Congratulations, 2023 Distinguished Lawyers!

The Austin Bar Foundation’s 2023 Distinguished Lawyer honorees are staples in the Central Texas judicial and legal communities. Combined, they possess more than 100 years of service in the field of law. These honorees are trailblazers known for their widespread community contributions and unique personalities , and have an unparalleled legacy of service. The Austin Bar Foundation proudly recognizes these 2023 Distinguished Lawyers for their outstanding work. Get to know our honorees.

JUDGE LORA LIVINGSTON

Judge Lora Livingston is a 1982 graduate of the UCLA School of Law. She began her legal career as a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow assigned to the Legal Aid Society of Central Texas in Austin. After completing the two-year fellowship program, she continued to work in the area of poverty law until she entered private practice with an emphasis on family law. She began her judicial service as an associate judge for the District Courts of Travis County and after her successful election, Judge Livingston was sworn in as judge of the 261st District Court in January 1999. Her judicial colleagues elected her to serve as the Travis County Local Administrative Judge, and she led the council of judges for nine years. She served many years as the Civil Presiding Judge until her recent retirement. She is the first African American woman to serve on a district court in Travis County.

Judge Livingston has dedicated her legal career to promoting access to justice for all.

Judge Livingston has dedicated her legal career to promoting access to justice for all. She has served on the boards of the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, the Texas Access to Justice Commission, the National Association of IOLTA Programs, and the Texas Center for the Judiciary. She is a member of the National Bar Association and the National Association of Women Judges. She is a delegate to the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association and has served on the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID), and the ABA Judicial Division. She has also been active in the Austin Bar Association, the Austin Black Lawyers Association and the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association.

Judge Livingston is also a proponent of pro bono activities and has served on the board of Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas (formerly Austin Lawyers Care). She was instrumental in the establishment of the Travis County Self Help Center for self-represented litigants, and her support for access-to-justice initiatives is unwavering.

Judge Livingston has received a number of awards, including: the Outstanding Achievement award from the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association; the Texas Access to Justice Commission Pro Bono Champion Award; the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation Harold F. Kleinman Award; the Exemplary Judicial Faculty Award from the Texas Center for the Judiciary; the Lone Star Girl Scout Council Woman of Distinction Award; the Austin Independent School District Community Service Award; the Lotus Award from Asian Family Support Services; the Distinguished Service Award from the National Center for State Courts; the Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association; and the Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League of Austin.

An active member of the Austin community, Judge Livingston has served on the boards of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Capital Area Food Bank, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Tenants Council, Central East Austin Community Organization, YMCA, Austin Area Urban League, El Buen Samaritano, and Seminary of the Southwest. She is also a graduate of Leadership Austin.

BOBBY TAYLOR

Bobby Taylor’s movement towards the field of law developed as he was growing up. Taylor had a strong belief that he wanted to become a lawyer, but the actions of others, life’s effects on his extended family members, and the daily realities of surviving pushed him into who he is today. Taylor’s father, with the family, drove roads using the green travel book provided by the Navy showing where they could stop and avoid the “Whites Only” gas stations, coffee shops, and bathrooms. He read many “Colored Not Allowed” signs. These experiences shaped Taylor’s thoughts as a young boy, and undoubtedly provided a roadmap for his efforts today in the legal community.

Taylor attended junior college in San Diego, Calif., and transferred to Bishop College before graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington, where Johnny Reb was the mascot. He entered The University of Texas School of Law with seven other black students in his class and graduated in 1972. Taylor immediately went to Legal Aid and Defender Service and has practiced law in East Austin since graduation.

Bobby Taylor entered The University of Texas School of Law with seven other black students in his class and graduated in 1972. He immediately went to Legal Aid and Defender Service and has practiced law in East Austin since graduation.

Racial discrimination, sexual inequalities, and various types of discrimination injustices have affected every aspect of his practice including having a U.S. Federal District Judge prevent Taylor from approaching the bench in Jackson, Miss. with other retained attorneys explaining the sole basis for such was Taylor’s race. Within months of becoming an attorney, Taylor filed a class-action lawsuit against the Travis County Sheriff and Commissions which lasted 18 years and resulted in the Travis County Jail being declared unconstitutional by Judge Jack Roberts. He has sued many of the local law enforcement offices because of allegations of excessive force and traveled as far as Biloxi, Miss. in seeking justice for inmates and their families. All of Taylor’s clients and cases involve individuals and family members and include every aspect of life’s injustices.

Taylor is proud to have been awarded various awards, including the NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2020 Top Ten Super Lawyers Award given November 2021 by the Austin Black Business Journal. His life and practice are based upon life’s inequities, whether because of race, sexual orientation, origins, orientations, or other injustices.

JUDGE LEE YEAKEL

Lee Yeakel was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Okla. After graduating from high school, he came to Austin to attend The University of Texas, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1969. He received his license to practice law on Sept. 15, 1969. Just before entering law school in 1966, he and his wife Anne married. Upon graduation from law school, he joined the small Austin law firm of Mitchell, Gilbert & McLean.

He was trained as a generalist, working on just about anything that came in the door, trying civil and criminal cases in both state and federal court. The specialization so prevalent in the practice of law today was non-existent in the late sixties and early seventies, and Austin was a small-town legal market with very few of the complex cases common today.

Justice Yeakel spent five and a half years on the Third Court as chief justice and justice. During that time, he received a Master of Laws in Judicial Process degree from the University of Virginia in 2001. In 2003, President George W. Bush nominated him to be a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas.

Judge Yeakel spent his entire practicing career in Austin with several firms, the last of which was Clark, Thomas & Winters, where he was a partner when, in early 1998, then-Governor George W. Bush appointed him to fill the vacant chief-justice position on the Texas Third Court of Appeals. He spent five and a half years on the Third Court as chief justice and justice. During that time, he received a Master of Laws in Judicial Process degree from the University of Virginia in 2001. In 2003, President George W. Bush nominated him to be a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Texas. He assumed that position in July 2003, after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He has been named the Samuel Pessarra Outstanding Jurist by the Texas Bar Foundation and Outstanding Texas Jurist by The Review of Litigation of the University of Texas School of Law. In 2020, the Texas Bar Foundation named him an Outstanding 50-Year Lawyer. The Austin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates has recently presented him with The Scott Ozmun Judicial Courage Award. He is a member of the Robert W. Calvert American Inn of Court and the Honorable Lee Yeakel Intellectual Property American Inn of Court, which is named in his honor. He has served as president of both Inns and as a member of the board of trustees of the American Inns of Court Foundation. He is a former board member of the Texas Young Lawyers Association and was the last president of the Austin Junior Bar Association. Judge Yeakel is a life member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, a member of the American Law Institute, a sustaining life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a life fellow of the Austin Bar Foundation. He is a frequent speaker at professional development courses and regulatory conferences. Judge Yeakel has served as president of the Rotary Club of Austin as well as The Headliners Club of Austin. He was a member of the U.S. delegation to The Hague Conference on Private International Law, Treaty on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, and was a signatory of that treaty on behalf of the United States. Judge Yeakel is a former U.S. Marine. He and Anne have two children and three grandchildren. AL