my newest publication: "The Affinity of Lawyers & History: The Dallas Bar Association’s Legal History Discussion Group as a Case in Point"
I agree with this historian
My C.V. (updated June 9, 2026)
• Chambers USA, Bankruptcy/Restructuring Law (Texas), 2006–2017• Legal 500 U.S., Bankruptcy: Southwest, 2009; Corporate Restructuring: Including Bankruptcy, 2015• The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White, Inc.), Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2005−2017; Litigation–Bankruptcy, 2011−2017• The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White, Inc.), "Lawyer of the Year" in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law (Dallas/Fort Worth), 2016 & 2017• Who’s Who Legal: Texas (Law Business Research Ltd.), Insolvency & Restructuring Law, 2007−2008• Legal Media Group’s (Euromoney’s) Guide to the World’s Leading Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers, 2009−2010 and 2012
In his last days, the great essayist and observer Oliver Sacks wrote these words in an essay titled "My Own Life":
I have been increasingly conscious, for the last 10 years or so, of deaths among my contemporaries. My generation is on the way out, and each death I have felt as an abruption, a tearing away of part of myself. There will be no one like us when we are gone, but then there is no one like anyone else, ever. When people die, they cannot be replaced. They leave holes that cannot be filled, for it is the fate — the genetic and neural fate — of every human being to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death.
I'm in mid-seventies, experiencing the same thing. Recently a friend and colleague from the days of business bankruptcy practice, Pat Neligan, died. Two months earlier his wfe emailed me a request for a memory I had of him for compilation into a book she was compiling for his 70th birthday. I sent her this:
Pat! I send felicitations on the occasion of your seventieth birthday!
It was a privilege and a pleasure for me to have practiced bankruptcy law with you as we and other fine lawyers of the bankruptcy bar represented our respective and sometimes adversarial clients in our beloved Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas over all the years of the Golden Age of Bankruptcy, the late 1980s to the first decade of the twenty-first century. (I retired in 2017, after the Golden Age had ended.)
What I remember most is that you were always the calm at the center of the hurricane. Contentions, arguments, raised voices, and a general cacophony swirled around us, the lawyers, in the hallways outside Bob’s, Harold’s, Steve’s and later Cooter’s, Barbara’s, and the younger judges’ courtrooms—but you were always seemingly unaffected, unpeturbed by sharp words, obivious to the pandemonium, and just always pleasantly talking, conferring, and seeking for any common denominators in the angular positions of the parties that would, thanks to you, become the basis of deals, compromises, and settlements, which are what make bankruptcy practice both rewarding for the practitioners and effective as a legal dispute-resolving and restructuring process for the clients. I smile when I think of you in those hallways!
Now it is time to celebrate! It is your birthday, No. 70!
All the best,
Josiah
He left, to quote Sacks, "a hole that cannot be filled."
from legal historian and biographer to owner of a franchised business? . . . . I don't think so . . . .
Today I received this email:
______________________________
"Hi Josiah - your work on the history of lawyering and Hatton Sumners could lead to business ownership.
There are franchise businesses that often fit well with your background in legal history and research.Would you be interested in exploring this with a consultant?
Warm Regards,
Lauren
P.S. There’s no fee for what I do – I’m just here to guide folks exploring business ownership."
______________________________
My commencement address to the history majors of UT Austin in June 2015
Ten years ago, in June 2015, I was privileged to give the commencement address to the graduating history majors of The University of Texas at Austin. I love its History Department, and it was an honor and a pleasure to speak to those brilliant recipients of the B.A. in history (plus a few advanced degree recipients as well)! Here is my address:
I.
When you look at the professors on this stage, what do you see? Teachers of classes you have taken, people you have come to know over the past four years? Yes, and more. You know this, but for the benefit of your guests, I will also observe that the assembled professors on this small stage are representatives of what is one of the preeminent history faculties in our nation.
This is a faculty that includes the finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History and the Bancroft Prize in American History, probably the most published historian in the nation, the winners of many excellence-in-teaching awards, and many other widely recognized and highly awarded professors.
These outstanding individuals were your teachers. You have learned from the best!
II.
Those of us fortunate enough to hold degrees from the University of Texas at Austin will always have fond memories of our years here. I spent two memorable years in Garrison Hall pursuing my master’s degree in history, way back in 1973-1975.
