Texas “Super Lawyer” and Raising the Bar Author Talmage Boston to Speak at Pitt on April 11

Described as a “public defender of his legal brethren,” Talmage Boston is on a mission to restore the reputation of the legal profession. Among his goals is instilling in lawyers the integrity and honor that practitioners such as the nation’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, and the fictional Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird embodied.

“What’s needed to be a fine lawyer,” said Boston, “[is] the ability to communicate, solve problems, be intellectually honest, pay attention to detail, show empathy, maintain personal discipline, and have emotional intelligence.” Boston—who maintains a full-time law practice as a commercial trial and appellate litigator and shareholder in the Dallas office of Winstead PC, one of the largest business law firms in Texas—is the author of Raising the Bar: The Crucial Role of the Lawyer in Society (TexasBarBooks, 2012). 

On April 11, Boston will deliver two free public lectures at the University of Pittsburgh in his dual role as lawyer and author: “What Lawyers and Law Students Can Learn From Abraham Lincoln About Professionalism and Communication” from noon to 1 p.m. in the lower lounge of the William Pitt Union; and “Lessons in Ethics and Excellence From the Two Most Important Lawyers of the Last 50 Years—Leon Jaworski and James Baker,” at 5 p.m. in the Teplitz Memorial Moot Courtroom of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.  

Both lectures are presented by Pitt’s Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy, University Honors College, and School of Law. Although the events are free and open to the public, advance registration is requested because of limited seating. Visit www.law.pitt.edu/events to register and/or for more information. 

Raising the Bar profiles the lives, careers, and impact of lawyers who have, according to Boston, made an imprint in the public’s consciousness in positive, creative ways. The book includes a foreword by Pitt alumnus and emeritus trustee Dick Thornburgh (LAW ’57)—former governor of Pennsylvania, former U.S. Attorney General, and currently counsel to the international law firm K&L Gates LLP in its Washington, D.C., office—who will introduce Boston and moderate the audience discussion at both events. Before and after each program, Boston will be available to sign copies of Raising the Bar, which will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be available at the noon presentation, and an open reception will follow the 5 p.m. program.

The Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board has approved the 5 p.m. lecture for 1 hour of substantive credit, for which there is a $25 fee. Checks for CLE credit should be made payable to the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Established in 2007, the Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy at the University of Pittsburgh fosters public education and civic action on important public policy issues, building on the legacy of Thornburgh. Among the forum’s goals are to promote able and principled governance at all levels, to advance the rule of law at home and abroad, and to assist the government’s response to the special needs of persons with disabilities, many of them wounded in service to their country. 

The University of Pittsburgh dedicated the University Honors College more than a quarter century ago, in 1987. Its mission is to assist the larger University as it seeks to meet the special academic and extracurricular needs of Pitt’s most motivated and inquisitive undergraduate students by providing intellectual challenges, inspiring individual effort, and fostering independence of mind and self-discovery. The University Honors College also seeks to attract to Pitt students who have unusual talent, curiosity, drive, and philanthropic disposition.

Founded in 1895, the University of Pittsburgh School of Law is a center of legal scholarship and a diverse community of learning committed to preparing students to meet the challenges and embrace the opportunities of a 21st-century legal practice in Pittsburgh, throughout the nation, and around the world. Through teaching, scholarship, and public service, Pitt’s School of Law has for more than 115 years prepared students to become excellent lawyers and leaders in the legal and other professions; enlarged society’s understanding of law and its underlying institutions, processes, and policies; and provided expertise, support, and service to governmental units, local and national organizations, the legal profession, and the people and communities of Western Pennsylvania and beyond.