Baylor Law is always immensely proud of our veterans and service members throughout the year, but on this Veterans Day, we publicly honor our military students and celebrate those who have dedicated their time and talents to protect and defend our Constitutional Republic and freedom across the globe.

Baylor Law currently has 17 active, reserve, and veteran members of four different branches of the U.S. and Texas militaries.

The Texas Bar Foundation recently awarded Baylor Law a grant of $6,500 to implement comprehensive and consistent mental health and wellness programming at the Law School. With assistance from the Texas Bar Foundation, under the banner of ‘Mind, Body, and Spirit,’ Baylor Law will execute a multi-faceted program to better support the mental health and wellness of its students.

On Friday, November 5th, Baylor University School of Law’s Veterans Clinic honored Waco attorneys Gavin Lane and Darren Obenoskey with its Advocate of the Year Awards. The annual awards are given to volunteer attorneys who go above and beyond in pro bono legal service to Central Texas veterans and their spouses in the past year.

On Wednesday, October 27th, Assistant Dean Stephen Rispoli participated in a panel discussion hosted by the State Bar of Texas Pro Bono Workgroup – Judiciary Subcommittee.

Former Director of Baylor Law’s award-winning Practice Court program and recently retired Abner V. McCall Professor of Evidence, Gerald R. Powell (JD ’77), has been selected by the Baylor Law Alumni Association Executive Committee as the 2021 Baylor Lawyer of the Year.

Professor of Law Emeritus Mike Morrison will bring his 40+ years of experience representing cities, counties, and school districts throughout Texas and Arkansas on redistricting issues to a virtual panel discussion entitled "Redrawing Texas: Who Chooses Whom?" on Nov. 1 at 3:30 p.m., hosted by Baylor University’s W.R. Poage Legislative Library and the Institute for oral history. The panel, which is free and open to the public, will discuss the redistricting process in Texas and provide insights into the process currently underway.

To honor local veterans, Baylor Law students will offer, for the 10th consecutive year, free estate planning for veterans and their spouses as part of Baylor Law's Veterans Day commemorations. Veterans may obtain up to five documents that will be drafted free of charge: will, power of attorney, medical power of attorney, declaration of guardian, and directive to physicians.

Judge K. Nicole Mitchell (JD, '06), United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, has been named the 2021 Young Baylor Lawyer of the Year. Dean Brad Toben publicly announced Judge Mitchell's honor at the 24th Annual Eastern District of Texas Bench Bar Conference in October.

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.