Page 18 - Briefcase Volume 38 Number 1

DONORS

NEAL

SUTTON ’72

UHLC ALUMNUS NEAL SUTTON’S

FOND MEMORIES AS LAW
STUDENT DRIVES GENEROSITY

TOWARD FUTURE LAWYERS

As a 1972 graduate of the University of Houston Law Leadership was a theme throughout Sutton’s career,
Center, Neal Sutton recalls his law school experience as including spending more than 15 years as the Senior
a special time, whether it is recalling a list of legendary Vice President for Administration and General Counsel
faculty members, the camaraderie he formed with at Smith International, a former Fortune 500 company
classmates over bridge games, or his involvement in prior to merging with Schlumberger. He credited his
student organizations. legal education for allowing him to remain versatile while
“I had some of the great professors that there are working in a high-leverage role in the business.
marvelous stories about,” Sutton said. “I was in the first “Legal training, problem solving, being analytical, being
class of the current Law Center building. I started in the able to see and work in an advisory capacity as well as to
summer of 1969 with a torts class at night while I was still manage, I learned all of that at UH, and the Law Center
working. You can just go through the names like Sidney was the larger part of that,” Sutton said. “You can imagine
Buchanan, John Mixon, Dwight Olds, Tom Newhouse, the kinds of stuff you have to do when you’re running
Dean White, Dean Blakely. John O’Quinn was my legal, patent, environmental, human resources, contracts
instructor for Texas Procedure. administration, insurance and risk management, health

“I basically lived at the law school. It was a wonderful and safety. It was a pretty diverse set of responsibilities,
and I loved it. It was a great time.”
experience - great people, great professors, great courses.
I learned a heck of a lot.” Sutton is no longer a practicing attorney and is retired
Sutton, who also attended the University of Houston for in Austin. However, he has still managed to use his legal
education in a meaningful way and give back to his
his undergraduate education, paid his way through college community as a mentor and philanthropist.
and law school. He was one of the first students to attend
the Law Center at its current site. There will be a visible “The training that a law degree gave me is the ticket to the
testament to his career and leadership in the Law Center’s success I had throughout my career and where I am now
next facility. in retirement,” Sutton said. “I still use it. I was president
Through generous contributions, Sutton will provide of our homeowner’s association for 10 years here, just to
kind of keep my foot in the managerial door. My training
student scholarships and will have a leadership and experience allow me to do a diverse number of things.
conference room in the new building named after him. “My wife and I have been involved with several non-
“One thing I want to continue to do is to support the profits in different disciplines. One, in particular, provides
University of Houston Law Center’s growth, and part support and mentoring for students, mostly minority,
of that is attracting quality and diverse students,” Sutton who would be the first in their families to go to college.
said. “I’m reminded of what it took for me to get through We continue to support the regional food bank, more so
school, and whatever I can do to help someone else make in these difficult times, as well as conservation efforts in
that journey without having to be overly concerned the state of Texas. My experience and training at UHLC
financially seems well worth it.” have been, in large part, the genesis of what has carried
me through.”

18 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON LAW CENTER