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JEFF DOWNING, Lincoln NE, is a third generation Nebraska lawyer who has had the privilege of representing clients in a number of precedent-setting cases, one of which, Heins v. Webster County, was immortalized in a (mostly accurate) Quimbee cartoon about the case.
GARY D. ELLISTON, Dallas TX, formed his own firm thirty-one years ago, a year after his mentor, a Fellow of the College, had passed unexpectedly; Gary nevertheless added his mentor to the firm’s name – as the first name. Gary has owned inde- pendent baseball teams in Ft. Worth, Amarillo, Grand Prairie, Shreveport, and Jackson – great fun with some on field success, but an expensive hobby. Gary has served as a lecturer at Truett Seminary at Baylor University on the Art of Rhetoric.
DUNCAN EMBURY, Toronto ON, was expelled from two different schools by grade ten. His grade twelve guidance counsel- lor recommended that he find a trade or occupation that he could do with his hands, implying if not expressly stating that his head wasn’t going to do him much good. He went on to a less than stellar undergraduate performance which involved a C minus average. He took the LSAT on a whim and got a raw score perfect, which was enough, barely, to compensate for his academic record. Actually, the best compensation for that record is the successful practice he has enjoyed.
MICHAEL FEDER, K.C., Vancouver BC, was mentored by no fewer than four Fellows of the College. He is a former distance runner and an avid skier. In addition to his trial work, he has acted in thirty Supreme Court of Canada appeals.
CURT W. FENLEY III, Lufkin TX, is a third-generation lawyer whose grandfather was coaching high school basketball and teaching when encouraged to go to law school. Elected as County
Attorney the year before he graduated from law school, Curt’s grandfather served during Pro- hibition and Curt grew up with stories about raids and kicking over stills. Curt put himself through college as the lead singer in a rock and roll dance band.
JOHN F. FLOYD, SR., Nashville TN, picked tobacco for two summers before junior high school, earning enough to buy equipment to start a lawn care business that he plied during high school, requiring him to routinely skip school to tend to his clients’ properties. The administration and most of John’s teachers understood why he was not in attendance, and cut him slack. John learned you never know what someone else has gone through, that you should have compassion for others and try to understand their situation, and that hard work does pay off.
MOE FODEMAN, New York NY, is a former AUSA whose wife prosecutes and tries domestic violence homicides at the Brook- lyn DA’s Office where they met. Moe’s practice now is a mix between white-collar defense and civil trial work, and he teaches trial advocacy as an adjunct professor at Harvard Law School. Moe has run twenty-seven marathons around the world.
RANDALL GALYON, Greensboro NC, had never been west of the Mississippi until 1992 when he and a friend went on a six-week road trip. He went back later in 1992 to work at Purgatory/Durango ski resort and ski every day. Defying all logic, he left that job to start law school in 1993. Randall met his wife on a blind date in 1999 and proposed to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower. A juror fainted during one of his opening statements that used no pictures, just words.
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