www.elpasobar.com
110th Anniversary
May/2008
EL PASO’S LEGAL HISTORY REVEALED
DEATH OF A LAWYER
Page 8
Migratory
Streams
Page 6
Fall’s Plea
for Pardon
Page 15
May 2008
El Paso’s Greatest
Leader Part II
Page 18
EL PASO B A R B U L L E T I N
W. Reed Leverton, P.C.
Attorney at Law • Mediator • Arbitrator
Alternative Dispute Resolution Services




Experience:
Commitment to A.D.R. Processes: 
Commitment to Professionalism: 
Your mediation referrals are always appreciated.
LET’S
TALK
online calendaring
HardieMediation.com
845-6400 / 845-5099 fax
May 2008
3
THE PRESIDENT’S PAGE
State Bar of Texas
Award of Merit


Star of Achievement 
State Bar of Texas
Best Overall Newsletter – 2003, 2007
Publication Achievement Award
2003 – 2005 – 2006 – 2007
NABE – LexisNexis Community
& Educational Outreach Award 2007
JUDGE ROBERT ANCHONDO, 
CORI HARBOUR, 
CARLOS CARDENAS,
CHANTEL CREWS, 
JUDGE DICK ALCALA,
JUSTICE ANN MCCLURE,

2007-2010 BOARD MEMBERS















EX-OFFICIO
ELIZABETH ROGERS, 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

[email protected]
STEPHANIE TOWNSEND ALLALA,
JUDGE OSCAR GABALDON,

CLINTON CROSS, 
NANCY GALLEGO, 
“The El Paso Bar Journal is a bi-monthly publication of
the El Paso Bar Association. Articles, notices, suggestions
and/or comments should be sent to the attention of Nancy
Gallego. All submissions mus be received by the Bar
office on or before the 10th day of the month preceding
publication. Calendar listings, classified ads, display
ads, and feature articles should not be considered an
endorsement of any service, product, program, seminar
or event. Please contact the Bar office for ad rates. Articles published in the Bar Journal do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the El Paso Bar Association,
its Officers, or the Board of directors. The El Paso
Bar Association does not endorse candidates for
political office. An article in the Bar Journal is not
and should never be construed to be, an endorsement
of a person for political office.”
The Next Generation






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
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


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
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
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










Continued on page 4
May 2008
4
                   
May Bar Luncheon



Surprise Guest Speaker TBA
Please make your reservations by Monday, May 12, 2008
at noon by calling Nancy at 532-7052 or via email at
Continued from page 3

















     

JUDGE ROBERT ANCHONDO,

Articles published in the Bar Journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the El Paso Bar Association,
its Officers, or the Board of directors. The El Paso Bar Association does not endorse candidates for political
office. An article in the Bar Journal is not and should never be construed to be, an endorsement of a person
for political office.
The El Paso Bar Association’s Bar Bulletin is
proudly designed and published by
DEL PUEBLO PRESS, INC.
We are located on 203 Mills in the historic Cortez
Building in Downtown El Paso. Contact us at
(915) 545-1598 or [email protected].
May 2008
5

C A L E N D A R OF EVENT S
May 2008
Thursday, May 1
EPWBA Meeting
Friday, May 2
Coffee & Donuts in Bar Office
Friday, May 2
MABA General Meeting
Monday, May 5
& Tuesday, May 6
El Paso Indigent Defense
Seminar
Tuesday, May 6
EPBA Board Meeting
Saturday, May 10
May the Music Live On!
Tuesday, May 13
EPBA Monthly Luncheon
Thursday, May 15
EPPA General Meeting
Thursday, May 15
FBA Brown Bag Seminar
Friday, May 16
Coffee & Donuts in Bar Office
Monday, May 26
Memorial Day, EPBA
& County Courthouse Closed
Saturday, May 31
EPWBA 2008 Charity Bash
PLEASE NOTE: Please check the Bulletin for all the details regarding all above listed events. If your club, organization,
section or committee would like to put a notice or an announcement in the Bar Bulletin for your upcoming event or function for
the month of June, 2008, please have the information to the Bar Association office by Thursday, May 9, 2008. In order to publish your
information we must have it in writing. WE WILL MAKE NO EXCEPTIONS. We also reserve the right to make any editorial changes
as we deem necessary. Please note that there is no charge for this service: (915) 532-7052; (915) 532-7067-fax; [email protected]. If we do not receive your information by the specified date please note that we may try to remind you, but putting this bulletin
together every month is a very big task and we may not have the time to remind you. So please don’t miss out on the opportunity to have
your event announced.
Save the Date!
EL PASO COUNTY
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
CENTER MEDIATION:




