Dallas Bar Association
HEADNOTES January 2016 Volume 41 Number 1
Jerry Alexander to be Inaugurated as DBA’s 107th President by Jess Davis
Jerry C. Alexander, the president of Passman & Jones PC, will take the reins as the 107th President of the Dallas Bar Association on January 1, 2016. Mr. Alexander, a general business litigator for more than 40 years, has been active in the DBA since the early years of his career, and has steadily risen through the DBA’s leadership ranks since he was elected to the DBA board in 2007. Recognizable for his tall frame, mustache, and twinkling blue eyes framed by a shock of white hair, Mr. Alexander has led the DBA’s Finance Committee, Judiciary Committee, Senior Lawyers Committee and the Judicial Polls Study Committee. He led the DBA’s Vision 2020 Commission, chaired Jerry C. Alexander the record-setting 2010 Campaign for Equal Access to Justice, and played a key role in drafting the Local Rules of Practice used in Dallas County’s Civil District and County Courts at Law as the chair of the local rules subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee in the 1990s. Mr. Alexander plans to use his term as president to involve more people in the DBA’s activities and committee work. Many DBA members may not know how great the benefits are from participating in the DBA’s programs and committees, and how renewing and fulfilling those activities can be, he said. So many lawyers went to law school with the goal of helping others, and get a tangible feeling of accomplishment from participating in programs like the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program or LegalLine, contributing to build a Habitat for Humanity house or mentoring high school students and young lawyers, he added. “The Bar Association has so many programs that really reach out and help people,” he said. In a speech nominating Mr. Alexander to be the DBA’s next president, State Bar of Texas President Frank E. Stevenson—a former DBA president—called Mr. Alexander a “bril-
liant and indefatigable leader who has exercised a strong lifelong work ethic to benefit the Dallas legal community through his service to the Bar.” “This commitment to hard work lies at Jerry’s core,” Mr. Stevenson said in his speech. “It is who he is. In fact, it is who he has always been.” Mr. Alexander’s fate may have been sealed when his family moved in 1951 from Oak Cliff to University Park. The then5-year-old’s new neighbors were Louise and Grier Raggio—the pioneering family lawyers—who exposed Mr. Alexander to the world of lawyers, judges, and legal academics at gatherings in their home, and strongly encouraged him to become a lawyer. As a child, he had only a vague idea of their work, but the idea of becoming a lawyer stuck with him. Before he would become a courthouse regular, Mr. Alexander built a resume with steady jobs starting at age 12: working at a watermelon stand on Hillcrest Road as the “rind boy,” delivering newspapers, mowing lawns, helping at the family farm in Ellis County, substitute teaching, bartending, construction work, operating a ride at Six Flags Over Texas, and many more. After graduating from Highland Park High School in 1964, he studied English and chemistry at Southern Methodist University, where he was president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He worked as a chemist at an experimental farm run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and worked as an aide for U.S. Representative Earle Cabell before returning to SMU to study law. One of his earliest jobs paid big dividends when Mr. Alexander was a law student. Passman & Jones real estate lawyer Jim Carmichael’s father owned the watermelon stand where Mr. Alexander had worked summers as a young teen, and recognized him when he was recruiting on campus at SMU. Mr. Alexander became one continued on page 10
Focus Sports & Entertainment Law
Dr. Michael J. Sorrell to Receive 2016 MLK Justice Award by Dawn Fowler
“I will need to hold my students close and tell them that I love them every day. But I struggle with telling them to have faith in a system that I know might very well betray them one day. I will wonder how to tutor them to find peace in places where there is none. And I will have no idea how to teach them to close their eyes and pray when I close my eyes and all I see is Emanuel AME.” Michael J. Sorrell, in the aftermath of the murder of nine parishioners attending a prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina. On January 18, 2016, the Dallas Bar Association will honor Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, President of Paul Quinn College, as the 2016 recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Award. The annual award recognizes attorneys who embody Dr. Michal Sorrell the principles and values of Dr. King’s life and legacy: