We are very pleased to announce and congratulate the following recipients:
Judge Mary Bacon forged a long and highly
successful legal career that she could not have
dreamed of decades ago as a young college dropout
and mother of four children.
In 1949, at the age of 19, Mary Baker left school to marry Bob Bacon. She returned to college while raising her kids, completing her degree at Georgia State University in 1967, and enrolled in law school in 1969; there were fewer than 10 women in her class. After graduation, she hung her shingle outside a one-room office in a converted motel off the Katy Freeway, where she developed a thriving family law practice. She also enthusiastically engaged with the Houston Bar, including serving as editor of The Houston Lawyer and as president of the Association of Houston Women Attorneys.
In 1981, she was appointed as associate judge to state District Judge Henry Schuble. Two years later, Gov. Mark White appointed Bacon to the 338th Criminal District Court, where she served until retiring in 1998 (although even after her retirement, she was often seen ordering her signature quad-shot latte on her way to the courthouse to serve as a visiting judge). In 1999, Gov. George W. Bush appointed her to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, where she focused on furthering employment education for female prisoners.
Bacon never wavered from her view that everyone who appeared in her courtroom was entitled to the same respect she was afforded on account of her gavel and elevated chair. She credits her superb staff and the excellence of the Houston defense bar for making her years on the bench such a pleasure.
Bacon is grateful to the Law Center for helping her launch her vibrant professional career. She is proud of her namesake award, which was endowed by her children and provides an annual cash award to Law Center students who are raising families. She is pleased that the Law Center's class of 2019 is nearly half women; she hopes that they and their fellow graduates enjoy their careers as much as she has.
Bill Jackson credits his Law Center training,
and plenty of hard work, for his success today
in the field of environmental litigation. And that
knowledge and skill — along with that same work
ethic — are evident in the tireless effort he has put
in over the years supporting the school.
"My education and time at the Law Center formed the foundation of my legal career and provided me the tools I needed to succeed in practice," said Jackson, co-chair of Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP's national Environmental Practice Group and the managing partner of its Texas offices. "I worked through my second and third years of law school, and that experience, together with the practical skills and learning that the Law Center afforded me, taught me the value of hard work and prepared me well for the practice of law."
Since graduating in 1992, Jackson has represented both public and private sector clients in many of the most significant environmental and natural resource damages matters in the country. In 2015, he led the team that the Texas Lawyer named as the "Specialty Litigation Group of the Year" for environmental litigation in Texas.
Jackson's volunteer work on behalf of the Law Center is equally impressive. He currently serves as president-elect of the University of Houston Law Foundation Board. He is also chairing the Foundation's Law School Building Committee and is serving on the executive committee of the University of Houston's $1 billion capital campaign. He is a former president of the University of Houston Law Alumni Association. In his decade on the Alumni Board, Jackson also spearheaded various philanthropic efforts benefitting the Law Center, including chairing the A.A. White Society. In 2014, Jackson chaired the 38th Annual Law Gala and received the Dean's Award for outstanding service to the Law Center.
This fall, Jackson was an adjunct professor at the Law Center, teaching a class on the law of natural resource damages liability. Previously, he served as a guest lecturer in environmental law and as an adviser to the University of Houston Law Center's Environmental & Energy Law & Policy Journal. While in school, he served as an associate editor of the Houston Law Review and was awarded the Harold Sellers Scholarship as the top student in his first year section.
"I continue to volunteer my time for the Law Center, because the law school is an important part of Houston and our entire community," he said. "We all need to have the Law Center serve as a hub for legal excellence and an institution that fosters legal learning and leadership. I want to help the University of Houston in its $1 billion capital campaign and to see a new Law Center building as part of that effort."
Greg King is a managing partner at
EnCap Flatrock Midstream. He joined
the firm in 2015, bringing more than
30 years of experience in the energy
industry and significant expertise
and contacts in the liquids side of the
business.
King served as president of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) from 2003 to 2007. As Valero's president, he helped develop and execute a strategy to build the largest independent refiner in North America. During the same period, he also served as a member of the board of directors of Valero, LP (now NuStar Energy, L.P.).(NYSE: NS). Mr. King started working for Valero in 1993 and served the company in various roles before he was named president, including general counsel and chief operating officer. He is a member of the board of directors of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, LLC.
King sits on the board of directors of the University of Houston Law Foundation and is also actively involved with a number of charitable organizations. He serves as the chairman of Focus on the Family, a national, faith-based organization headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO.
