Friday, June 7, 2024
A legend of the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law will retire on June 30. Ernest “Ernie” Higginbotham has been the leader of the law school's Judge Louis A. Bedford Jr. Mentorship Program for nearly a decade. Under his guidance, the program has helped more than 800 graduates
complete law school and enabled them to make valuable connections within the legal
community.
Ernie Higginbotham with Retired Judge Royal Furgeson, Dean Emeritus of UNT Dallas College of Law
“One of the very best decisions I ever made as Dean of UNT Dallas College of Law was to ask (Ernie) to lead our mentor program,” said Royal Furgeson, former U.S. District Judge and Dean Emeritus of the UNT Dallas College of Law. “When (he) accepted my invitation, I knew that we would have a mentor program marked by extraordinary success, and it has been thus so.”
Higginbotham joined the Bedford Mentorship program as a mentor in the fall of 2014, when the College of Law was founded. After just one semester, he saw the value this program offered to students. He then talked with Furgeson about volunteering to organize the program further. Furgeson hired Higginbotham instead, and he officially joined the College of Law in April 2015.
This unique mentorship model was the brainchild of Professor Cheryl Wattley, the College of Law's Director of Experiential Education, and has drawn widespread support from Dallas’ legal community. It is named after the first Black judge in Dallas County, who served from 1966 to 1980.
In its first year, more than 90 attorneys volunteered to serve as mentors. Wattley
said Higginbotham’s law connections in Dallas — and his reputation — helped him recruit
and enlist attorneys he knew would care about the students as much as he did.
Ernest "Ernie" Higginbotham, Inaugural and Retiring Leader of the Judge Louis A. Bedford, Jr. Mentorship Program
“Being a lawyer isn’t a job; it’s a calling, and Ernie was able to translate that into his recruiting,” Wattley said. “I think that was absolutely critical, and it’s what makes our program different. Ernie’s reputation continued to give our program the stature we gained in that very first year. He helped make it more solid.”
In his role, Higginbotham recruited more than 350 members of the Dallas legal community and almost a hundred UNT Dallas College of Law alumni to mentor first-year law students. Mentors range from practicing attorneys to sitting and retired judges.
The Bedford Mentorship program takes place during the first year of law school and is a graduation requirement. It allows students to interact with practicing attorneys, develop their professional networks and gain insight into the Dallas legal market. Students are divided into small groups of eight to 10 people, and each group has three to four mentors.
Most importantly, the Bedford Mentorship program has connected alumni to the school
and the school to the community.
Ernie Higginbotham Speaks at a Mentorship Program Reception
“It has been a culmination of something that I’ve always valued in all the different roles I’ve had, and that’s probably one reason it attracted me to be a mentor,” Higginbotham said. “I’ve always enjoyed working with and developing and encouraging new lawyers. (The program) has allowed me to use that desire to help people.”
A Career in Service
Higginbotham attended first through seventh grades in the Dallas Public School System before his family moved to Carthage, Texas, where he graduated from high school. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University. In 1969, he served as a Field Artillery officer in Vietnam and Cambodia. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, and an Army Commendation Medal for bravery.
Back in Texas, he graduated from the University of Texas School of Law with honors. Higginbotham served as a Briefing Attorney for the Texas Supreme Court before joining the firm of Strasburger, Price, Kelton, Martin & Unis (now Strasburger & Price, L.L.P.). He was in private practice for 27 years and retired early as a Senior Partner.
In an email, Furgeson praised Higginbotham as a “remarkable lawyer, universally admired for (his) intellect and skill and honorable conduct.” He went on to say that Higginbotham was “always considered the best of the best.”
Higginbotham began the next phase of his career as vice president of litigation at
Nortel Networks, an international technology company based in Canada. He retired a
second time and then became Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Government
Affairs for UnitedLex Corporation. A third retirement led him to his role at UNT Dallas.
Ernie Higginbotham Holds Up The Dallas Morning News Front Page Reporting the Death of President John F. Kennedy at a College of Law Event Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Assassination
Throughout his career, Higginbotham looked for opportunities to help others. In private practice, he recruited women and people of color to join the firm. When he worked with teams of lawyers, he tried to make sure everyone felt involved, engaged, and appreciated.
This trait undoubtedly made Higginbotham an ideal choice to lead the Bedford Mentorship program. Current College of Law Dean Felecia Epps noted that many students are first-generation law students with no lawyers in their families and few role models in the legal field.
“The Bedford Mentorship program allows them to make an in-person connection with a practicing attorney — someone who has already navigated through law school and has experience practicing law,” she said. “Ernie was a good fit for this position because of his experience practicing law, his knowledge of the Dallas legal community, and his engaging personality.”
An Enduring Legacy
Higginbotham has participated in numerous professional organizations throughout his career, including the American Law Institute; the American, Texas and Dallas Bar Foundations; and the State Bar of Texas Antitrust and Business Litigation Section. He has been included in the list of The Best Lawyers in America (Business Litigation) and was a faculty member of the ALI-ABA Course of Study on Civil Practice and Litigation Techniques in Federal and State Courts.
His community involvement has included the Greater Dallas Community of Churches, Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, First Presbyterian Church of Dallas Foundation, and Leadership Dallas. He is an Elder and Sunday School Teacher at the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, volunteers weekly at the Second Chance Café at The Bridge homeless assistance center and is the lead volunteer for the monthly Family Stabilization Food Program at The Stewpot.
Ernie Higginbotham Visits with Representatives of the American Legal Institute
Higginbotham emphasizes community service and giving back in his advice to current and future law students. He also encourages students to work hard, be honest, and look to their network of peers and mentors when they have questions.
“Civic, social, and religious organizations always have a place for a lawyer who’s interested and committed and available,” he said. “Take advantage of your opportunities and reach back and help those coming behind you. That’s what professionals do. We’re all better off if we all do better.”
Wattley hopes the future of the Bedford Mentorship program looks just like the present — that the program Higginbotham has built continues to endure and serve its students. She points to the College of Law alumni who return as volunteers as a sign of the program’s success.
She also echoed sentiments that the program was fortunate to have Higginbotham at
the helm for nearly a decade. She said he leads by example, showing respect and consideration
to students and mentors alike, and makes an impact simply by his presence.
Ernie Higginbotham with Former Law Partner Kevin B. Wiggins and Dr. Paula Diobbs-Wiggins, Longtime Friends Who Attended His Retirement Reception on Friday, June 7, 2024.
“I am very disheartened to see him go,” Wattley said. “He was such an asset. He is such a gentleman who, by his presence, was a reminder of what we want our students to be as professionals.”
In 2019, Higginbotham established the Bedford Mentors College of Law Endowed Scholarship to honor the mentors and provide scholarships for UNT Dallas law students.
“These 10 years at this new law school have been a most rewarding chapter in the 50 years I have been in the Dallas legal community,” he said.
From UNT Dallas – College of Law News