Baylor Law School Grads To Receive Degrees July 31

by Alan Hunt

Forty-one graduates of Baylor University School of Law are scheduled to receive juris doctor degrees during commencement ceremonies at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 31, in Jones Concert Hall in the Glennis McCrary Music Building.
The keynote speaker, who was selected by the graduating class to deliver the commencement address, will be William D. Underwood, who serves as the Leon Jaworski Professor of Practice and Procedure. A graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, Underwood directs Baylor Law School's acclaimed Practice Court Program and has been a member of the law faculty since 1990. He is the first member of the Baylor law faculty elected to the prestigious American Law Institute.
Underwood served for two years as Baylor's General Counsel from 1997-98 and has provided extensive legal service to the university. He previously practiced law in Dallas with the firm of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal and, prior to that, he served as law clerk to the Hon. Sam D. Johnson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Diplomas will be presented to the graduates during the program by Leah W. Jackson, associate dean and professor of law.
The honor of hooding the graduates will go to Gerald R. Powell, who serves as the Abner V. McCall Professor of Evidence, and David M. Guinn, who serves as the Louise L. Morrison Professor of Constitutional Law and Master Teacher. The invocation will be given by Adjunct Professor Walt Shelton, who teaches environmental law at the law school.
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.