Chief Justice Ann Crawford McClure
The Texas Center for Legal Ethics announced that former Chief Justice Ann Crawford McClure of the Eighth Court of Appeals in El Paso will receive the Chief Justice Jack Pope Professionalism Award.
The TCLE presents the Pope Award to a judge or attorney who personifies the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in appellate law. The award is named for former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jack Pope, one of the Texas Center for Legal Ethics’ founders and the first individual to receive the Award in 2009.
Chief Justice McClure served on the committee that drafted the Texas Standards for Appellate Conduct, the first set of ethical guidelines in the country that applied specifically to appellate lawyers. She was the only sitting appellate justice on that committee and played an active role in the drafting process. Under her leadership, the El Paso Court of Appeals was the first court to adopt the standards, and she authored the first appellate opinion to cite the standards.
“Chief Justice McClure exemplified the highest standards of professionalism as a practicing lawyer and as an appellate justice. In both roles she made immense contributions to legal ethics in Texas,” appellate attorney Kevin Dubose said in a news release. Dubose is immediate past chair of the Texas Center for Legal Ethics Board of Trustees.
The award will be presented to Chief Justice McClure by Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht at the Annual Texas Supreme Court Historical Society John Hemphill Dinner on Friday, December 3 in Austin.