And my happiest memory of Garrison is meeting my wife in a history seminar titled “The Great Powers of Europe” in August of 1974!
III.
Today, based on my experiences since I was in Garrison Hall, I want to focus on this question:
What is the REAL VALUE of your history degree?
As you know, there are those who do question its value. Some of them may be seated in this audience right now!
I submit that you made a superb choice when you decided to major in history.
A.
To begin, we all acknowledge that the study of history is intrinsically important and valuable to the development and life of the intellect. We study the past for a host of significant reasons. We seek to learn and to understand what humans have done in the past and how and why they did those things.
Because we cannot go back in time, we read what has been written about it, we see the artifacts and fruits of prior times, and then we search for new and additional evidence to inform our understanding of those past events. And yet, in William Faulkner’s words, which furnish the excellent name for the Department’s internet outreach to the world, the past is “Not Even Past.”
In a work I ran across recently titled “Race and Commemoration in a Southern City,” historian Katherine Walker harkens back to Faulkner’s words when she wrote:
The past is not even past. It lives on in the historical narratives we inherit, in the ways we use places, in the assumptions we make about art, in the shape of our political processes. The past lives on in our individual or collective identities; we garb ourselves in identities created in the past, perhaps accessorizing them, but rarely making them over out of new cloth.
You have learned these things of which the author speaks.
Regardless whether your particular interest lies in cultural, political, social, economic, religious, environmental, presidential, or even legal history, and regardless the century or the place, from your studies in Garrison Hall you know these things.
So continue always to read history because it is our best guide to the future, really our only guide.
B.
But how can your study of history help you, after today, as you enter upon a career and in your daily work?
Your career will likely be a succession of jobs. Your first job will not be your last job, and each of your jobs will become a stepping stone to the next one. You likely will change careers more than once in the years ahead. So how will your study and training in the methods of history help you?
The first of my answers to that question is that your research skills, analytical abilities, and the capability to write clear, explanatory sentences, paragraphs, and reports will serve you quite well. These are skills that are, and will always be, in demand. This is, in fact, a big advantage you have over the bachelor’s degree recipients in the Business School, who can no doubt ably insert numbers into Excel spreadsheets, but have not had the benefit of the opportunity to learn, from this faculty seated behind me, the art of writing clearly.
I understand that there are jobs out there for which you will not be qualified or hired. Examples probably include highly specialized positions such as chemist, or electrical engineer or any kind of engineer, or computer scientist. But I cannotthink of many more jobs for which you would not be qualified.
Some of you are going to be teachers of history, a very commendable choice of career. You will continue to spend a lot of time with history in the education of our youth. There is nothing more valuable.
Others of you are headed to law school. The study of history is good preparation for the legal profession because lawyers must find and then apply relevant statutes and the rules set forth in judicial opinions. Researching and analyzing those statutes, their legislative histories, and the progression of the case law is an inherently historical exercise.
Still others of you will find employment in government and public service. Research, analysis, the evaluation of policies, and writing are key skills in these jobs.
Finally, there are those of you who will find employment in the sales of goods, properties, and services; in the creation and production of products and services of all types; in companies of all kinds, large and small; in bricks-and-mortar facilities, and over the Internet.
By earning a B.A. in history, you have proven that you can find and master primary sources of all types and can synthesize divergent interpretations and explanations. So if in your first, or a subsequent, job, you need to do so, you can and will be able to learn tools of the marketplace such as how to read a balance sheet and an income statement, how buying and selling are conducted in the world of commerce, how a logistics business works, what a “back office” is, and many other forms and types of business activities, functions, and processes. Your history degree will serve you well in these jobs.
In fact, in almost any job today, you will be asked to find and gather all manner of information, to try to make sense of it, and to write up your analysis and explanation for your employers and for your colleagues. These are qualitatively the same projects in which you have been engaged as a history major.
If you go to work for a company, its product or its service will inevitably be challenged and frequently superseded by a competitor’s newer, better, and cheaper product or service. That is the nature of the market economy. Your company will encounter these and other changes of all types.
How does the enterprise make sense of such changes? That is again where historical training is a real asset. You understand, as a history major, that nothing happens in a vacuum. There is a context for each new development. There is a history that can and does help to make sense of what is happening, even if it seems that the situation is new or totally unprecedented.
