Dallas Bar Association
HEADNOTES January 2011 Volume 36 Number 1
Barry Sorrels to be Inaugurated as DBA’s 102nd President
the District Attorney’s office, Mr. Sorrels went into private practice You may recognize Barry Sorrels as a criminal defense lawyer. Mr. Sorrels has practiced law because you’ve seen him around the Belo Mansion or maybe be- with the firm of Sorrels, Udashen cause you’ve watched him giving & Anton since 2001. He has spent legal commentaries on TV news a significant amount of his career programs such as CNN, MSNBC, defending federal cases ranging Fox News National or Court TV. from complex white-collar fraud As of Saturday, January 15, 2010, cases to multi-defendant drug conyou will recognize him as the face of spiracies. He has been Board Certified in the Dallas Bar Association. That’s when he will be inaugurated as the Criminal Law by the Texas Board association’s 102nd president— of Legal Specialization since 1983, only the fourth criminal defense and is a member of the Texas Crimattorney to become DBA president inal Defense Lawyers Association and the Texas Board of Legal Spein the modern era. cialization Attorney Mr. Sorrels grew up and Advisory Ethics in the Lake Highlands Commission. neighborhood of DalDespite a very busy las and graduated from schedule, Mr. Sorrels Lake Highlands High also volunteers his School in 1970. Durtime every year to be ing his high school the Course Director of years, he played both a trial skills course for football and baseball, young lawyers at the but it was football that Center for American took him to Columbia and International Law. University, where he He is also a frequent played safety. His selecturer on federal and nior year, Mr. Sorrels Barry Sorrels state criminal law topwas named MVP of the Columbia football team, First ics. Throughout his legal career, Mr. Team All-Ivy League and HonorSorrels has been active in the Dalable Mention All-American. At Columbia, when he wasn’t las Bar Association. He served as out on the football field, Mr. Sor- President of the Dallas Associarels tackled the subject of political tion of Young Lawyers in 1987. He science—an interesting topic to served on the DBA Board of Direcpursue, as it was during a time of tors from 1987-1989, returning to anti-war protests and campus riot- the Board in 2002, where he was ing. The experience left a lasting appointed Vice-Chair of the Board impression and began a lifelong and later, Chair of the Board. In interest in political history and, in addition, he has served as DBA Second Vice-President, First Viceparticular, American presidents. After graduation from Colum- President and President-Elect. “I am excited to have the opbia, Mr. Sorrels returned to Dallas to attend Southern Methodist portunity to be president of the University School of Law. During Dallas Bar Association,” he said. law school, Mr. Sorrels worked “The DBA presents an environsummers and part-time during the ment of service to the profession school year at the Dallas County and to the community that is also District Attorney’s office, where fun and where all of the wonderful he observed, learned and helped people you get an opportunity to work with become your friends.” prepare numerous trials. Mr. Sorrels said that most of the He was hired by the D.A.’s office upon graduation from law school people he cares about in the world in 1978. The toughness and com- are lawyers. “Lawyers are interestpetitive nature that was shown on ing, open-minded people who are the football field was a natural fit well-educated and trained to look for a career in law. After only one at issues from different perspecyear as a misdemeanor prosecu- tives,” he said. “People who practor he was prosecuting felonies in tice law have a wonderful sense the Honorable John Vance’s 194th of purpose that you do not find in District Court. During that time many other professions. These are he logged significant trial expericontinued on page 7 ence. After almost three years in by SUZANNE RAGGIO WESTERHEIM
Focus Probate & Tax law
Leon Carter to Receive 2011 MLK Justice Award by Anne Pohli
Each January, Americans celebrate the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose aspiration was that one day our nation would realize true equality for all people. On January 17, 2011, the Dallas Bar Association honors Dr. King’s legacy by presenting the Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Award to a local leader who epitomizes the values and ideals of Dr. King. This year’s recipient is E. Leon Carter, an outstanding lawyer and community leader. Mr. Carter was 11 years old when he decided to become a lawyer, and he remembers the day clearly. He was with his mother, and she stopped the car at a service station for gas. He got out for a drink and was puzzled by a sign over the water fountain. It had been painted over, but the letters were visible through the paint—“colored only.” He questioned his mother, and at first she replied that he wouldn’t understand. But he pressed her, and she explained this relic was from the Jim Crow Laws. He wanted to know more: “How were these laws changed? How are such wrongs righted?” She speculated that it had to do with lawyers, and young Leon made his decision: “Then I’m going to be a lawyer.” Born in Galveston, Mr. Carter is one of five children. He lost his father at the age of four, and his widowed mother moved the family to east Texas to be closer to family. Their circumstances were modest, but Mr. Carter speaks with pride of his mother’s success in raising her children. After graduating from Carthage High School, Mr. Carter attended East Texas Baptist College in Marshall. He played basketball on scholarship and earned a degree in history and pre-law. He then taught school for a year, before pursuing his law degree at Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law, which he received in 1986. Mr. Carter began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney and then Assistant Attorney General. Later, he joined Jackson Walker, L.L.P. and became a partner in the litigation section. Eventually, he founded his own firm, and five years ago, he merged his small firm into what is now Munck Carter, LLP, a mid-sized business, technology and litigation firm. Throughout his career, Mr. Carter has given generously of his time to both the Dallas Bar Association and the Dallas community. He has co-chaired the Judiciary Committee, served as a DBA Director, been a board member of the local subcommittee on the unauthorized practice of law, and is a member of the Committee for a Qualified Judiciary. He is also a fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation and a member of the executive committee of the Litigation Council of the State Bar of Texas. His contributions to the community at large are equally impressive. He is a board
Inside
member of Camp John Marc and the Vickery Meadow Learning Center, and has served on the boards of the Martin Luther King Center, the Volunteer Center of Dallas and Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Mr. Carter has served as an adjunct professor at SMU law school and often speaks on litigation topics. Texas Monthly has named him a Super Lawyer numerous times, and he is included in “The Best Lawyers in America, “and the Dallas Business Journal’s selection of the “Top 15 Business Defense Lawyers” in the metroplex. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honor reserved for no more than 1 percent of the lawyers of any state. Mr. Carter and his wife, Deborah, have been married for 28 years and have a son and daughter. When he has some time away from his practice and volunteer activities, Mr. Carter enjoys reading, working out and watching classic movies with his wife. Although his list of honors and accolades is long, Mr. Carter says family and faith keep him grounded. He makes time for church on Sunday and bible study during the week. With respect to the various “best lawyer” lists to which he has been named, he says, “I’ve been blessed. I can’t say I’m one of the best lawyers in America or Dallas. All I can do is be the best lawyer I can be, and the best person I can be, every day. That’s my philosophy.” Members of the DBA and the community are invited to attend the Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Award luncheon on January 17 to honor Mr. Carter. To make reservations for the luncheon contact Biri Avina at bavina@dallasbar.org. A plated lunch will HN be served ($12.76). Anne Pohli practices estate planning and probate law and is a past chair of the DBA Committee. She can be reached at lapohli@sbcglobal.net.
DBA MEMBERSHIP DUES REMINDER
11 Going the Extra Mile When Drafting Wills
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13 Pursuing Claims Involving Estates: A Top 10 List
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7 Making Sense of Special Tax Allocations 9 Codifying the Good Faith & Probable Cause Exception