Alan F. and Diane R. Levin (center) prepare for the ribbon cutting with UH Law Alumni Association President Kate L. Blaine (J.D. ’03 and Assistant Dean of UHLC Clinical Programs Anna J. Cabot on their left and UH Law Dean Leonard M. Baynes and the Alan F. and Diane R. Levin Mediation Clinic Director Tasha Willis to their right.)
Feb. 17, 2026 – The University of Houston Law Center honored Alan F. (J.D. ’69) and his wife, Diane Levin, for their generous $1.25 million gift with the official naming of the Alan F. and Diane R. Levin Mediation Clinic during a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception held February 3. The event, attended by the Levin family, community members, as well as faculty and staff, was held in UHLC’s clinical space.
“We feel it was really important to recognize Alan and Diane in this beautiful space, so you get the chance to see the clinics area…but also see the essence of what we do but in a celebratory way,” Baynes said. “We are really very grateful Alan, that we finally get to celebrate you and Diane for this incredible gift.”
The program opened with an invocation presented by Reverend Charles Millikan, the retired vice president for spiritual care and values integration at The Houston Methodist Hospital and closed with an invocation from Rabbi David Rosen and Cantor Rachel Goldman both with the Congregation Beth Yeshurun. In between, several community members shared personal tributes about the Levins, including Benjamin L. Hall, owner of the Hall Law Group LLP and former city attorney for the City of Houston; Senior District Judge (retired) John T. Wooldridge; and Mark Oberti (J.D. ’94) of Oberti and Sullivan LLP.
The Mediation Clinic, one of nine specialized clinics at the UH Law Center, trains students to resolve disputes not through adversarial tactics for a winner-loser outcome, but by identifying perceptions and underlying issues, actively listening and reframing statements, and problem-solving to empower parties towards a mutually agreeable win-win resolution. Student mediators handle real cases, ranging from property disputes and breach of contract cases to international custody matters.
Three generations of the Levin family attended the naming ceremony for the Alan F. and Diane R. Levin Mediation Clinic.
Alan F. and Diane R. Levin, married for 54 years, listen to tributes shared about them from friends and colleagues.
“What we have seen at the mediation clinic, even before this great investment, is that students who participate learn to work with people who are very different and navigate a wide variety of issues,” Baynes said. “Mediation is so integral because it actually changes the person, the way they look at their own disputes, so that they can find some common ground where we all win. The beauty of this donation is that it’s going to allow us to do more to really integrate the concepts, these principles, more widely into practice.”
He said the Levins were a natural fit for the clinic.
Described by others as a “Peacemaker” and a “Healer,” Levin has practiced law for more than 50 years and conducted about 11,000 mediations. For him, mediation is a calling that began in 1987.
At that time, he was litigating a bitter dispute between two brothers who shared a successful international business. Levin and the opposing counsel, Steve Sussman, concluded that the only winners in that situation were the lawyers and that wasn’t right. At Sussman’s urging, Levin traveled to Dallas to observe a new approach to dispute resolution presented by the late Steve Brutsche.
Watching Brutsche was transformative for Levin. “It represented all that I cared about in psychology, all that I cared about in law and, most importantly, all that I cared about for people,” Levin said at the ceremony. “And I told Diane, this is it for me. This is all I am going to do for the rest of my career.”
When mediation became legal in Texas on Sept. 1, 1987, Levin became the seventh certified mediator in Texas and conducted his first mediation on Sept. 30 of that year.
Married for 54 years, Levin said Diane has been integral to his journey – from preparing meals for all parties involved in mediation cases to share to daily acts of support that allowed him to practice. Their partnership is reflected in the name of the clinic.
Alan F. and Diane R. Levin Mediation Clinic Director Tasha Willis.
Tasha Willis, director of the Mediation Clinic, said the Levins’ gift is helping the clinic grow. “One of the most extraordinary things about this gift is the expansion that it’s already created,” she said, especially in terms of expanding geographic reach and the scope of student training.
She shared two key highlights:
“It’s hard to put into words the difference your gift will make to the students going through this clinic that is being honored in your name. And so I thank you for all those gifts,” said Willis, who has learned from and worked with Alan Levin for almost 30 years.
As part of the festivities, the UH Law Center purchased a star in the Big Dipper from the National Gallery and named it for the Alan F. and Diane R. Levin Mediation Clinic. Willis promised to share the coordinates with the Levins’ seven grandchildren – David, Goldie, Miriam, Esti and Rachel Millman as well as Madison and Tyler Levin.
“So you will be able to see it no matter where you are in the world and pass it down from generation to generation,” she said. Attendees also received commemorative medals to mark the occasion.
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