Courthouse welcomes ‘Champions for Justice’

Offering up gratitude to God for the “august assembly” represented in the crowd of well-wishers collected at the Jefferson County Courthouse courtyard on Feb. 9, the Rev. John Adolph invoked continued blessings for those entering the hallowed halls of justice marked for the better by the works of three men whose likeness now adorn the public entranceway.

“Damn few,” they are, the monument attests from the carved stone bestowing the bronze busts of Southeast Texas powerhouse attorneys Wayne A. Reaud, Gilbert I. “Buddy” Low and Walter Umphrey.

Adolph, the longtime Pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, has witnessed the works of the honored attorneys, he spoke in prayer, “reminded of their courage to stand for justice,” to fight for the people of Southeast Texas akin to David versus Goliath.

“These men are not just lawyers that worked a caseload,” Adolph emphasized of the “innumerable, immeasurable sacrifices” attributed to Low, Reaud and Umphrey. “They were warriors in courtrooms across the width and breadth of this country, fighting for the sake of justice for those who could not really fight for themselves.”

Jefferson County District Court Judge Kent Walston, who prepared a speech for what he thought would be few in attendance, instead presented words of appreciation before a mass of esteemed guests, elected officials, and everyday people gathered to witness the monument unveiling of the three honored trial lawyers. Walston, too, has been witness to the great works of the “three men who have left an indelible mark” on this community, he said.

“When Buddy talks, judges and jurors listen,” Walston said of an attorney he’s eyed behind a many a bar over the years. Low, acclaimed as one of the brightest legal minds to ever practice in the field, holds membership in elite  legal groups such as the International Society of Barristers, which is limited by invitation only to 500 attorneys worldwide, and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, also admitted by invitation only to 500 total members.

Low rose from Great Depression-era poverty, born in 1933 in the same house where he would grow up, which bore no running water or electricity. The man who would one day be named as distinguished alumnus of top Texas educational institutions first learned ABCs in a two-room school that taught four grades per class.

Following law school success that cemented the young attorney as a rising star, Low joined the Orgain Bell & Tucker Law Firm in Beaumont, where he quickly rose to partner status and has remained there for more than 50 years.

Reaud, Walston detailed, has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into philanthropic endeavors over the decades he has supported the Southeast Texas community he calls home. Walston continued to offer a laundry list of efforts Reaud has spearheaded over the years, not the least of which is the lasting labor of love invested in the annual Bicycles and Bibles event that has provided Christmas cheer to tens of thousands of children and their families over the last 25 years.

As founder of the Reaud, Morgan & Quinn Law Firm, he has represented clients in significant cases involving personal injury, product and premises liability, toxic torts and business litigation for more than 30 years, as well as handled first impression mass tort         litigation involving asbestos premises liability claims, including the largest asbestos product liability class action lawsuit in the history of Texas courts. Reaud also represented the State of Texas in its landmark litigation against the tobacco industry.

Reaud, also a select fellow of the International Society of Barristers, as well as Most Distinguished Alumni of Texas Tech Law School, was awarded the Honorary Order of the Coif by the University of Texas in 2011, is listed in Best Lawyers in America, is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the Philosophical Society, a member of the State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee, and Distinguished Alumni of Lamar University.

At LU, the name “Reaud” is synonymous with greatness. The newly-minted Wayne A. Reaud Administration Building not only houses the offices of the President of the university, it is home to the Reaud Honors College that cultivates advanced educational endeavors for the students served by the program.

Reaud currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Beaumont Foundation of America and is a Director of the Reaud Charitable Foundation. 

Walter Umphrey, honored posthumously at the monument unveiling, is billed as a boy from Port Arthur that grew up to garner the respect and ear of sports stars, CEOs, senators, governors, presidents – and even a queen.

“He built a successful law firm (in the Provost Umphrey Law Firm), banks, ranches, nurseries and greenhouses, and so much more,” penned words of Umphrey’s legacy state. “But, more importantly, Walter built relationships and lifelong friends. He was able to relate to everyone because of his common humanity.”

All three men added to the Jefferson County Courthouse courtyard, Walston said, are all ordinary men who dared to do extraordinary things.

“There are no great men – only great challenges,” Walston recited.

Low, Reaud and Umphrey are men who worked to set themselves in places that would allow them to champion for the people in their community who would need their expertise, Walston described – and each would then go above and beyond professional prowess to spark change, ignite progress and burn down barriers set up against the good of those served in Southeast Texas.

“Life is not about warming yourself by the fire,” Walston adlibbed of a quote from fellow lawyer, Larry Luccino, likely better known for his role as CEO of the Boston Red Sox. “It’s about building fires.”

To finish Luccino’s thought, also exampled by Reaud, Low and Umphrey’s charitable giving initiatives: “If you want to be happy for an hour, take a nap; but, if you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.”

“I would be remiss to not mention how much each man has given to our community, our state, and our country,” Beaumont Foundation President/CEO Edward Keller remarked prior to reading a county proclamation announcing Feb. 9, 2023, as a day set aside to urge emulation of the three men set in bronze. From the speakers, details abounded of the litany of litigation undertaken by the honorees that has behooved society as a whole – and Southeast Texas specifically – in areas of fair wage compensation and safe work environments, clean air and water, and interstate travel.

“Damn few,” the inscription reads, honoring those depicted in bronze while, at the same time, challenging others to rise to the same level of accomplishment.

The new bust monument resides with two others. One bust is erected to honor legal legends Elmo R. Willard III and Theodore R. Johns Sr., pioneering Civil Rights attorneys who practiced in Jefferson County at a time when Black and White were separated at water fountains, in restaurants and behind the bar where all-White judges ruled over cases the Black attorneys presented. Reaud, Low and fellow attorney Michael Jamail commissioned the work of art.

Also in the quad is a quadruple bust – “Four Friends – Colleagues in Life” – created by sculptor Marsha English Elmore, depicting Robert Q. Keith, John L. Bell, James L. Weber and John D. Rienstra Jr. – donated by the Jefferson County Bar Association.  

“Emulate these great men,” Adoplph spoke of Reaud, Low and Umphrey, “men of Christ – and men of courage.”

— Jennifer Johnson