Texas A&M Law celebrates alumni at inaugural Awards reception

Posted by Texas A&M School of Law on Sep 8, 2021 10:33:12 AM

2021 Alumni Legacy Awards RecipientsTexas A&M School of Law in downtown Fort Worth celebrates alumni at its first Alumni Legacy Awards reception Saturday, September 11 from 6-8 p.m. at the Fort Worth Club. Recipients are graduates who have made noteworthy contributions to the legal field and the community. Among them is Mayor Mattie Parker, publicized as the youngest mayor of a top-25 U.S. city by KERA News.

Coordinated by the Texas A&M Law Alumni Board, the awards program is designed to honor law school graduates annually with an awards process, culminating with a celebratory event. Board president and partner at Katten Benson Zachry, LLP Dana Zachry has spent her tenure determined to keep momentum high in uncertain times.

“The Alumni Board of Directors has been able to accomplish more than I would have expected in the year of COVID,” she says. “We have succeeded in bringing the alumni community together in a big way while benefitting our community.”

Since its inception, the law school has been known by three different names, most recently Texas Wesleyan University School of Law before Texas A&M University acquired it in 2013. According to Dean Robert B. Ahdieh, all graduates are welcome no matter the name on the door.

Zachry adds, “We are honoring the esteemed graduates of the law school from any era.”

The 2021 Texas A&M School of Law Legacy Awards recipients are the following:

Judge Joe Spurlock II '60 Alumnus/Alumna of the Year Award
Nelda Cacciotti ’01
Judicial Staff Counsel and Mental Health Magistrate, Tarrant County Criminal Courts   

Rising Star Award

Christopher A. Brown ’14       
Attorney, Cantey Hanger      
   

Private Practice Achievement Award

Caroline Harrison ’04  
Founding Partner, Pham Harrison LLP   
      

Public/Non-Profit Sector Achievement Award    
     
The Honorable Matthew Wright ’08    
Managing Partner and Attorney, Diaz & Wright, PLLC 
Presiding Judge for the Rosebud Court of Record and the City of Lott Municipal Court

Community Impact Award

Nikki Chriesman-Green ’09              
Senior Counsel, Foster & Foster

Dean's Advocate Award

Mattie Parker ’12  
Mayor, City of Fort Worth

Dean Ahdieh supported the revitalization of the Texas A&M Law Alumni Board when he assumed his position in 2018 and has been an active participant since, attending board meetings and communicating regularly with board leadership.

“I’m excited for our alumni community to come together to recognize this stellar group of graduates—and grateful to the Alumni Board for bringing the program together,” Ahdieh says. “Supporting our students, our newest graduates and one another is important.”

Legacy Awards chairperson Lynne Nash, an attorney at Stanton LLP in Dallas, stresses that award proceeds will benefit legal legend and former Texas A&M faculty member Judge Joe Spurlock’s endowed scholarship.

“He was my teacher—but, he was also my friend. It’s his legacy that drives my passion to raise funds to support our amazing students at Texas A&M University School of Law,” she says.

Nash credits her committee members Tave Doty of Whitaker Chalk Swindle and Schwartz PLLC, Collin County Assistant District Attorney Sarah Cary and Dana Zachry with showing “fierce commitment” building the awards program to celebrate alumni accomplishments this year and years to come. Tickets are still available for purchase up until the event. Scan the QR code below for more information.

“We are quite proud of the heritage of our school and look to build upon it,” she says. “Our law school has always been a place which produces thoughtful, insightful and caring attorneys.”

Established in 1989 at the Dallas/Fort Worth School of Law, the Texas A&M Law Alumni Board’s mission is strengthen the law school’s network though:

  • Providing opportunities for student internships
  • Increasing employment opportunities for graduates
  • Creating networking and growth opportunities for alumni
  • Supporting the law school’s events and programs
  • Serving the community

EVENT SPONSORS

Aggie Level
BakerHostetler
Katten Benson Zachry, LLP

Howdy Level
Cacciotti Legal PLLC
Gregory Franklin '03, '17
Pham Harrison, LLP
Nag Law Firm, P.C.
Steve ’95 and Lynne Nash ’95 & ’16
The Judge Joe Spurlock II ’60 Family
Texas Aggie Bar Association

Reveille Level
The Law Office of Terry Bentley-Hill '08
Cantey Hanger LLP
Dawson Parrish, PC
The Hon. Kimberly Fitzpatrick ’09
Fort Worth A&M Club
The Hon. Hugo R. Martínez '04
Donnie Miller ’09
The Hon. Audrey Moorehead '06
Spurlock Judicial Fund – Asian Judicial Institute

Gig ’em Level
Bank of Texas
Sarah Cary ’13
Nikki Chriesman-Green ’09
Dr. Tave Doty ’17 and James Nichols ’07, ’16
George Gooch ’10

Topics: Texas A&M University School of Law, texas a&m school of law, mattie parker

Subscribe Here!

Recent Post

Post By topics

See all

About Texas A&M School of Law

Texas A&M School of Law is an American Bar Association-accredited institution located in downtown Fort Worth. Since integrating with Texas A&M University in 2013, the law school has sustained a remarkable upward trajectory — dramatically increasing entering class credentials; improving U.S. News and World Report rankings; hiring more than 30 new faculty members; and adding more than 10 clinics and six global field study destinations. In the past several years the law school has greatly expanded its academic programs to serve the needs of non-lawyer professionals in a variety of complex and highly regulated industries such as cybersecurity, energy and natural resources, finance, and healthcare.

For more information, visit law.tamu.edu.

About Texas A&M University

Texas A&M, established in 1876 as the first public university in Texas, is one of the nation’s largest universities with more than 66,000 students and more than 440,000 living alumni residing in over 150 countries around the world. A tier-one university, Texas A&M holds the rare triple land-, sea- and space-grant designation. Research conducted at Texas A&M represented annual expenditures of more than $905.4 million in fiscal year 2017. Texas A&M’s research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting, in many cases, in economic benefits to the state, nation and world.

About Research at Texas A&M University

As one of the world's leading research institutions, Texas A&M is at the forefront in making significant contributions to scholarship and discovery, including that of science and technology. Research conducted at Texas A&M represented annual expenditures of more than $905.4 million in fiscal year 2017. Texas A&M ranked in the top 20 of the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development survey (2016), based on expenditures of more than $892.7 million in fiscal year 2016. Texas A&M’s research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting, in many cases, in economic benefits to the state, nation and world.

To learn more, visit http://research.tamu.edu.