King earned his J.D. at the University of Houston Law Center in 1985 and practiced law as a partner at Bracewell LLP's Houston office from 1985 to 1993. He received a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Texas in 1982.
Gary W. Orloff maintains a diverse
business transactions practice at
Bracewell LLP, with specific emphasis
on the energy industry. An experienced
securities lawyer, Gary has particular
expertise regarding complex mergers,
acquisitions and divestitures and
represents boards and committees
with respect to governance. He has
been fortunate enough to lead some
of the largest business transactions
in energy and is equally proud of his
pro bono representation of veterans
through Houston Volunteer Lawyers.
While a student at the law school, Gary
served as a notes editor of the Houston
Law Review and, after graduation,
repeatedly served on the Houston Law
Alumni Association Board of Directors.
His philanthropic support of the Law
Center includes his membership in the
A.A. White Society. He was one of the
founding members of the Corporate
Counsel Section of the State Bar of Texas
and served as chair of both that section
and the Corporate Counsel Section of
the Houston Bar Association. He has also
served on the executive committee of the
board of the Anti-Defamation League
and the boards of the Salvation Army
and Houston Grand Opera. Orloff is
recognized by, among others, Chambers
and Legal 500. He is also a fellow of the
Texas and Houston Bar Foundations.
State District Judge Randy Wilson is a
6th generation Texan. He received his law
degree from the University of Houston
Bates College of Law, where he graduated
first in his class. He was an editor of the
Houston Law Review and a member of
the championship International Moot
Court team. He was a partner at Susman
Godfrey from 1980 to 2003, representing
both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide
variety of commercial and personal
injury disputes. Wilson has been board
certified in civil trial law since 1988
and is a member of the American Board
of Trial Advocates. In 2003, Gov. Rick
Perry appointed him to be judge of the
157th District Court in Harris County.
The Texas Association of Civil Trial and
Appellate Specialists twice selected him
"Trial Judge of the Year." He was specially
appointed to serve as justice of the Texas
Supreme Court to hear a securities suit.
The legal directory Lawdragon selected
Wilson as one of the "500 Leading Judges
in America." He writes frequently in law
journals on trial presentation issues and
substantive legal issues. In addition, he is
active in the community, having served
on the board of directors of The Star
of Hope advocating for the homeless
and LifeHouse of Houston, a Christian
maternity home.
Michelle Gray is a founding partner
at Fogler, Brar, Ford, O'Neil & Gray
LLP, a lean trial firm. She represents
both individuals and corporations,
plaintiffs and defendants. She has
tried cases to juries and arbitrators.
Her areas of practice include ethics
and legal malpractice, construction
disputes, dealership disputes and general
commercial litigation.
Gray is on the board of the Houston Young Lawyers' Foundation and is a past board member of the Federal Bar Association and the Houston Law Review. She is active as a Friend of Child Advocates, and for the past two years, she chaired the Houston Young Lawyers' Adopt-an-Angel program. For the past two years, Super Lawyers has named her a "Texas Rising Star."
Prior to starting Fogler Brar, Gray was an associate at one of Houston's top litigation boutiques and clerked for U.S. District Judge David Hittner. She graduated from the Law Center at the top of her class and is a highly supportive and engaged alumna through her involvement with the Annual Law Gala & Auction, Student Scholarships and Awards and the Law Annual Fund. While in school, she served as editor-in-chief of the Houston Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif, the Order of the Barons, Mock Trial, The Advocates and the Association of Women in Law.
Ricky A. Raven is a member of the Reed
Smith Complex Litigation Group and
serves as co-leader of the Mass & Toxic
Torts team. He is a trial lawyer who
focuses on products liability and mass tort
litigation. For the past 25 years, he has had
first-chair trial responsibilities on behalf of
Honeywell International, Inc.'s national trial
team in multidistrict litigation involving
Bendix brakes. He is also a member of
the national trial team for Union Carbide
Canada involving its personal watercraft
litigation. Being assigned to national
trial teams, Raven works effectively
with numerous local counsels across the
United States and North America. He has
first-chaired more than 115 jury trials to
verdict. In 1998, a trial verdict decision in
Jefferson County, Texas, was designated
one of the Top 10 Verdicts in the United
States by National Law Journal. Raven has
represented major chemical companies in
federal litigation across the United States
arising under the CERCLA and RCRA
Superfund statutes. These matters involved
all facets of Superfund litigation, including
issues relating to the identification of
principally responsible parties, selection of
remedy, cost recovery and contribution.
