Baylor Law Grad To Head American Board Of Trial Advocates In 2007

by Alan Hunt

A 1972 Baylor law graduate, Lewis R. Sifford of Dallas, has been elected national vice president of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
Founded in California nearly 50 years ago and headquartered in Dallas, ABOTA is a national association of 6,000 trial lawyers and judges dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the civil jury trial right provided by the 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Sifford, the founder and managing partner of the law firm of Sifford, Anderson, Vice & McFarlane, L.L.P., will take office in January 2005 and will serve one year as vice president. He will serve a one-year term as president-elect in 2006, and will take the reins as national ABOTA president in 2007.
Baylor Law Dean Brad Toben said, "At a time when our constitutional right to trial by jury is under attack from many quarters, there is no better person than Lewis to step forward to lead ABOTA, an organization of highly accomplished lawyers. We are so proud of him as a Baylor lawyer who will lead a national organization whose aims are so aligned with our program's objectives. ABOTA is dedicated to preserving the key elements of the judicial system for which we prepare our graduates -- the courtroom and the precious right to trial before a jury of peers."
A member of ABOTA's National Board of Directors since 1995, Sifford has served as national treasurer for the past three years. He was president of the Dallas ABOTA Chapter in 1994. The recipient of numerous professional awards and honors, he has served for a number of years as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University. He is the author of ABOTA copyright materials for the organization's Masters in Trial programs, and has conducted more than 100 trial demonstrations at trial programs for ABOTA and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
In May 2003, Baylor Law School was the venue for a Masters on Jury Selection Program hosted by the Waco ABOTA chapter. The program, held in the James Kronzer Appellate Advocacy Classroom and Courtroom, attracted more than 100 attorneys and law students.
ABOTA membership consists of lawyers and judges spread among 90 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, go to American Board of Trial Advocates.