By finding the context, understanding the history, and formulating a path forward based on what can be learned and known, you will be using what you have learned as a history major and the skills you have obtained in earning a B.A. in Garrison Hall here at the University of Texas at Austin.
IV.
So I congratulate you on your accomplishments and your receipt of your degrees . . . . and I assure you that you have what it takes to be a success!
Jayne Mansfield Channeling Dr. Samuel Johnson
Recently on HBO+ Susan and I saw the documentary "My Mom Jayne," A Film by Mariska Hargitary." It covered the life of Jayne Mansfield, who was born and raised in Dallas. A highlight is from 35:54 to 38:40, a clip from her 1957 Ed Sullivan Show appearance. These photos are from that film, showing her playing the violin and then the piano. In between she addressed her audience:
"My playing the violin and now the piano reminds me of a famous story about Dr. Samuel Johnson. Once when he saw a little puppy walking on its hind legs, he said, "It's not that you expect him to do it perfectly; it's just that you're surprised the puppy does it all! Which just goes to prove that I not only play the violin and the piano, but I know who Dr. Samuel Johnson is!"
With the new war in the Middle East now, it is timely to reconsider the opposition of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas to the initiation of the Gulf War in 2003
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's Floor Statement Opposing Resolution Authorizing Military Force In Iraq
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, delivered the following statement yesterday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in opposition to the proposed resolution authorizing the President to use military force against Iraq:
"Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today with a high degree of frustration as we consider the grave prospect of authorizing the President to send our uniformed men and women into military action in Iraq.
"I believe I speak for all Members of Congress when I say that I am awed by the moral weight of this decision. We all know that any military action will likely lead to an immediate and substantial loss of human life and have untold implications on the security of our nation in the years to come.
"Mr. Speaker, no one desires to be on the opposite side of our President in times like these, but I regret to tell you that I am unable to support this resolution in its present form. I'd like to add to the record the statement issued by the Congressional Black Caucus outlining specific principles we believe must be addressed before military action should occur:
"We oppose a unilateral first-strike action by the United States without a clearly demonstrated and imminent threat of attack on the United States.
"Only Congress has the authority to declare war.
"Every conceivable diplomatic option must be exhausted.
"A unilateral first strike would undermine the moral authority of the United States, destabilize the Mideast region and undermine the ability of our nation to address unmet domestic priorities.
"Further, any post-strike plan for maintaining stability in the region would be costly and require a long-term commitment."
"Mr. Speaker, I believe the President has failed to address these principles.
"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime poses a threat to the Iraqi people, to his neighbors in the Middle East, to the United States, and to the world at large with his biological and chemical weapons and his nuclear program. In the face of this legitimate threat, I cannot unequivocally count out future military action.
"However, I strongly believe that the most effective way of combating this menace is by solidifying the support of the international community and acting within the auspices of the United Nations, not by acting unilaterally.
"In the 1990's, we made significant progress in conjunction with our international allies through the United Nations weapons inspection program. This program led to the destruction of 40,000 chemical weapons, 100,000 gallons of chemicals used to manufacture weapons, 48 missiles, 30 warheads and a massive biological weapons facility equipped to produce anthrax.
"Inspections are a proven, non-violent, and internationally-supported method of thwarting Iraq's acquisition of weapons material and technology. What's more, a clear majority - 63 percent - of the American people want us to give inspectors the opportunity to work before we take military action.
"To this end, I am not convinced that giving the President the authority to launch a unilateral, first-strike attack on Iraq is the appropriate course of action at this time.
"While I believe that under international law and under the authority of our own Constitution, the United States must maintain the option to act in its own self-defense, I strongly believe that the Administration has not provided evidence of an imminent threat of attack on the United States that would justify a unilateral strike.
"I also believe that acting alone, without exhausting peaceable diplomatic options, could seriously harm global support for our war on terrorism and distract our own resources from this cause.
"I am disappointed that those who favor this resolution make no mention of the long-term commitment to nation-building that will be necessary in order to maintain stability in the Middle East region following an attack on Iraq. Thus far, this Administration has not made public any plans for our role in Iraq in the years, if not decades, to come after an attack.
"I cannot imagine that any of us believe this Administration and our nation is prepared to orchestrate and assume the entire financial burden of economic reconstruction, democratization and nation-building that will be necessary to stabilize a post-conflict Iraq. Let us not forget that this Congress would have to authorize aid for this long-term task at a time when we are still engaged in the Balkans and have only recently started to help in Afghanistan.
