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Friends, law firms and families have honored outstanding lawyers with Named Gifts to the Texas Bar Foundation. Among those so honored with donations of $30,000 or more are:

Dan Rugeley Price
The Dan Rugeley Price Memorial Award was established by friends and family and endowed through the Texas Bar Foundation. The award is given in memory of Dan Price who practiced law in Austin, Texas, and died in January, 1994.

As a living tribute to Dan’s life and work in the practice of law, an award is made annually to an outstanding Texas lawyer. The recipient chooses a Texas law school to receive the $1,000 cash portion of the award for a law student scholarship.

The award celebrates Dan’s life as an outstanding lawyer who devoted himself completely to any task he undertook. The recipient exemplifies the qualities of an accomplished legal writer and researcher, a talented and dedicated practicing lawyer, a servant of the profession as a volunteer and an advocate on its behalf. The recipient exhibits an unreserved commitment to clients and to the practice of our profession; and demonstrates dedication to the Bar and service to the public with the same commitment, dedication and zeal which defined Dan Price’s life and work.

Ronald D. Secrest
The firm of Beck, Redden & Secrest, L.L.P. established the Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer's Award at the Texas Bar Foundation in honor and memory of Mr. Secrest, a gifted trial lawyer and a founding partner of the firm. Mr. Secrest earned an engineering degree from StanfordUniversity and a law degree from the University of Virginia. He, along with David Beck and Joe Redden, Jr., founded Beck, Redden & Secrest, L.L.P. in 1992, with the goal of representing clients with energy and professionalism before juries, judges, and arbitrators in high-stakes disputes in Texas and throughout the United States.

The firm is very active in the community, encouraging both partners and associates to volunteer for organizations, including the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program and Friends of Teach for America. Mr. Secrest himself was a Board Member and active supporter of the Ronald McDonald House, and an active Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. The Texas Bar Foundation is proud of its relationship with the firm of Beck, Redden & Secrest, L.L.P. to honor the memory of Mr. Secrest, and pay tribute to the values, both professional and personal, he followed during his life.

The Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award recognizes an active trial lawyer who, by his or her practice, has demonstrated outstanding trial and advocacy skills, high ethical and moral standards, and exceptional professional conduct, thus enhancing the image of the trial lawyer.

Michael J. Crowley
"He is a rare leader – and person, and I hope you will join me in this effort."
– Former Chief Justice Joe R. Greenhill

The Michael J. Crowley Fund for Justice was established with gifts from the law firm of Locke, Liddell and Sapp as well as friends and familly members. Mike Crowley was a native of El Paso who had been a longtime resident of Austin. After graduating from St. Edward’s University in Austin in 1969 with a B.B.A. in Management, he served four years in the United States Navy. Upon his return from the Navy, Mike entered the Texas Tech University School of Law. He graduated from Tech Law School, with honors, in 1977.

Though he enjoyed a distinguished career as a practitioner, Mike Crowley may be better known for his outstanding personal commitment to helping individual attorneys. For more than a decade he helped create, activate and nurture the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program. Through this program, hundreds of anonymous lawyers have helped their colleagues begin recovery from addictions to alcohol and other drugs. Additionally, from 1992 through 1997, he was chairman of the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs which helped lawyers in recovery on a national level. His concern for others, however, did not stop with this issue.

Civil legal services for the poor were always an important and meaningful part of Mike Crowley’s work on behalf of the profession. In 1996, in recognition of his interest, he was appointed a trustee of the Texas Equal Access to Justice (IOLTA) Foundation.

For the Texas Bar Foundation, he was instrumental in strengthening the Foundation’s grant making on behalf of civil legal services for the poor. Under his leadership, the Foundation began coordinating its efforts with the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation. During his year as Chair of the Foundation, grant making in this area was nearly 60 percent of all grant funds awarded. Mike Crowley’s interest in improving legal services to the poor in Texas has been a hallmark of his distinguished service to the profession.

The Michael J. Crowley Fund for Justice, while recognizing a fine attorney, will enable the Texas Bar Foundation to continue its work in providing legal assistance to people in need who otherwise would be unserved.

Clyde Fillmore
Clyde Fillmore of Wichita Falls was born on November 25, 1908. Over ninety-one years later, the Wichita County Bar Association honors him with the completion of the Clyde Fillmore Scholarship Fund. The Fund recognizes Mr. Fillmore’s legendary law career and preserves his place in Wichita County history. This Scholarship can go to any student from Wichita County who is interested in the study of law and who is entering or enrolled in an accredited Texas college or law school.

In 1928, Mr. Fillmore began his legal studies by enrolling in a three-year correspondence course from Blackstone Institute of Law. He finished this course in eight months and received his law license before his twenty-first birthday. In 1938, Mr. Fillmore moved to Wichita Falls, and later, became the assistant district attorney. In 1940, he left Wichita Falls to join the National Guard, and in 1942, he was captured by the Japanese. After his release in 1945, he received a Purple Heart and returned to Wichita Falls where he became District Attorney.

Today, Clyde Fillmore upholds an outstanding reputation and continues his 70-year legal career. Barry Macha the Wichita Falls District Attorney comments, "He's a legend here. He’s a role model not just to pattern your legal career after but to pattern your whole life after." Additional words of praise came from Lonny Morrison, former President of the State Bar of Texas, who said, "Clyde Fillmore is a true gentlemen and a fabulous lawyer. We are all proud of him and his many accomplishments."

Donations honoring Mr. Fillmore came from attorneys, friends and businesses both inside and outside of Texas. The Texas Bar Foundation holds the fund.

Samuel Pessarra
In 1987, the Texas Bar Foundation created the Outstanding Jurist Award to honor an active Federal or State Judge. In 1995, the Foundation received a bequest to the endowment from the estate of Mrs. Samuel Pessarra in honor of her late husband Samuel Pessarra for the purpose of funding the Outstanding Jurist Award. The award was renamed the Samuel Pessara Outstanding Jurist Award in 1995. Samuel Pessarra, a native of Quintana, attended Baylor University and Baylor University School of Law. Mr. Pessarra was a member of the Brazoria County Bar Association, where he served as president, director and secretary.

Coleman Gay
The Lola Wright Foundation Award is presented in memory of Coleman Gay, who was a distinguished Texas lawyer and who exemplified the highest standards of professional ethics. The award is presented in recognition for outstanding public service in advancing and enhancing legal ethics in Texas.