AUSTIN, Texas — Dean William Powers and Professor Roy M. Mersky of the University of Texas School of Law have been named Life Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.
The ABF is the preeminent research center for the empirical study of law, legal institutions, and legal processes in society. The Fellows is an honorary organization of attorneys, judges and law professors whose professional, public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. Only the top one-third of one percent in the legal profession is eligible for nomination as a Fellow.
Members are nominated by Fellows in their jurisdiction and elected by the Board of the ABF. Established in 1955, the organization of The Fellows encourages and supports the foundation’s research program. Both Powers and Mersky have been Fellows of the ABF since 1993. A Fellow becomes a Life Member upon the completion of a pledged contribution to the Foundation. This year, there were approximately 200 Fellows Named Life Fellows.
Powers, named UT Law dean in 2000, holds the John Jeffers Research Chair and the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law. He is also a member of UT’s elite Academy of Distinguished Teachers. An expert in torts, Powers is especially well known for his writings on products liability, a field in which he remains active in cutting-edge litigation. Powers also teaches and writes in jurisprudence. He is the author of Texas Products Liability Law (Butterworth, 2nd ed., 1992) and co-author of Cases and Materials on Torts (West, 2nd ed., 1998) and Cases and Materials on Products Liability (West, 2nd ed., 1994). He recently finished his work as Reporter for the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Apportionment of Liability. He is a member of the American Law Institute.
Mersky is the director of research at the Tarlton Law Library, Jamail Center for Legal Research. He is also the Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law and the Elton M. Hyder, Jr. and Martha Rowan Hyder Centennial Faculty Fellow. During his more than 30 years at UT Law, Mersky has overseen the evolution of UT Law’s library into one of the pre-eminent research facilities in the nation, and the development of its professional library staff into a training ground for law library directors around the country. In addition, Mersky has written extensively, primarily in the areas of legal research and Supreme Court history. He is the co-author of a number of books, including Fundamentals of Legal Research (Foundation, 7th ed., 1998) and Successful and Unsuccessful Nominations of Supreme Court Justices by the Senate Judiciary Committee (William S. Hein, 1975-1996). Mersky is also a member of the American Law Institute, the Texas Bar Foundation, and the American College of Law Practice & Management.