"Furthermore, our nation's economic recovery demands our immediate attention, and I am disturbed by reports that our nation's poverty rate, joblessness, and health care costs continue to rise at the same time personal wealth and retirement savings are being decimated. I fear the prospect of military action in Iraq will further distract our attention from an ominous economic outlook.
"So, before we undertake military operations in Iraq, we must ask ourselves some very basic questions:
"Does a war with Iraq improve our national security?
"Does it allow the United States to make peace through the power of our example?
"Does it allow us to focus on the economic suffering of our own people?
"Mr. Speaker, I believe the answer is a resounding NO. Therefore, I regret that I cannot vote with the President on this resolution."
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
[This statement was published the next day in the New York Times. My son, who was legislative assistant to the Congresswoman, assisted in the preparation of this statement.]
A fine example of lawyers preserving legal history (the history of bankruptcy and the history of Texas):
Bravo for this video interview of the redoubtable Charlie Beckham, just finished with his tenure as President of the American College of Bankruptcy:
This should serve as a model for other lawyers to do the same. Lawyers' abilities as questioners are helpful!
I have always thought lawyers could be historians too
When I was in law school at UT Austin, 1975-1978, I had come straight from history graduate school, also at UT, and I found and I have always believed that lawyers can be fine historians, assuming they know and follow the historical method. I recalled recently that I had published an article in the law students' newspaper back then, and with the help of the excellent Reference Desk at today's Jamail Law Library there, I have now a copy of that article, which I happily post here:
Announcing the revised version of my history of Chapter IX Municipal Bankruptcy
Revised title:
“Determining the Historiographical Problem of Municipal Bankruptcy: Enactment and Amendment of Chapter IX, 1933-1979”
available without charge at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5253527
a good summary of everyone's--regardless of immigration status--rights and recommendations when confronted
It is not a crime to be present in the USA without immigration documentation in hand. I'll be glad when peace and normalcy return and our citizens and noncitizen residents are safe, and we can all civilly discuss issues and solutions. Meanwhile, here is a good summary of everyone's--regardless of immigration status--rights and recommendations when confronted, from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center:
"1. You have the right to remain silent.
2. Remain calm and do not run away.
3. You have the right to demand a judicial warrant before letting ICE into your home.
4. You have a right to speak with a lawyer if you are arrested.
5. U.S. citizen allies can play a vital role. You have a right under the First Amendment to record or take photos in public view of law enforcement enforcement and ICE so long as you do not interfere with an arrest."
https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/2025-08/KYR-One-Page.pdf
Against the attempts of the President of the USA to try to "take" Greenland
This morning, another threat against Denmark and Greenland by the President of the USA. This is both absurd and dangerous.
Here are the opening words of the North Atlantic Treaty (creating our defensive alliance with the European nations INCLUDING DENMARK):
Washington DC, 4th April 1949
-The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments.
-They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.
-They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area.
-They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security.
-They therefore agree to this North Atlantic Treaty:
ARTICLE 1
The Parties undertake, as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to REFRAIN IN THEIR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FROM THE THREAT OR USE OF FORCE in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations. . . .
FOR MYSELF: I stand with the rule of law, including international law, and our treaty obligations, and therefore I oppose the continuing efforts and statements of President Trump to try to take over Greenland, which is a part of Denmark and our nation's historic ALLY.
https://lnkd.in/gbRcunfF
My revised article is now on SSRN: "Determining the Historiographical Problem of Municipal Bankruptcy: Enactment and Amendment of Chapter IX, 1933-1979"
Substantially revised and improved, I just posted on SSRN my revised history of Chapter IX municipal bankruptcy law:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5253527
Do not tear down Dallas City Hall!
hat's Dallas City Council seems to be moving quickly to a decision to tear down Dallas City Hall, designed by I.M. Pei a half century ago. What is happening is curious if not just wrong on many levels, but here's one looming cost I see that has not be articulated yet: if Dallas City Council approves the razing of Dallas City Hall, the city will lose one of its symbols that is recognized nationally, a major visual element that makes Dallas stand out among its peer cities.
