South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 5, Ed. 1, March, 2006 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4
March 2006
Jennifer Day, 3L, presents her theories on opening
bono services while Dean Elizabeth Dennis looks on
to legal services and pro
Visitors Committee
In March, South Texas
College of Law hosted
visitors from around the
country in an effort to show-
case our school and make
plans for improving our fu-
ture. Visitors included
alumni, lawyers from around
the state, deans and profes-
sors from other schools, and
student representatives. All
worked together in break out
sessions to discuss the future
of the school. Specific top-
ics discussed included crisis
preparedness, professional-
ism, substance abuse and
ethical behavior, pro bono
service, educating future law-
yers, reaching out to future
alumni, and recruiting new ap-
plicants.
The day began with lunch in
Emilie Slohm where Dean
Alfini welcomed the group
and layed out the schedule
for the day. After lunch fo-
cus groups began where a
mixture of students, faculty,
alumni, and visitors all
worked through various top-
ics. The highlight of the day
was The Fred Parks Distin-
guished Lecture featuring
Professor Marc Galanter au-
thor of Lowering the Bar:
Lawyer Jokes & Legal Cul-
ture.
By S. Colin Mabrlto
Staff Writer
When the average
student attends a
class at South
Texas, they bring a laptop, a
case book, a code book, and
various supplements all
crammed into a rolling suit-
case that could be packed for
a week-long vacation for a
family of four. Looking
around the room, this makes
it easy to spot Jeff Duke. In
his desk space there is a pen,
a pair of sunglasses and a hat.
But don't let that fool you;
he just might be the most pre-
pared person in the room.
He may not have read the dis-
sent in the case the professor
has been rambling on about
since last week, but his out-
look on life keeps him at the
top of the class. With that, I
present a look into the mind
and philosophies of Jeff
Duke. Enjoy.
Q: Where were you
born?
A: I was born in
Wharton, TX, and raised in
Louise, TX.
Q: Where did you go to
college?
A: I graduated in the
fightin' Texas Aggie class of
'02, but I started out at
Tarleton State in Stephenville
courtesy of the top 10% rule.
Q: Why did the top 10%
rule start you out at Tarleton?
A: Because I graduated
high school with 28 people,
the top ten is the top two. I
played four sports, was in a
one act play, and showed
livestock. I had a good GPA,
but the top two in my class
did nothing and had slightly
better grades so they got to
choose where they wanted to
go. If you are not in the top
ten, it is hard to get into A&M
and TU because the top ten
is guaranteed and they don't
have much discretion after
accommodating all of the
mandatory invitees to their
schools.
Q: Why didn't you stay
at Tarleton?
A: Because I grew up an
Aggie; my grandfather was
class of '39. That's where I
always wanted to go, and no
top 10% rule was going to
prevent that. I just had to
travel a different road than
others to get there.
Q: I've heard people use
the term 'Aggie Cult'; what
do they mean by that?
A: People can call it what
they want. Everyone's heard
the "from the outside look-
ing in" line before so I won't
fall back on that one. What
I will say is that the best way
to describe it is to think of it
as one big Greek organization,
40,000 strong. That's why
A&M has not traditionally
been a Greek school. Being
part of the student body and
the school's traditions give
you what you would get from
a Greek organization with the
cost of tuition.
Q: Did you come directly
to STCL after A&M?
A: No, I worked for an
oilfield heavy hauling service
company.
Q: What did you do
there?
A: I managed middle
aged infants (laughing). No,
I ran a crew that moved drill-
ing rigs. I learned that argu-
ing with a truck driver is like
wrestling with a pig in the
mud: it gets you nowhere,
and you realize that they en-
joy it.
Q: Why did you come to
law school?
A: I lived in motels for
two years going from one rig
to another. It was good for
SBA President Stephanie dark listens intently during her round table discussion
about Professional Substance Abuse and Ethical Behavior. She is joined by Prof.
Olga Moya and Prof. Charles Weigel.
Limes are for Tourists:
A Conversation with Jeff Duke
can say is I'm just happy to
be here.
Q: What advice would
you give lL's starting out?
A: I would say don't get
caught up in all of the com-
petitiveness to the degree that
you hurt your colleagues.
Keep a positive attitude,
make friends not enemies,
and in the words of Guy
Clark, "just know that life is
j'ist a leap a faith, spread your
arms and hold your breath,
and always trust your cape"
Q: Mr. Duke, you like
talking in analogies, don't
you?
A: Is that not what we
do as lawyers? Compare one
set of facts to other sets of
facts?
Q: You graduate in May;
what do you plan to do?
A: Pass the bar ... then I
think I'm going to open my
own practice in New
Braunfels.
Smoking wooustv
harms you and
oltefs «round you
Jeff Duke, Student Extraordinaire
awhile but even a tumble
weed gets tired of rolling. So
I thought about what I
wanted to do. And since
people have an inherent ca-
pacity to blame others for
their misfortunes, I figured
that lawyering would be a
profession that would always
be in high demand.
Q: Have you ever been
to a foreign country?
A: I studied abroad last
summer in Durham, England
and Prague (prahadise),
which allowed me to gradu-
ate early. It was also cheaper
than living in Houston and
going to school, especially if
you can time your lease to
end in May.
Q: What do you like or
dislike about STCL?
A: Well, I guess I could
sit here and complain about
the same things that every-
one does. But I live by the
peter pan theory. First of all,
don't ever grow up. Sec-
ondly, happy thoughts let you
fly and negative ones keep
you on the ground. So all I
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Granberry, Afton. South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 5, Ed. 1, March, 2006, newspaper, March 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144575/m1/4/: accessed May 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.