Bill Shaddock (JD ’77) believes strongly that Baylor Law should be preparing not only excellent lawyers, but excellent leaders.
“It is not only our duty to equip students from a legal knowledge standpoint, but to also teach them how they will ultimately best be able to make a positive difference in the world,” said Shaddock recently in a Docket Call story. “It is incumbent upon Baylor Law to create great lawyers who are also great leaders.”
This summer, Bill showed what kind of leaders Baylor Law alumni can be. When several Baylor Law students saw their summer internships eliminated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bill stepped in and created internships for them within his own company.
“Mr. Shaddock has always been incredibly supportive of the Law School,” said Baylor Law Assistant Dean of Career Development Angela Cruseturner. “He called in very typical Bill Shaddock fashion and said, ‘Angela, tell me what you need.’”
Bill had already taken one Baylor Law student as an intern for the summer, but when Angela said they needed help finding internships for those students who had seen their positions cancelled due to the pandemic, he signed on for four more.
Taking his support a step further, he appeared in a Baylor Law recruitment video where he encouraged his fellow alumni to step forward and consider hiring Baylor Law students for internships to provide them “the opportunity we all wish we could have had and need as part of our professional growth toward becoming lawyers and contributing citizens.”
“I think it’s something unique to Baylor,” Cruseturner said “Our alumni know us, and they know who to call when they want to help. The surprise was not the phone call. Bill understands that he’s in a position to help, which he did, but he didn’t stop there. He also helped us with the video, and several alumni responded and provided short-term opportunities for our students, giving them research projects and other employment to help them through this season.”
Bill’s Baylor Law interns are working within a large network of real estate-related companies Bill has established in the Dallas area. Those companies employ more than 1,000 employees and include Shaddock Development Company, Willow Bend Mortgage Company, Shaddock Law Firm, Capital Title of Texas (the largest independent title company in the United States) and First National Title Insurance Company (the 9th largest title insurance company in the United States).
Beyond internships, Bill and his wife, Kim, have been long-time supporters of Baylor Law, helping students through scholarships and supporting faculty by helping to create the Business Law Boot Camp and other leadership development programming.
He also gives back through his time – joining classes as a guest lecturer and working with faculty to encourage them as they develop new opportunities for Baylor students interested in business law, like the development of The Closer, the first national transactional law competition of its kind.
Bill truly leads through his actions, and he sets a strong example of how our Baylor alumni can give of their time, their talents and their treasure to create a transformational impact on Baylor’s students.
Give Light is a $1.1 billion comprehensive campaign for the future of Baylor University. The campaign undergirds Illuminate, the University's Academic Strategic Plan, and will impact every aspect of campus life, from academics and athletics to student life and global engagement.
