WACO -

On Monday, September 16, Dean Brad Toben announced to faculty that Professor James (Jim) Wren has been named the Leon Jaworski Chair of Practice & Procedure at Baylor Law.

"Jim is a passionate and gifted teacher,” stated Dean Brad Toben. “He is an experienced and proven trial lawyer, and our students are so fortunate to have the benefit of his intellect and example in our Practice Court program.”

The Chair was previously held by Baylor Law luminaries Matt “Mad Dog” Dawson, Louis Muldrow, and Bill Underwood.

Wren was recruited to the faculty of Baylor Law in 2006 to teach in its award-winning Practice Court program and was selected as an Outstanding University Professor (Tenure-track/Teaching) by Baylor University in 2012. He is the current Practice Court Director and is the creative drive behind Baylor Law’s Executive LL.M. in Litigation Management.

He comes from a specialization in business litigation, including business fraud, professional liability and fiduciary litigation. During his time in private practice, he was repeatedly named a Texas Super Lawyer in Business Litigation. In December 2011, James Publishing (San Francisco) released his book, Proving Damages to the Jury, that is currently in its fourth edition. Since that time, he has also co-authored two additional books, Texas Trial Procedure & Evidence and Texas Commercial Causes of Action (ALM, New York). He is board certified in Civil Trial Advocacy (by the National Board of Trial Advocacy) and in Civil Trial Law and in Personal Injury Trial Law (by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization).

Wren previously served as President of the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification (2009-2011), which is the ABA-accredited national certifying board for civil trial, criminal trial, and other legal specializations. He continues to represent clients in various courts around the nation. He is licensed for federal practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the Western, Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts of Texas, and appears in other federal and state courts by special admission. Wren is a graduate of Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyoming, and has served on the teaching faculty of Trial Advocacy College, sponsored by the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He is a current director of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, former director of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and founding president of the Waco chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Wren graduated with cum laude honors from Baylor Law in 1980. He served as an editor of the Baylor Law Review and as a member of both the Baylor Moot Court Team and the Baylor Mock Trial Team. He added an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury in 1982.

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ABOUT BAYLOR LAW

Established in 1857, Baylor Law was one of the first law schools in Texas and one of the first west of the Mississippi River. Today, the school has more than 7,500 living alumni. Accredited by the American Bar Association and a member of the Association of American Law Schools, Baylor Law has a record of producing outstanding lawyers, many of whom decide upon a career in public service. Baylor Law boasts among its notable alumni two governors, members or former members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, two former directors of the FBI, U.S. ambassadors, federal judges, justices of the Texas Supreme Court and members of the Texas Legislature. In its law specialties rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranked Baylor Law’s trial advocacy program as among the best in the nation at No. 2. Baylor Law School also is ranked No. 48 in the magazine’s 2020 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” The National Jurist ranks Baylor Law as one of the “Best School for Practical Training” and No. 4 in the nation in its most recent “Best Law School Facilities” listing. Business Insider places Baylor Law among the top 50 law schools in the nation. Baylor Law School received the 2015 American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award, making it only the third law school in the nation to be honored with the award since its inception in 1984. Learn more at baylor.edu/law

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 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 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more at baylor.edu