Lessons of the Law

“I’ve become somewhat disenchanted with the judicial system and this opportunity provides me a better way to try and improve the system’s conscience,” says Dallas attorney Cheryl Wattley, who this month starts a one-year teaching stint at the SMU School of Law.

Wattley, 38, has worked on some of the most widely publicized trials in Dallas County history. She was lead counsel in the mistrial of 1-30 condo king Danny Faulkner, (He was later convicted in a retrial after Wattley had left to spend more time with her family and practice.) Last May, Wattley sat sidechair for attorney Billy Ravkind during the retrial and acquittal of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price on assault charges.

Wattley downplays any connection between her hiring and recent protests by SMU students after a West African associate law professor was denied tenure or a recent letter from the American Bar Association that cited the law school as inattentive to the needs of minority students. But Wattley suggests achieving a better racial balance in higher education is still a long way off.

“I can remember the same situations years ago when I was in law school. And I was pleased in both instances to see many Anglo students troubled by the state of affairs and not automatically align themselves with their own race. But I can’t help but think there seems to be very little forward movement if we’re still experiencing this today.”