Law School Hosts 'Civility Matters' Program

Written by Celeste Villarreal

The Texas Tech School of Law will host the Civility Matters CLE program at 1 p.m. Friday (Feb. 24), in the Donald M. Hunt Courtroom at the School of Law. The program is co-sponsored by the law school and the Lubbock County Bar Association (LCBA), and will feature many prominent speakers and judges. The program has been approved for one hour of ethics CLE credit.

Justice Douglas S. Lang will moderate the event. Panelists include Judge Ruben Reyes, 72nd District Court, Lubbock; Retired Judge Sam Medina, 237th District Court, Lubbock, and City Attorney, City of Lubbock; and attorneys William (Bill) Franklin, president, Lubbock County Bar Association; and Jeff Lashaway, partner, Boerner, Dennis & Franklin, PLLC.

Civility is an attitude that lawyers will treat everyone (opponents, witnesses and judges) with dignity and respect. Respect is the foundation of civility as it is to good sportsmanship, good manners, and the Golden Rule. Civility Matters will address courtroom issues that pertain to lawyers, judges, and all persons who appear in court, and how to maintain the viability of the legal system even as attorneys are zealously advocating for their clients.

Lang is a justice on the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, appointed by Governor Perry in 2002. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Drake University in 1969 and a law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1972. After law school, Justice Lang worked as a briefing attorney for Judge Fred L. Henley of the Missouri Supreme Court. Prior to joining the bench, Justice Lang worked in private practice for nearly 30 years with two firms: Webber, Baker, Allums and, for 24 years, Garderre Wynne Sewell LLP.