Texas Supreme Court Justice To Address Baylor Law Grads

by Alan Hunt

Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla R. Owen, a 1977 Baylor University law graduate, will be the keynote speaker at Baylor Law School's Feb. 5 commencement ceremonies in the Paul W. Powell Chapel at George W. Truett Seminary.
Owen, who was selected by the 37 graduates to give the commencement address, has been nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Her nomination is pending before the U.S. Senate Jurisprudence Committee.
She was elected to the Supreme Court of Texas in 1994 and re-elected in 2000. Her term on the Texas Supreme Court is through the year 2006. Before her election, Justice Owen was a partner in the Houston firm of Andrews & Kurth L.L.P., where she practiced commercial litigation for 17 years. She was admitted to practice before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and 11th Circuits.
A native Texan, Justice Owen received a bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Baylor in 1976, and graduated in the top of her class from Baylor Law School. She was a member of the Baylor Law Review and scored the top score on the Texas bar examination when she took the exam. She has been honored as a Baylor Young Lawyer of the Year and as a Baylor Outstanding Young Alumna.
Diplomas will be presented during the program by Dean Brad Toben, who serves as The Gov. Bill and Vara Faye Daniel Professor of Law, and Associate Dean Leah W. Jackson, professor of law. Hooding the graduates will be David M. Guinn, who serves as The Louise L. Morrison Professor of Constitutional Law and Master Teacher, and William D. Underwood, The Leon Jaworski Professor of Practice and Procedure and Master Teacher.
Adjunct Professor Walt Shelton, who teaches environmental law, natural resources, and state and business issues in environmental law, will give the invocation.