Dozens of colleagues and friends of Jim Alfini, dean emeritus and professor of law at South Texas College of Law Houston, gathered this week to celebrate his 15-year tenure at the law school.
Attendees took turns sharing memorable stories about Alfini and thanking him for his extensive contributions to the school. Alfini also took the opportunity to thank STCL Houston faculty, staff, and administrators, noting that the friendships he has made through the years will be the thing he will miss most upon his retirement.
Alfini was South Texas College of Law Houston’s ninth dean from 2003 to 2009 and has continued to serve the school as dean emeritus and professor of law for the past nine years. He also serves as a senior fellow in the Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution, the focal point for dispute resolution at STCL Houston.
He is the recipient of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Civil Trial Mediators.
“I left a small law school in a small college town where there was a strong sense of community,” said Alfini. “I was concerned I would find a law school four times the size in the downtown of the fourth-largest city in the country as being much more impersonal – the opposite is true… There is a strong sense of community that starts with the faculty and staff, is clearly present in the student body, and is found in alumni as well,” said Alfini when he joined STCL Houston after serving as professor of law and dean at Northern Illinois University College of Law.
Alfini is widely published in the field of judicial ethics and is co-author of Judicial Conduct and Ethics. He served on the American Bar Association Joint Commission to Evaluate the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. The Commission’s work resulted in the 2007 Model Code of Judicial Conduct, adopted by the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.
He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his J.D. from Northwestern University.
“From those staff members who deliver the mail, to those in management positions, Alfini’s ability to listen to our needs and work together with us as a team to solve problems and move the institution forward has made him a real hero in the eyes of the staff,” said Greg Brothers, senior vice president and CFO at STCL Houston.