A Tribute to Bill Hilgers

BY TOM WATKINS

It is time to celebrate the life of Bill Hilgers, my longtime law partner and friend.

But, to understand Bill, you have to start in the early 1940s.

A description of Bill’s education reads “attended the University of Texas plan II 1941 – 1943; BBA 1947.” Some students take a gap year. Bill took more than a gap year. He took three years. Bill’s education gap encompassed a different type of education.

With more than thirty combat flight missions over Germany as a navigator and bombardier, an Air Medal and a Distinguished Flying Cross each with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and a Purple Heart, Bill returned to civilian life. He was part of the greatest generation.

Much has been said about the greatest generation. Much can be said about Bill Hilgers. Much can be said about Bill’s contributions to the legal profession:

• President of the Travis County [now Austin] Bar Association

• Director of the State Bar of Texas

• Chairman of the State Bar Board of Directors

• Member of the Board of Bar Examiners

• Chair of the Supreme Court Grievance Oversight Committee

• Chair of the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation

• Chair of the Texas Center for Legal Ethics

• Chair of the Legal Aid and Defender Society of Central Texas

Much can be said about Bill’s contributions to music:

• Member of the UT Student Opera Company

• Member of the UT Student Glee Club

• Member of the University of Texas A Cappella Choir

• Member of the UT Student Symphonic Band

• Member of the UT Student Longhorn Band

• Founding member of the James Dick Foundation for the Performing Arts

• Member of the Board of KMFA

• Member of the Board of Directors of the Austin Symphony

Much can be said about Bill’s contributions to the study of religion and philosophy:

• Founding member of the University Christian Church

• Chair of the Foundation for Religious Studies

• Chair of the Texas Bible Chair Foundation at UT

• President of the Christian Church in Texas

• Member of the Philosophical Society of Texas

Much can be said about Bill’s contributions to education and social justice issues:

• Chair of the Del Valle ISD Board of Trustees

• Chair of the Human Opportunities Corporation

• Co-chair of the Advisory Council, UT Psychology Department

• Foundation Trustee for the Center for Battered Women

• Liaison Counsel for the Institute for the Humanities

• Member of the Board of Trustees for the Austin Collaborative for Children

Bill was an early undercover progressive. You had to know him for a long time to discover his firm belief in the constitutional mandate “to form a more perfect union.” Bill always believed we could do better.

Bill had the vision, patience, and perseverance to get things done.

Go behind the Barbara Jordan Statue at the Austin airport and read about Bill’s part in its creation and selection.

Visit hearings of the Board of Disciplinary Appeals or the Commission on Lawyer Discipline and remember Bill’s part in the reform of lawyer discipline.

Visit a concert at Festival Institute and experience the music Bill loved and helped preserve.

View Hilgers House, the new home of the Austin Bar, to realize the respect he enjoyed.

Listen to some of the many attorneys Bill influenced:

“He was a very special man. I got to clerk for Mr. Hilgers (only ever called him Mr. Hilgers) my first summer after law school. He had just become the first chair of the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism (which he led the effort to establish), and I was helping with the legal content he was creating. I was very intimidated in the beginning. He had a scholarly and very formal presence, but he was a warm and kind man, who taught me a great deal. Very grateful to have had the chance to know him.” —Hal Katz

“I have so many wonderful memories of ‘the good old days,’ including Bill doing his walk-about around the office and saying hi to everyone.” —Heidi Bloch

“He was a bear, sometimes quiet, sometimes not. But he somehow lifted up a really big group of loyal lawyers to be greater than even his own legacy.” —Julian Rivera

“Bill was a memorable and important character in my life. Karmically before I got this news today, I thought of one of our many memorable interactions I had with him and luckily it was one of the funny ones rather than contentious ones! He was a class act and a great leader of the firm. And getting called into his office as a law clerk when you screwed up was one of the most intimidating and impressionable moments of my life, even 40 years later!” —Jim McClendon

“Bill was a force of nature, widely respected, and a leader in the promotion of giving to the community.” —Mark Chouteau

Bill always had dozens of new ideas and projects, even well into his 80s. Some possible, some not. Unfortunately for his son and my dear law partner, David Hilgers, it was his job to convince Bill which was which.

For me, I remember firm picnics and firm retreats orchestrated by Bill. I remember a warm and caring partner. I remember being urged, cajoled, and sometimes pressured to give back to the community.

With him gone, we will all have to try harder to form a more perfect union. AL

Tom Watkins is Senior Counsel at Husch Blackwell. He was a longtime friend and former partner of Bill Hilgers.