South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 1, Ed. 1, September, 2004 Page: 9 of 12
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September2004
Page
Professor Profiles:
Judge Charles Baird
Gene Anthes
Photographer
Known for his Crimi-
nal Trial Advocacy
class, Professor Charles
Baird, a 1980 South Texas
graduate, began teaching
Criminal Law and Crimi-
nal Procedure this semes-
ter at South Texas. I had
the opportunity to sit down
with him and ask him a
few questions, and this is
what he had to say.
IWhat actives do you
enjoy in your free
time?
I enjoy playing golf,
watching movies, and
reading.
2 What do you do to
relieve stress?
As a lawyer, you just have
to realize that stress is go-
ing to be part of your life.
Once you accept that,
dealing with stress be-
comes second nature.
Never decide that you need
to unwind to your client's
detriment. If you have a
trial, don't go out the night
before to see a movie and
unwind. Alcohol and
drugs are definitely not the
way to relieve stress.
3 What is your proud-
est teaching achieve-
ment?
My proudest teaching
achievement was when I
was honored with South
Texas' Professor Excel-
lence Award for the 1999-
2000 academic year. I was
especially honored, be-
cause my name was not on
the ballot, and I only got
the award because my stu-
dents started a write-in
campaign.
4 How did you know
that you wanted to
become a lawyer?
I knew fairly early on that
I wanted to be a lawyer. I
grew up in Gilmer, Texas,
a small town in East Texas
near Tyler. I noticed that
all the well-respected pro-
fessionals in the town were
all lawyers. My parents
were also friends with a lot
of the lawyers, so I grew
up with a lot of respect and
admiration for lawyers.
5 Outside of South
Texas, what other pro-
fessional work do you do?
Right now, lama visiting
judge for the 13th Court of
Appeals in Corpus Christi.
I also am a visiting judge
in Travis County, andido
some mediation work.
6 What advice do you
have for first year stu-
dents?
First year students should
be aware that there are a
lot of smart people in law
school. It's paramount that
you work hard to separate
and distinguish yourself
from other students.
7 What advice do you
have for third year
students who will be
graduating this year?
Take the bar very seri-
ously. Third year students
should bear down and
study hard. It's a difficult
hurdle and you don't want
to have to take it again and
delay your legal career.
8 What books are you
reading right now?
Right now I am reading
"Charlie Wilson's War,"
by George Crile. It's a fas-
cinating book about
Russia's invasion of Af-
ghanistan and how
Charlie Wilson, a con-
gressman from East Texas,
conspired with a CIA op-
erative to help fund what
would be Russia's Viet-
nam.
9 As a judge, what is
the most common
mistake that you see law-
yers make?
Ifrequently see attorney's
who are unprepared. It's
easy for a lawyer get
through law school and
the bar, only to say, "I'm
done studying now." A
lawyer can never stop
studying. The law is so dy-
namic that you have to
constantly be studying to
stay on top of changes. I
also see lawyers who are
unprepared because they
have not talked to their cli-
ent or their witness. If your
prepared, and I, as a judge,
know you have a reputa-
tion for being prepared,
I'm much more receptive to
hearing what you have to
say.
1 What should a
1 \J new lawyer do to
stay abreast with current
law and policy?
The internet is a lawyer's
best resource. Web sites by
the Texas Criminal De-
fense Lawyer 's Association
( http://www. tcdla. com)
and the Texas District and
County Attorney's Assn.
(http://www. tdcaa. com )
are great resources for new
opinions and law from the
appellate courts. If you
stay abreast with new law,
you are going to know
more than your opponent
does (maybe even more
than the judge) and win
your cases.
Judge Charles Baird is a 1980 South Texas grad.
Continued from Page 8
according to information
available on the
organization's website,
"are designed to improve
the skills, professionalism,
and ethics of the bench and
bar." Dean Wheeler states,
"Service is extremely im-
portant to our profession.
Our craft has tremendous
potential to help people....
To be happy with the ca-
reer path we have chosen
one needs to enter it with
the desire to help people."
Professor Olga Moya
states that members of the
legal profession have an
obligation to give to soci-
ety for its improvement.
Members of the legal pro-
fession are counselors, not
merely lawyers. As such,
lawyers are supposed to
help people. Lawyers pos-
sess unique skills, Profes-
sor Moya says. They are
trained to be problem solv-
ers, to be effective commu-
nicators, and to read and to
teach themselves. One
way in which Professor
Moya has put these skills
to use is through service
on numerous boards, in-
cluding the Metro Board,
the Memorial Hermann
Foundation Board, the
City of Houston's Land
Redevelopment Commit-
A number of
Professors
HAVE MADE
worthwhile
contributions
to the pubuc
and to the
profession.
tee, the board of the His-
panic Bar Association,
and Scenic Houston. Pro-
fessor Moya is also the
Director of the South
Texas Continuing Legal
Education program. Al-
though Professor Moya
may not have experience
in the particular fields in-
volved in some of the
boards of which she is a
member, the "lawyering"
skills she possesses enable
her to contribute.
Professor Peter Murphy
has represented defen-
dants at the International
Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia. The
International Criminal Tri-
bunal, which sits in The
Hague, Netherlands, pros-
ecutes offenses of geno-
cide, war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and
breaches of the Geneva
Conventions arising from
the conflict in the former
Yugoslavia in the 1990's.
Professor Murphy believes
that assisting at the Inter-
national Criminal Tribunal
is important for several
reasons. First, a partici-
pant can work to ensure
that the defendants are af-
forded due process rights,
including the right to a fair
trial. Second, the Interna-
tional Criminal Tribunal is
"making ground-breaking
law" in the area of pros-
ecuting offenses of geno-
cide, war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and
breaches of the Geneva
Conventions. Professor
Murphy says that, before
the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia, there was no
law in this area since the
Nuremberg Tribunal at the
end of World Warn. Fi-
nally, Professor Murphy
hopes that the Interna-
tional Criminal Tribunal
experience will persuade
the U.S. eventually to re-
verse its policy of opposi-
tion to the International
Criminal Court, which
Professor Murphy believes
is an ill-advised policy,
harmful to both the United
States and to the develop-
ment of the International
Criminal Court. Professor
Murphy has also estab-
lished an internship pro-
gram for South Texas stu-
dents with the Interna-
tional Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia
defense teams. Interested
students can speak to Pro-
fessor Murphy, or Assis-
tant Deans Dennis or Mor-
row. For information
about the International
Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia gener-
ally, Professor Murphy
recommends that one visit
www.un.org/icty.
These professors are
demonstrating service to
the public and to the pro-
fession through their con-
tributions, and serve as ex-
amples of what students
should strive to be, as pro-
fessionals. "Admission to
practice is only the begin-
ning of a lifetime of study,
self-improvement, and ad-
vance in knowledge and
skill." Commonwealth v.
Brown, 20 N.E.2d 478,
481 (Mass. 1939).
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Hennessey, Patrick J., III. South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 1, Ed. 1, September, 2004, newspaper, September 2004; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144566/m1/9/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.