Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody:
Memories of Its First Fifty Years
by J. Chrys Dougherty (edited by Janis Williams)
Chrys Dougherty is an esteemed lawyer and co-founder of the Austin law firm of Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody. A former president of the Texas Bar Association, Chrys has interviewed all the attorneys, staff people, clerks, and assistants who worked in this highly respected firm between 1946—when the firm was founded in a young, sleepy state capital—and 1996, when downtown Austin had filled with skyscrapers, high tech was in full swing, and Austin was consistently listed as one of the most desirable American cities.
Along the way, important cases, such as Chrys' own Tidelands Cases, made history. The local and state economy boomed and then declined—and boomed again. Associations were made and associations broken. Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody: Memories of Its First Fifty Years provides a glimpse into the inner workings of an Austin law firm trying, as Chrys writes in the book's introduction, to "practice law in the grand manner." The narrative provides a window on the evolution of legal practice in the 20th century as well as on the evolution of the city of Austin. Moreover, it profiles a law firm whose chosen mandate is, as it has always been, to be guided by high integrity. The two-volume history will be privately distributed. It is unavailable to the public.
"And finally, utmost gratitude to Janis Williams, our professional editor, who provided indispensable help in adapting the language of oral interviews to more readable and comprehensible form for readers unfamiliar with legal concepts and terminology."
—J. Chrys Dougherty