A former criminal prosecutor, Raven
maintains a significant white collar criminal
defense practice. He has successfully
defended the largest shopping mall
owner in the United States and its senior
management in a criminal prosecution
involving environmental pollution. Raven
has conducted internal investigations for
many Fortune 100 corporations where
he reported his findings directly to senior
management and the board of directors.
Eva Guzman was appointed to the Supreme
Court of Texas in 2009, making history as the
first Latina to sit on the state's highest civil court.
The next year, she became the first Hispanic
woman elected to statewide office in Texas and
was re-elected in 2016. A proud Texan, Guzman
strives for excellence in her work on our state's
highest civil court and believes "a judge's highest
duty is to uphold the Constitution."
She previously served as a justice on the Houston-based Fourteenth Court of Appeals and as judge of the 309th District Court in Harris County. Now in her 16th year on the bench, Guzman consistently receives high marks in judicial evaluation polls as well as accolades from professional, civic and law enforcement groups.
As the Supreme Court's liaison to the Texas Access to Justice Commission, Guzman works to expand access to justice in civil legal matters for low-income Texans. She also chairs the high court's Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth, and Families, working with leaders across the state to help those most vulnerable. She also serves with other institutions within the legal community as a member of the board of trustees for The Center for American and International Law; the Duke University School of Law Board of Visitors; the board of trustees of South Texas College of Law Houston; the executive committee, Appellate Judges Conference-American Bar Association Judicial Division; and as an adviser to the American Law Institute.
Before taking the bench in 1999, Guzman had a private law practice in Houston for 10 years. She holds a B.B.A. from the University of Houston, a J.D. from South Texas College of Law and an LL.M. from Duke University School of Law.
Michael A. Olivas is the William B. Bates
Distinguished Chair in Law and director of the
Institute for Higher Education Law and Governance
at the Law Center. On Feb. 1, 2016, Olivas assumed
the presidency of the University of Houston-
Downtown on an interim basis until May, 2017. He
holds a B.A. (magna cum laude) from the Pontifical
College Josephinum, an M.A. and Ph.D. from the
Ohio State University and a J.D. from Georgetown
University Law Center. He is the author or co-author
of 15 books; his most recent, "Suing Alma Mater,"
deals with higher education and the U.S. Supreme
Court. It was chosen as the 2014 winner of the Steven
S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship
in Education Law, given annually by the Education
Law Association. "Perchance to DREAM, A Legal and
Political History of the DREAM Act" is forthcoming.
In 2011, he served as president of the Association of American Law Schools. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the National Academy of Education, the only person to have been elected to both honor academies. From 1989-1993, he served as a trustee of the College Board; from 1993-1997, he served as a trustee of The Access Group, Inc., the major provider of loans for law and graduate students in the U.S. and Canada. Both the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston have honored him with lifetime achievement awards. He has served as a director on the MALDEF board since 2002. He has a substantial and varied legal consulting practice, including representing faculty, staff, institutional and state clients; serving as an expert witness in federal and state courts; and joining litigation teams in educational, finance and immigration matters.
He also hosts a radio show, "The Law of Rock and Roll," on the Albuquerque, NM National Public Radio station, KANW, and lectures on entertainment law.
Decades ago, our founder Frank Andrews envisioned a firm where every
individual practiced law in a manner "that the firm would have always the
full confidence of clients and the trust of all people."
We are proud to say that the more than 60 talented graduates from the University of Houston Law Center currently working at Andrews Kurth Kenyon continue to live up to the firm's founding goal. In addition to seeking and hiring talented UHLC alumni, the firm has partnered with the school in many endeavors, including the following highlights:
Andrews Kurth Kenyon has offices in 11 locations around the world, and is proud to be recognized as a firm that manages complex legal matters in all major industries and areas of business law and litigation.
Our people are also deeply connected to their communities, and not only do we understand the value of partnering with the Law Center, we also participate in and contribute to all types of service projects. It is, therefore, particularly meaningful to Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP to receive the University of Houston 2017 Law Gala Award.
