 of the 39 bar exams since 2001.

Baylor Lawyer Charlie Ginn (JD ’13) has been named the chair-elect of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors. He will take office in June 2020 and serve as board chair until June 2021.

Designed to Help U.S. Lawyers Operate Efficient Firms Online, Baylor Law’s Legal Mapmaker Program Approved for 13 hours of Continuing Legal Education in Texas, of which 2 hours will apply to legal ethics/professional responsibility credit. Baylor Law’s Legal Mapmaker program is now available for free to any U.S. attorney via an online learning portal.

Baylor Law is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Ultimate Writer Legal Writing Competition! This competition is unlike any other legal writing challenge. In addition to cash awards for the top three competitors, each winner is awarded an opportunity to interview for a clerkship with the prestigious appellate law firm Durham, Pittard, and Spalding, LLP in Dallas.

As a precaution amid the COVID-19 virus, Baylor Law is preparing to implement remote course instruction. We anticipate some classes will be taught remotely as soon as Monday, March 16, 2020. Most, if not all, classes will be taught remotely by Monday, March 23. More information will be provided via email shortly.

The Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) recently nominated Jeanine Novosad Rispoli (BA ’08, JD ‘11) of Waco and Donald Delgado of College Station as candidates for TYLA president-elect. Lauren Renee Sepulveda (JD ’11) was also elected Secretary for the 2020-2021 TYLA Executive Committee.

Students and Faculty of both Baylor University’s School of Law and History Departments united to reenact and relitigate the dramatic Boston Massacre trial in commemoration of its 250th anniversary. The mock trial demonstrated a collaborative effort between Undergraduate History students and third-year Law students.

The Honorable Lyndon L. Olson, Jr., former United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden, spoke to Baylor Law students on the topic of “Civility and Civic Responsibility,” on Thursday, February 27, 2020.

Baylor Law’s tradition of serving and educating consumers on their legal rights continued on Saturday, February 15th at the 15th annual ‘People’s Law School.’

With the recent retirement of Dean John F. O'Brien from New England Law, Baylor Law’s Dean Brad Toben is now the longest serving dean among the deans of the 203 ABA accredited law schools in the nation, with more than 28 years of service in his role.

Baylor Law is honored to welcome the Honorable Maurice B Foley, Chief Judge, US Tax Court. Foley will be speaking at Baylor Law’s award-winning professional development program on the importance of lawyers embracing the role of servant leadership on Tuesday, February 11th at 4pm.