Please join us in honoring the
2008 Winner of the Trailblazer Award
Judge Kathleen Olivares



Tickets: $100.00






May 2008
6
Ambrosio Larrazolo
Josiah Crosby
Elfego Baca
Migratory Streams

You can’t choose your relatives. Nor your
culture. As children, we absorb the world that
surrounds us without screening our family’s
cultural values. As a result, we are reflections of
our larger culture, and reflections from the smaller
sub-cultural groups and the individuals (ethnic,
religious, national) that are part of our world. As
William Faulkner once said, “The past is not dead
and buried; indeed, it is not even past.”
This series of articles will explore the origins of
lawyers who grew up as members of identifiable
sub-cultural groups. It is not the “whole story,”
but it is part of our story.

       


      




     









    
      



      



     
      




      
       
        
Murder and Justice
in Frontier New Mexico 1821-1846 





May 2008










  Las Siete Partidas  
       















     
      
7
   de facto    
ad hoc






Cobb, El Paso County and the State
of Texas



       
     



       


       
      
     





   
        




       

       

       





      

         



        


    
        


Baca is perhaps best remembered for his confrontation in 1884
with dozens (he claimed 80) drunken cowboys who fired hundreds
(Baca claimed 4,000) shots at an adobe house where Baca was
holed up. After many hours (Baca claimed 36) the still somewhat
intoxicated cowboys ran out of bullets, got tired, and rode away

      






     


Elfego Baca In Life and Legend

     


     



     
       



      
May 2008


Id.
      
       
     









supra



       
supra
Next month: the first Jewish lawyer; the
first woman lawyer (if we can figure it out); the
first Black lawyer (if we can figure it out); and
the first lawyers of Arabic, Chinese, Korean,
Bangladeshian and Albanian descent.
8
The Terminal Building at El Paso International Airport in the 1950s
Six Days Before the Music Died
The Assassination of Ted Andress



     
    
     
    

    
        

       
No Country for Old
Men,


No Country 

    
      
       





    
Theodore Andress, for whom Andress
      High School is named, in 1941 Herald Post

Staff photo

       
cumThe El       
Paso Times 
May 2008

       

Times





El
Paso Times    Herald Post 

       

    
         

     
     
     
      
    

       


       
     
     
      

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
     
     

   

    


     
    
    

     

    
   

    
     



    


     
     


      
    
     





    
     


   
     
   
       

     



    

     
   
     
    
   
   
       
   

Andress’ Jaycee Award was front page news in WW II-torn 1942
     

            
             
  
  
        

    
       
  
  
 

  
          
  
  
  
    The El Paso Times  

     
          Ben Hur
               
          

 
 El Paso 
 Herald Post      
               
       
        
  
  
May 2008
10

     
   

      

     
     
   
   


     


   

     



  


   

   
    



May 2008
      
     
    

    




    




     
    


    


      




   
    


      
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



         
     




       
         

       
      













The El Paso Times

      


        
        
    
     

       


     
     
          
     



El Paso Herald Post





    
Andress editorial

        

                              
      
     
    
       



May 2008


        
      
       
      

        
     
         
    
     
      
         

      







     


        


       



       

      





      
     
       





     
The El Paso Times   




     
       



12









       

Times



‘50s Courthouse: remodeling of the 1917 Courthouse, at left, began in 1955 and continued through
       
1959, at right, but parts of the building were still not completed by 1963 acording to an August 11,

1963 El Paso Times article on the history of El Paso’s courthouses

      
         
       

 
  