George Levkoff never practiced law,
but he credits the Law Center for an
important part of his education for
business and life. He was born on
Manhattan Island in New York and
lived his first 18 years within two blocks
of his birth hospital. He went on to
Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.,
the University of Chicago Graduate
School of Business and the University of
Houston Law Center. The next 15 years,
Levkoff was a United States government
bond trader in Los Angeles, and for the
past 19 years a pinot noir winemaker in
Healdsburg, Calif. This year will mark
the 15th vintage for the george wine
company, where he is the founder and
sole full-time employee. Levkoff hadn't
had a passport for 30 years and is now
pouring his wine at dinners all over the
world. At the Law Center, he says he
was fortunate to take multiple courses
from Professor Richard Alderman in
contract law, Professor Ira Shepard in
tax law, and Professor Stephen Zamora
in international law. He says teachers at
this level of academia obviously possess
mastery of the subject matter but few
have the ability and understanding of
how to instill self-motivation of the
untrained mind to recognize issues,
options, remedies and solutions from
a legal point of view. Levkoff donates
wine for Law Center events to honor
professors.
Judy Blissard, a partner in the Houston
office of Vinson & Elkins LLP with
almost 30 years of legal experience,
has a broad-based income tax practice,
advising clients on tax planning and
various types of M&A and financing
transactions. Her principal areas of
practice are business transactions and
domestic and international tax planning.
She represents both public and privately
held companies, including private equity
funds, in a number of significant business
transactions, corporate spin-offs and
other divestitures, and the purchases and
sales of assets and entities. She serves
as tax counsel to numerous U.S. and
foreign issuers and underwriters on debt,
equity offerings and securities offerings,
including issues of convertible debt,
contingent payment debt instruments,
preferred and common stock offerings
and production payment financings.
Blissard graduated from the University of Houston Law Center cum laude in 1987 and was a member of the Order of the Barons and the Order of the Coif. Since her time at the Law Center, she has continued to be a strong supporter and advocate for her alma mater. Judy is a member of the Law Center's premier gift club — the Dean's Society, and has supported the Law Annual Fund for almost 30 years. During the past three years, she has served as the Law Annual Fund's 100% Challenge captain for Vinson & Elkins, helping to secure 100 percent participation in giving by UH Law alumni within the firm.
When the University of Houston
Law Center needed a good lawyer,
Tony Buzbee answered the call.
Serving pro bono as lead counsel, he
and a team of UH in-house and local
attorneys protected the school's name
and brand in a federal trademark
infringement lawsuit last year.
It wasn't the first — and won't be the last — time the principal of The Buzbee Law Firm has supported his alma mater; he has served as an adjunct professor and guest speaker, hires UHLC graduates and contributes financially.
"UHLC is an integral part of my success," Buzbee said. "The knowledge I gained there, the friends I made and the supportive network of other graduates; there is no place like it.
"I am proud when I tell others I graduated from UHLC." Buzbee, a Texas A&M graduate and Marine veteran, is a leading personal injury litigator and one of the most successful trial lawyers in the nation. In the past decade, he and his firm have won hundreds of millions of dollars of verdicts and settlements in dozens of cases involving pipeline and plant explosions, toxic torts, offshore litigation, commercial litigation, products liability, and trademark infringement.
He has been recognized by Texas Lawyer as one of the Top 5 "Go To" Lawyers for commercial litigation in Texas and was named the 2015 "Attorney of the Year." He has been recognized repeatedly as a Texas "Super Lawyer" by Thomson Reuters, profiled in several books, and has appeared on the cover of the New York Times Magazine.
"It is a great honor to present Tony Buzbee with the Dean's Award," said Dean Leonard M. Baynes. "Tony and his career epitomize so much about the University of Houston Law Center.
"He grew up in the small town of Atlanta, Texas, the child of a butcher and a high school cafeteria worker. Through the power of his UHLC legal education, he became an accomplished lawyer. I had the chance to witness his skills in the trademark infringement case. He is brilliant! He was able to take a new and difficult legal issue of Trademark Law, for which he has little experience, and master it in a short span of time. He is also a master story teller who helped shape the winning narrative in this case.
"We at the Law Center are very proud of Tony for all his accomplishments and also very grateful that he came to defend his alma mater when we needed him the most."
Dona Cornell, UH System vice chancellor for legal affairs and general counsel, agreed: "Buzbee's energy and enthusiasm for UHLC as well as his advocacy in our protection of the UHLC's name and brand was phenomenal." Although this is not an area of law he regularly practices, he left no stone unturned and had a full command of the issues which led to a fabulous result."
Buzbee graduated from the University of Houston Law Center summa cum laude in 1997. While a law student, he was the managing editor of the Houston Law Review, was elected class captain by his peers and selected for membership in the Order of the Coif, Order of the Barristers and Order of the Barons. Buzbee was also state and regional mock trial champion.
