Baylor Law School Grads To Receive Degrees Feb. 4

by Alan Hunt, (254) 710-6271
Twenty-four graduates of Baylor University School of Law are scheduled to receive juris doctor degrees during commencement ceremonies at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, in Waco Hall on the Baylor campus.

The keynote speaker, who was selected by the graduating class to deliver the commencement address, will be Justice Priscilla Owen, who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans. A native of Palacios, she was raised in Waco and received her undergraduate degree, with cum laude honors, from Baylor before enrolling in Baylor Law School. Graduating at the top of her law class in 1977, she later joined the Houston law firm of Andrews & Kurth LLP, where she served as a partner and practiced commercial litigation for 17 years.

Elected to the Supreme Court of Texas in 1994, and re-elected in 2000, Justice Owen was nominated by President George W. Bush for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. She was confirmed by the Senate in May last year and took the oath of office for her new seat on June 6, 2005. A program marking her formal appellate court investiture is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 3, at the Austin Convention Center.

Honored by Baylor Law School as a Baylor Young Lawyer of the Year, Justice Owen also has received the Baylor Outstanding Young Alumna award, and on Jan. 20 this year, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Baylor Alumni Association.

Diplomas will be presented during the graduation program by Law Dean Brad Toben, The Gov. Bill and Vara Faye Daniel Professor of Law, assisted by Leah W. Jackson, professor of law and associate dean.

The honor of hooding the graduates will go to David M. Guinn, who serves as The Louise L. Morrison Professor of Constitutional Law and Master Teacher, and Steve McConnico, an Austin attorney and 1976 Baylor law graduate, who taught the law school's Practice Court program during the 2005 fall quarter.

The invocation will be given by Professor Melissa Essary. 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.