This article was written in appreciation of the request of El Paso Bar President, the Hon. Robert Anchondo, to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Bar Association with assistance and encouragement from
Clinton Cross and Stephanie Townsend Allala for which the author is very grateful. The following resources have been used: David Halberstam, The Fifties (Villard Books, New York – 1993); David Kushner, Cormac
McCarthy’s Apocalypse, Rolling Stone Magazine Dec. 27, 2007; the Paul Freund Collection, Harvard Law School Library; The El Paso Times and The El Paso Herald Post at the archives of the El Paso Public Library;
personal interviews. EPIA photos courtesy of the Office of EPIA Administration, Pat Abeln, Director of Aviation. This presentation includes the creative work of others. This property is being used by permission or under
a claim of “fair use” pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §107, and was created pursuant to fair use guidelines and further use is prohibited.
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13
                    
Judge George Rodriguez, Sr. and George Rodriguez Jr.
“Swearing in” ceremony, Dec. 16, 1965
GEORGE RODRIGUEZ

This month, I interviewed
George Rodriguez. George
presently practices law with
Delgado, Acosta, Spencer,
Linebarger & Perez.
George is a fifth generation
lawyer. His life is part of
our history.
CROSS: Tell me about your parents;
your childhood.
RODRIGUEZ: 




     



      





May 2008





     


       

     

    
        



14
      
       






    




      
      
      






CROSS: Where did you go to school?
RODRIGUEZ: 

CROSS:     

RODRIGUEZ: 
     

The Commissioner’s Court appointed me County Attorney in
1971. I think Travis had something to do with that too. I was
elected County Attorney in 1972. I resigned in 1982 to work
for Governor Mark White, in the Governor’s Office of Border
Affairs. In 1991, Attorney General Dan Morales hired me as
an Assistant Attorney General and assigned me to the El Paso
Regional Office. I worked for Attorney Generals Morales,
Cornyn, and Abbott.
RODRIGUEZ:     

     
        

    



       

      
   

    

       
       
     

CROSS: 
RODRIGUEZ: 


CROSS: 

RODRIGUEZ: 
             
         
 

CROSS: 
CROSS: 
RODRIGUEZ: 


Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and
The El Paso County Public Defender present:
The El Paso Indigent Defense Seminar
Law At The Pass: A Hands-on Trial Skills Course
May 6 & 7, 2008, Camino Real Hotel
COST: $25.00 with CD only and $50.00 with book
Call Bruce Ponder at 546-8185 to register.
       
     



CROSS:     

RODRIGUEZ:      
     
       
        


      




       
     

       
      


      
       


MEXICAN LAW EXPERT
For U.S. lawsuits involving Mexican law issues
Mexican claims and defenses, personal injury, moral damages,
forum non conveniens
Texas attorney and former law professor
Co-author of leading treatise in field
Over 10 years of expert experience
David Lopez (210) 222-9494
May 2008
[email protected]
15
Secretary Albert Bacon Fall:
Plea for Pardon
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
     

   
  
     






        







I. Background


   
        


        
      
     

        



       

       


      
      








      
May 2008




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

      



      

     



    
     
      

      


       
      


     
     
      



      
    

II. Teapot Dome



     


       
     
     

     


     
      








      
Fall, who had no means of raising any money, lost his
ranch valued at $750,000 due to his inability to repay the
$100,000 loan the government considered a bribe! In
1929, Doheny foreclosed on Fall’s ranch at Three Rivers
at a sheriff’s sale for $168,250. A few months later, to add
insult to injury, Secretary Fall was found guilty of accepting
a bribe that Doheny was later acquitted of giving.





       









     
        
     
       
         
       
     

    




   




      




         

         
      
May 2008


       
      
     



       




        

III. History Reveals Truth












       

       

      








17




        





       
         

        
      
      







“The most compelling example I can think
of in bolstering the plea [for pardon] comes
from a brief conversation I had a few years ago
with Stewart Udall, who served as secretary
of the interior under Presidents Kennedy and
Johnson. Prior to Udall’s tenure in the cabinet,
Fall’s portrait had not been displayed among the
other secretaries of the interior in that imposing
federal office building. Instead it had been
relegated to an obscure storage area where it
became dirty and blemished. Udall ordered the
restoration of the portrait, and that it should
be displayed among the other secretaries. I
asked Udall why he had done so. He replied
that it had been an obvious decision. Fall had
taken on the burdens of serving as interior
secretary, had paid his debt to society in prison,
and therefore his portrait should be restored to
its rightful place among the others. In other
words, Udall seemed to say that as far as he was
concerned the record on Fall was cleared.”
     