justice, compassion, and service. Dr. Sorrell epitomizes these values. He says that he is motivated by his amazing wife and two wonderful children, and that every day he feels more blessed and inspired to honor them. Professionally, he is most proud of his contributions to building a model for a truly great small urban college. His goal is to make a “down payment on perfect” at Paul Quinn, a small liberal arts college in an under-resourced area of South Dallas. He says that something does not have to be big to be complex, challenging, or rewarding. “This can work,” he says. It is possible to take students from an under-resourced community and the challenges faced by those students, and teach them to change their communities via a quality education. Paul Quinn accepts both students that other schools aggressively recruit and those who have likely been overlooked. Dr. Sorrell’s method is to create points of personal connection and emphasize experiential learning. Each student is required to work 10-20 hours per week through Paul Quinn’s Work Program. This allows them to receive two forms of education— academic and practical. Dr. Sorrell and the staff at the College have arranged for corporate sponsors to make this possible in addition to providing opportunities on campus. Dr. Sorrell also cares about his students on a truly personal level, and takes the time to know them. He has raised monies for eyeglasses and set up a travel fund. He acknowledges their struggles, but does not compromise his expectations. Dr. Sorrell has received awards and honors too numerous to list—from Washington Monthly’s “America’s 10 Most Innovative College Presidents” to Dallas Business Journal’s “Dallas’ Forty under Forty” and “Minority Business Leaders Award.” He
Inside
5 Access to Justice: Justice Hankinson Donates $25,000 to EAJ 8 DBA Athletic Director: Do More Now 14 Common Tax Issues in Representing Entertainers & Artists 17 U.S. Copyright Basics: Celebrating Creators
has received both the President’s and C.B. Bunkley Awards from the J.L. Turner Legal Association for his outstanding contributions to the Dallas legal community. Under his leadership, Paul Quinn College has also been awarded numerous honors and recognitions, and has undergone a radical transformation. Once a place of broken buildings, overgrown and dying vegetation, and unmet expectations, it is rapidly becoming a model for urban higher education. It is also a place of transformation—partnering with PepsiCo to dig up the football field and create an organic farm in a food desert. Staff and student-employees, who also learn business and marketing skills, operate the “US over Me Farm.” At least 10 percent of the produce is donated to neighborhood families and food banks. The rest is sold to the Dallas Cowboys, grocers, and restaurants to maintain the operations. Dr. Sorrell received his undergraduate degree at Oberlin College; his Ed.D. at the University of Pennsylvania; and his J.D. and M.A. from Duke. He received a Sloan Foundation Graduate Fellowship and was a Graduate Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. At every institute, Michael was a leader. He was a special assistant in President Clinton’s Initiative on Race. He currently serves as a trustee or director for numerous entities including the College Board, Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy and .SMU’s Tate Lecture Series. The Dallas Bar Association is honored to present Dr. Sorrell with this prestigious award for his service to so many organizations, Paul Quinn College, and the Dallas community. DBA President, Jerry Alexander, is proud on both a professional and personal level. “I have known Dr. Michael Sorrell over 15 years, and he is a most worthy recipient. Like Dr. King, he is a terrific motivator and educator, and he has been a great, positive influence on many young people, including a young person very important to me—my son.” Dr. Michael Sorrell is a testament of the truth of the axiom that history does not dictate destiny. The young people who society has dismissed are graduating from Paul Quinn and making valuable contributions to the Dallas community and their families fueled by the vision and transformative inspiration provided by Dr. Sorrell. Please join us in thanking and honoring Dr. Michael Sorrell at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Award Luncheon at noon on Monday, January 18, 2016, at the Belo Mansion. Members of the DBA and community are invited to attend. To make reservations, contact Biri Avina at bavina@dallasbar.org. A plated lunch will be HN served at a cost of $14.95.
Dawn Fowler is a past co-chair of the DBA Publications Committee, and is a solo practitioner specializing in family law. She can be reached at dawn@dawnfowlerlaw.com.
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