I pulled photos of all the other big-city City Halls, and they are either "ho-hum," such as Atlanta's, or else are entirely, or extremely, "classical" in their architecture. That is great for old cities, for instance, Philadelphia, but Dallas is supposed to be young, energetic, and untethered to old ways of thinking and doing, according to Dallas mythology. So, even though we do not know who all they are, let's ask those movers and shakers who are promoting and maneuvering the tear-down to stop for ten minutes and think very, very hard: "Is this in the city's---and in our own---best interests?"
I may not live within its boundaries, but the ninth-largest city of the USA gives and shares its name "Dallas" with most all of its burbs ("Suburban Dallas"), and I care a lot about the city where I had my career and still have an office.
I submit that tearing down the Pei-designed City Hall will be a setback, diminishing Dallas in the eyes of the nation.
_____________________
Here is a nice visual history of the construction of our modernistic City Hall under the eye of Mr. Pei, a half century ago (h/t to Veletta Forsythe Lill): https://flashbackdallas.com/2025/11/10/dallas-city-hall/
In supports of the Scouts
I hold the rank of Eagle earned during my membership in the Boy Scouts of America in the mid-sixties.
Today the organization is called Scouting
According to a press report, the Pentagon has decided the Scouts are “no longer a meritocracy” and do not hold their members to high standards.
That is baloney. I know the organization today. My grandson has been a member for the last four years, and I've seen the program through his experience. It is hardly different from my day, the 1960s. If I were a parent today, I'd want my child to be a Scout. My grandson has learned good lessons, and he will complete the requirements for Eagle soon as he finishes his Eagle project, in the next couple of weeks.
The Pentagon is badly mistaken here. I endorse the statement of Scouting's Chief Executive, Roger Krone:
-Josiah Daniel
for Thanksgiving 2025
On my way this past Monday to pick up our Greenberg Turkey in Tyler, I encountered a man who inspired me to write a letter to the editor of the Tyler paper. The Managing Editor messaged me "Thank you very much for your submission and for sharing this story with our readers," which I interpreted (or misinterpreted) as "We are going to publish it."
After waiting several days, I give up and "publish" it myself today, here on my blog:
"On rainy Monday I saw an elderly man at the stop sign on eastbound Van Highway at the Gentry Parkway. He clearly did not want to be there, but his square sign said "PLEASE HELP" in all capitals. I reached for my wallet and rolled down the window. When I saw he was soaking wet, I multiplied by five the amount of my gift. He said, "Trying to get out of this cold rain. God bless you." I returned the greeting. He glanced at my cash, looked over his left shoulder, and called gently but loudly, "C'mon. We can get out of the rain now."
That's when I saw his wife, seated against a chain link fence. She was not wearing a raincoat. I went onward through the rain to my destination, Greenberg Turkey on McMurrey, and picked up our turkey (always a wholesome experience). When I passed back through the intersection, the old couple was gone.
How does this happen to such people, in their advanced years, in the USA with all its GNP? That's a question. Meanwhile, observance of Thanksgiving is a good reminder for everybody to demonstrate their thankfulness.
Josiah Daniel"
Maxwell Bloomfield on criticism of the SCOTUS in fictional literature (1981)
In the 47 years I've been licensed to practice law, I have been fortunate to have gotten to know some really fine historians of law and related topics. One of those was the late Maxwell Bloomfield, professor at Catholic University School of Law.
In 1981 he gave me a reprint of his splendid article "The Supreme Court in American Popular Culture," 4 Journal of American Culture 1 (1981).
At the end he writes:
"Some may argue that much of this publicity [about the institution of the SCOTUS and its personnel] is counterproductive and only lowers the Court in public esteem. But on that point the views of the Justices themselves are instructive. Although many have discussed the question over the years, no one has better expressed the prevailing opinion than ASSOCIATE JUSTICE DAVID J. BREWER, WHO OBSERVED BACK IN 1898:
'It is a mistake to suppose that the Supreme Court is either honored or helped by being spoken of as beyond criticism. On the contrary, the life and character of its justices should be the object of constant watchfulness by all, and its judgments subject to the freest criticism. The time is past in the history of the world when any living man or body of men can be set on a pedestal and decorated with a halo. True, many criticisms may be, like their authors, devoid of good taste, BUT BETTER ALL SORTS OF CRITICISM THAN NO CRITICISM AT ALL.'"(emphasis added)
