Noley Bice, Attorney and 'Elvis Impersonator-Extraordinaire,' Named Baylor Lawyer of the Year
by Alan Hunt, (254) 710-6271
Elvis almost left the building without learning he had been selected as Baylor's 2006 Baylor Lawyer of the Year on Saturday night. Waco attorney and former Baylor general counsel Noley Bice, in the costumed guise of "The King," had entertained a cheering crowd attending a Baylor Law School reunion dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Waco.
As he was about to exit a side door at the conclusion of his performance, Bice was called back to the podium by Steve Harrison, president of the Baylor Law Alumni Association. Praising him as "a loyal friend to countless fellow attorneys," Harrison told a surprised Bice that he had been selected by the law alumni as their Lawyer of the Year -- the highest honor the association can bestow on one of its members.
Bice will be formally recognized at the Baylor Law School's annual Law Day banquet at the Ferrell Center on April 8. He is the 44th attorney to receive the coveted Lawyer of the Year honor, which was first bestowed in 1963. The award recognizes achievements as an attorney and contributions to the legal profession and to Baylor Law School.
Law Dean Brad Toben described Bice as a "complete class act." He said, "He has, over the course of a long career in the bar, become known as a lawyer of marked insight and discernment, one who treats all who come into his ambit with respect and dignity, and a lawyer and a person of uncommon caring. Noley deserves this honor not only for his service in recent years as General Counsel of the University, but so much so in recognition of a career in the practice that has brought consistent reflected honor upon the Law School. Noley is a paradigm of the lawyer who is a living example of each of the criteria set forth for the Baylor Lawyer of the Year recognition -- accomplishment, reputation for excellence, integrity, and Christian service, and having a pointed love for our Law School."
Bice has been entertaining Central Texas audiences for a number of years with his humorous and slightly irreverent Elvis impersonations. He performs as a member of "The Unnaturals," five Baylor graduates who share a love of rock 'n roll music. Other members of the group are Paul Marable (JD 1974), David Dickson (JD 1976), Pat Nunley (JD 1984), and Tommy Brashier (BA 1971).
A native of Tyler and a 1961 Baylor law graduate, Bice served as general counsel at Baylor University from 1998 until his retirement on Sept. 1 last year. Former Associate General Counsel Charles Beckenhauer was appointed to succeed Bice as general counsel. Following his retirement, Bice continues to serve in the position "of counsel" to Baylor and.is assisting with the trial advocacy program and other curriculum at Baylor Law School.
Bice joined Baylor after serving as a named partner and shareholder for many years in the Waco law firm of Fulbright, Winniford, Bice & Marable. Before coming to Baylor, he specialized in civil trial law throughout the Central Texas area and also had extensive experience in mediation and arbitration.
He served as president of the Waco-McLennan County Bar Association from 1976-77 and was president of the Waco-McLennan County Young Lawyers Association from 1966-67. He has been a director of the Texas Young Lawyers Association and is former chairman of the District 8-B Grievance Committee for the State Bar of Texas.
Bice is a member of the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association and the Texas Association of Mediators. He is a subscriber of the American Trial Lawyers Association, a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and Master of the Bench for the Judge Abner V. McCall American Inn of Court. He has served as a faculty member and panelist for the American Bar Association Advanced Mediation Symposium, and is active in the McLennan County Dispute Resolution Center.