Akin Gump Honors Henry D. Akin on His 100th Birthday
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(Dallas, Texas) - Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. is pleased to honor Henry D. Akin on the occasion of his 100th birthday, and will host a reception today to celebrate. Robert S. Strauss, Akin Gump’s co-founder, will speak at the reception.
“I think it is only fitting that we honor our friend and mentor, Henry Akin, on his 100th birthday,” said Mr. Strauss. “We have been proud and delighted with our association with Henry. He joined us more than 30 years ago and is still going strong. He is a great friend, a great teacher and a great lawyer, but most of all he is a great human being.”
In addition to honoring Mr. Akin with a reception, Akin Gump purchased and engraved in his name the first brick at Thanks-Giving Square, located directly across from the old Republic Bank Building where Mr. Akin practiced before joining Gump & Strauss. The Thanks-Giving Square Foundation is selling 2000 bricks this year in order to create an endowment for the Square and to provide a lasting tribute to individuals who have played a significant role in the history of Dallas. In addition, Dallas Mayor Ronald Kirk proclaimed today “Mr. Henry D. Akin Day” in recognition of his century of achievements.
Born on January 24, 1900, in Graham, Texas, Mr. Akin began his distinguished law career in 1925 in Wichita Falls. He appealed his very first case, in which a man was found guilty of murder, when the man’s confession was found to have been coerced. The result was a significant change in Texas law, and thereafter only voluntary confessions could be presented to a jury. Mr. Akin later practiced in Amarillo before moving to Dallas in 1938. He joined Akin Gump as a partner in 1966.
When asked which of his many accomplishments stood out the most, Mr. Akin replied, “I won a civil case and a murder case in the same week.”
Mr. Akin received his A.B. cum laude in 1922 from Southwestern University, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1925, where he was on the staff of the Texas Law Review and a member of Phi Delta Phi fraternity. He received the Southwestern University Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1982.
Mr. Akin is a charter and life member of the Texas Bar Foundation, a fellow of the American College of Probate Counsel and a sustaining member of the American Judicature Society. He is also a member of the American Arbitration Association, the District of Columbia Bar, the Southwestern Legal Foundation and the Dallas Estate Planning Council. He is licensed to practice before all Texas courts, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Texas and the District of Columbia. Mr. Akin is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law and Register of Prominent Americans and International Notables. He served as an adjunct professor and a lecturer at Southern Methodist University School of Law from 1944 to 1976.
Founded in 1945, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., a leading international law firm, numbers more than 900 lawyers with offices in Austin, Brussels, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Philadelphia, Riyadh (affiliate), San Antonio and Washington. The firm has a diversified practice and represents regional, national and international clients in a wide range of areas, including antitrust; banking and financial institutions; bankruptcy, reorganization and creditors’ rights; capital markets; communications; corporate and securities; employee benefits; energy; entertainment; environmental; estate planning and probate; food and drug; government contracts; health; insurance; intellectual property; international; investment management; labor and employment; litigation; mergers and acquisitions; privatization; project finance; public law and policy; real estate and finance; taxation; and technology. For additional information, please visit our Web site at http://www.akingump.com.