     
   
     
     

       



       

  
       








1 The government successfully recovered $47 million
IV. Plea for Pardon

      from the oil the Mammoth Oil Company drilled from
       Teapot Dome.
Where Do You Stand On Pro Se?

    

     



     
      
     




      

     
       








       


   


       
        
May 2008
       
       
      
      



     



      

      
        




        
      
     

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R.E. Thomason
El Paso’s Greatest Leader. Part II

This photo is reprinted with permission from the El Paso Public Library
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





      
        
       
      

      









     

       
      
       
    



















     
     






“The district court called a case against Ras
Adam, a well known Negro charged with burglary.
Ras had no lawyer and no money, but the Judge told
him that there were three young lawyers in town: Bill
Midkiff, Charlie Pearman and Ewing Thomason,
and that he could take his choice. The Judge then
asked the three of us to stand up; Midkiff and I did
so, but Pearman was not in the court room. The
Judge told Ras he could have any one of the three.
Ras looked at Bill and at me and said, “Judge, if
it is the same with you, I’ll take the one not here.”
April 2008

       






“Well, it must be Judge Thomason. I worked
for Judge Boynton for twenty two years and hardly
a day would pass that I would not take him a stack
of law books and he would pour over them. I
have been working for Judge Thomason for five
years now and he hasn’t needed a law book yet!”
Next Month, as the Saga of Era concludes
19
Our Reputation Precedes Us

Memoirs
and Essays  

    
      

     
      
       
     

      


    
      

     


    
        




      



        
      
      


     

       

     


     


       
       





Reputation is the overall quality or character as seen or judged
by people in general. It concerns the recognition by other
people of some characteristic or ability, such as being clever,
clumsy, honest or dishonest. Reputation concerns a place in
public esteem, i.e. how a person is regarded

      



      

       
      


      


     
May 2008

     

        



      
       
    





20




       



     
     


      

    

        

      



      


      

(Footnotes)
1 Reputation Essays. http://www.ssqq.com/stories/advent51.
htm.
2 Quote from Nathaniel Branden.





S T E V E N C. J A M E S
    

RESOLVING DISPUTES THROUGH
MEDIATION OR ARBITRATION


    



   



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








May 2008
21


[email protected]
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


    
    
       
      



     
     
       
       

     
      







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




       






         
        
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
      

 

       


        
 


 
 


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  
   
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  
A New Member Benefit from the El Paso Bar Association!
     
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 

Law Office of David Wilton
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
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
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

Your local of-counsel throughout California
Licensed in California and Texas
May 2008
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22
ASSOCIATION NEWS
El Paso Women’s Bar Association
■ 















El Paso Paralegal Association
■ 


Federal Bar Association
■ 

■ 

El Paso Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
■ 

CLASSIFIEDS
Central Office Space for
Lease: Office space available,
receptionist, runner, conference
rooms, parking, etc. Call Bob Earp
or Larry Schwartz at 542-1533.
Downtown Office Space
Available for Lease: Central
area, within 1 or 2 blocks walking
distance to all courts, receptionist,
runner, conference rooms, parking,
etc. Call Adriana at 792-9401.
May 2008
23

May 31, 2008, Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel
2027 Airway Blvd. El Paso, TX 79925
Tickets $100.00 per person
Proceeds to benefit the newly created EPWBA Foundation



For more information, please contact Alex Kellner-Zant at [email protected] or
Diana Valdez at [email protected].
May 2008
May the Music Live on!



Saturday, May 10, 2008, “May the Music Live On!
Celebrating the life of John Denis May, Sr.,





All proceeds will go to The El Paso Summer Music Festival.


EL PASO BAR ASSOCIATION



PRESORTED
STANDARD
U. S. POSTAGE
PAID
EL PASO, TEXAS
PERMIT NO. 2516
(Address Service Requested)
May 2008