Wallace Jefferson, a 1988 graduate of the Law School, has been nominated by Governor Rick Perry to the Texas Supreme Court to fill the seat vacated by former Justice Al Gonzales. "Wallace Jefferson is an excellent choice for the Texas Supreme Court. And we are thrilled to have one of our graduates once again on the Court " said Dean Bill Powers.
If confirmed by the Texas Senate, Mr. Jefferson will become the first African-American on the Texas Supreme Court, and he is expected to seek election to the bench in 2002. A renowned expert in appellate law, Mr. Jefferson is a name partner in Crofts, Calloway & Jefferson in San Antonio Texas. He is the immediate past president of the San Antonio Bar Association, and is a member of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Mr. Jefferson's other professional affiliations include the San Antonio Young Lawyers Association; the San Antonio Black Lawyers Association; the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee; the American Bar Association; the Federal Bar Association, and the State Bar of Texas District 10-B Grievance Committee. He is also president of the William S. Sessions American Inn of Court and a fellow of the Texas Bar College, and he served on the host committee for the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference 2000.
As a boy, Wallace Jefferson helped his father, an amateur genealogist,
research their family history and discovered a great-great-great grandfather
named Shedrick Willis. A former slave once owned by state District Court
Judge Nicholas Battle, Mr. Willis went on to serve as a Waco City Council
member after the Civil War.