Annotations of the South Texas College of Law (Houston, Tex.), Fall, 1967 Page: 1 of 4
4 pages : page 11 x 8.5 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Ktny-ecrfiot^ ?
ANNOTATIONS
c
of
The South Texas College of Law
A PUBLICATION OF THE STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION
FALL 1967
PERCY FORJAN SPEAKS
AT SOUTH TEXAS
by Rob Evans
"It's not the size of the bucket,"
the tall graying man was telling his
audience, "but rather it's what you put
in it."
Speaking was Percy Foreman, per-
haps the most successful lawyer in the
contemporary United States, talking be-
fore the South Texas Wives' Club at its
recent meeting at the law school.
Foreman was answering a quaere from
a student about Foreman's opinion of
night law schools. "When you go down
to the seashore," Foreman analogized,
"it's what you come back with that
counts. You can get the best education
in the world if you put a lot into your
bucket; and the graduate of the best
law school in the world isn't going to
have a thing on you."
Before a nearly full house, the wide-
ly known lawyer cast dispersions on
what he called a "usual feeling" that
his only chore was convincing juries.
"It's all preparation," Foreman ex-
plained. "You have to be willing to
work. For example I'm out at the scene
of the crime myself at seven in the
morning, I mix with everybody I can
find who might know something about
my case, and I try to see the overall
picture from the way they would see it."
Explaining about his technique in
choosing juries, Foreman said his judg-
ment about prospective jurers was
predicated on years of mixing with all
kinds of people and "getting to know
them the way they know themselves."
"And not doing this," he added, "is
like painting a house before you build
it."
Foreman said that contrary to gen-
eral belief, 70 per cent of his practice
was civil. "And that fact has been one
of the best things that ever happened
to my criminal practice." He explained,
"Most civil lawyers spend many hours
preparing their cases, but historically
criminal lawyers don't. So all I started
doing was preparing my criminal cases
the same way I would if it was a civil
case."
Looking back on his past years in
criminal practice, Foreman said the
1961 case of Mapp v Ohio signaled the
beginningof individual rights as against
the rights of the state, Foreman said
said the case—normally remembered as
the Supreme Court case which extended
the federal constitutional right against
freedom from unreasonable search and
seizure to the states—actually spelled
the end of domination by the "vested
interests."
"Up to then, the individual had no
rights. It was the establishment against
me. But now it's me against the estab-
lishment." he emphasized.
Foreman said his preferences in his
choice of cases "up to 1950 was just
like everybody else^—the one\ with
the biggest fees." But in that year his
friend, Dr. Jimmy Hill "... made me
promise never turn down a case because
the fee might be small, and I promised,
and I've made a lot more money ever
since."
The 60-odd year old lawyer, speak-
ing about future plans for retirement,
said he planned to retire this year.
"But I've been saying that every year
for the past few years, and it never
seems to work put." "Right now," the
champion for the defense continued,
"I've got a couple of cases possibly
coming my way, one which would mean
a million and a half and the other about
five, so maybe retirement won't be until
after next year."
Season's Greetings
from the
Staff
FROM THE DESK
OF DEAN WALKER
Once again, I am indebted to the
staff of "The Annotations" for provid-
ing me this opportunity to welcome the
returning members of the advanced
classes and to welcome the entering
class to our School.
In this new school year you will find
that your Law School is continuing to
meet the challanges, both large and
small, that mark these changing times.
For example, another new instructor
joined our full-time Faculty in the Sum-
mer of 1967—Mr. Charles J. Weigel, II,
Assistant Professor of Law, who taught
Domestic Relations and Criminal Law I
during the Summer, and is teaching, in
addition, Legal Research & Writing this
semester. Mr. John F. Ensle, Assistant
Professor of Law, commenced full-time
teaching this semester with Creditors'
Rights, Wills, and the Legal Writing
courses, and assumed as well the Ad-
visorship of the South Texas Law Jour-
nal.
The School has made the decision to
have a Moot Court team and is offering
credit to further this very important and
worthwhile area of competition and en-
deavor.
A new classroom has been opened
for this semester; that is Room 210. An-
other room of the same size is being
prepared and furnished for the commenc-
ing of the Spring Semester.
New Faculty offices have been pro-
vided on the second floor and some new
office furniture added.
Additional books have been added
to the Library, including some English
material which is practically unobtain-
able. Several rather large gaps have
been filled in existing holdings, and
Continental Oil Company has donated
to the School a large part of the Com-
pany's library from their Ft. Worth office.
I am sure that all will agree that
great strides have been made in the Law
(continued next page)
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Davidge, Miller. Annotations of the South Texas College of Law (Houston, Tex.), Fall, 1967, newspaper, 1967; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144316/m1/1/: accessed May 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.