University of Texas School of Law - Peregrinus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

Page 18 text:

Professor Charles Alan Wright Retires After 42 Years at the UT School of Law With a career spanning more than a third of the Law School ' s history, Charles Allan Wright is retiring this year after 42 years at The University of Texas School of Law. Professor Wright arrived at the University as a tenured Associate Professor from Minnesota in 1955. He was a northeasterner, a Republican, and an inte- grationist -- all foreign qualities as far as Austinites were con- cerned. Even his speech, dress, and demeanor were somewhat formal compared to Texas local style, but his self confi- dence put him at ease in his new environment. At the age of 28, Wright had already pub- lished as much as anyone at the School of Law. Considered a regional institution when he arrived, the law school was just beginning its third year in Townes Hall. Three years later Wright was elected to the American Law Institute. The Law School Foundation was still in its early stages at that time, and salaries were well below the national average. Wright, howev- er, remained loyal to Texas over the years, accepting only visiting appointments at Harvard, Penn, Yale and Cambridge. Wright ' s distinguished career of over four decades has earned him a reputation that rests on both the quality and quantity of his work. Federal Practice and Procedure is considered by many to be his great- est contribu- tion to the law. It is the essential ret erence work on federal courts, and though It now has almost fifty volumes and he has a team of distin- guished co- authors working with him, Wright is the orga- nizer of the entire project, and the only author common to all volumes. Since the publication deals with procedure, and every liti- gated case potentially raises procedural issues, it is an indispensable ref- erence for lawyers. Charles Wright ' s repu- tation as a Supreme Court advocate also has brought him fame. He won ten out of the twelve Supreme Court cases that he has argued, sever- al considered landmark cases. Though unsuc- cessful in arguing that Congress could not sub- ject the states to the Fair Labor Standards Act in Maryland v. Wirtz, he successfully attacked Congress ' power to lower the voting age to eigh- teen in state elections in Oregon v. Mitchell. Wright unsuccessfully defended the constitu- tionality of the Texas capital punishment statute in Fiirman v. Georgia, but he success- fully defended the power of circuit judicial coun- cils to remove federal judges from active duty in Chandler v. Judicial Council. He also success- fully argued in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez that local vari- ations in educational funding were beyond the reach of the Equal Protection Clause. Perhaps most spectacularly, Wright suc- c e s s f u 1 1 y argued for reversal of a default judgement against Howard Hughes in excess of $145 million in Hughes Tool Co. V. Trans World Airlines. Though he may be most widely known for his representation of Richard Nixon on con- stitutional issues pertain- ing to Watergate, Wright ' s association with the President may have brought him fame, but seems to have ended his career at the Supreme Court. He has only argued one case since Watergate, successfully defending the free speech rights of a citizen in City of Houston V. Hill. He also has garnered a reputation from his work for the American Law Institute. In 1963 he became one of the reporters for the Institute ' s Study of the Division of Jurisdiction Between State and Federal Courts. He later became an active member of the Council, and he is now the first academic to serve as president of the Institute. Wright has also served for many years on count- less committees, boards and commissions from the national to the local level. He has served on three Presidential Search Committees, and he played a critical role as the chair of the Appointments Committee after the dean ' s search at the law school in 1979. He put his credibility and repu- tation on the line by assuring future candi- dates that the law school and its alumni would work together in the future to make a great law school. Professor Wright will continue to teach half- time, and he wiU contin- ue his scholarship and his American Law Institute work for as long as he is able, but as long as students come to Texas to seek knowledge of the law, his presence and influence will be felt at The University of Texas School of Law. To Professor Wright, the 1998 Peregrinus Law School Yearbook is respectfully dedicated. 14 — Charles Alan Wright

Page 20 text:

Faculty Selects Canales to Receive Service Award The University of Texas School of Law Faculty Service Av rard is primarily designed to honor those who have improved the quality of life for law students and facult ' in some special way. This year the law school faculty selected Ramiro Canales, president of the Chicano Hispanic Law Student Association, for his outstanding leadership and profound dedication to the University and the law school community. Canales is the first student to receive this prestigious award. Previous recipients include Harry Reasoner, president of the Law School Foundation, and Morris Atlas, senior and managing partner of Atlas Hall, L.L.P. The award was presented to Canales at the spring Sunflower Ceremony on May 24, 1998, at the Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Special Events Center. Canales is the former chief of staff to Rep. Irma Rangel, D-Kingsville, chairwoman of the House Higher Education Committee. A former migrant farm worker, Canales received a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, in 1991 and a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin in 1994. Dean Michael bharlot presents the Faculty Service Award to Kamiro Canales at the Sunflower Ceremony. — photos by John Foxworth 16 - Faculty Service Award lEftv K Ramiro Canales gives his acceptance speech at the Frwin c;cntcr.