“On all fronts, she was truly someone to admire and emulate, and we can’t imagine a better role model for law students of today and the future.”
- C. Wade Cooper, Jackson Walker Managing Partner
Susan A. Halsey, LSU Law Class of 1983
If you talk to anyone who worked with Susan Halsey (’83) in any capacity, they will fondly remember the time she invested in people.
Joel Heydenburk was a few years out of law school and looking to return to Fort Worth, Texas when he was hired by Halsey at Jackson Walker law firm. He describes it as “the greatest thing that could have happened” in his career.
“She was a servant leader before the term became popular,” said Heydenburk, who worked with Halsey for 10 years. “She was so generous with her time, always asking ‘how can I help you?’ and inviting me to networking events.”
Halsey became an office managing partner at Jackson Walker in 2010, overseeing the Fort Worth office of Jackson Walker (one of the firm’s six offices). In addition to her duties with the firm, she was a devoted wife and mother to two daughters. Her full plate meant she was often pulled in many directions, and she didn’t have a magic wand that created more hours in the day.
“We used to joke that Susan required very little sleep,” said Ginger Webber, who started working with Halsey as a summer clerk in 1996. “First and foremost, she was a wife and mother. She prioritized her daughters and attended everything.
But she was a hands-on mentor. She let me sit in on calls and took me to negotiations. Her door was always open.”
Halsey’s motivation was the driving factor behind many of the successes she earned in her career. Yet it was her work ethic and level-headed personality that created access to those opportunities that she may not have had otherwise.
After graduating from the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1983, Halsey joined Jackson Walker at their Dallas office. Five years later, she moved to open the firm’s Fort Worth location, where she would practice for more than 25 years. At the time, she was one of the few female partners practicing at Jackson Walker. Today, the firm has more female attorneys and partners due to Susan’s efforts.
As she mediated intense contract negotiations with humor and closed million-dollar deals for some of the biggest clients in the commercial real estate market, she quickly gained her colleagues’ respect. They saw her as “one of the guys,” and she earned a reputation for her ability to get along with everyone. But that doesn’t mean the strides she made as a female attorney in a male-dominated industry went unnoticed.
In 2013, Halsey became only the second female to chair the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and oversaw 14 major economic development announcements. Eight years earlier, she had spearheaded the creation Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth, a trade organization that has now grown to over 600 members and now enjoys considerable clout and influence in Fort Worth.
And she was proud to be the first woman to dine in the main dining room of the Petroleum Club of Dallas. She wasn’t met with resistance upon entering the dining room that had just opened to women. Still, her tall stature and blond hair made her hard to miss in a room full of men.
“That’s my favorite story about Susan,” said Heydenburk. “It was like once people saw someone like Susan in a leadership position and doing a fantastic job, they started to think ‘why haven’t we had more women in these roles?’”
He notes that she continued to serve in her role with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce while she battled colon cancer.
Susan A. Halsey supporting her favorite sports team, the LSU Tigers.
Halsey had a fighting spirit, not unlike her beloved LSU Tigers.
Even in the heart of Texas, and as much passion as she had for the Fort Worth area, Halsey “Loved Purple and Lived Gold.” She was a two-time graduate of LSU and taught her daughters “Hey, Fighting Tigers” before any nursery rhyme. She proudly wore her jersey on Game Days, and her office at Jackson Walker was even adorned with LSU memorabilia like football helmets, flags, and baseball bats.
When Halsey succumbed to her battle with cancer in 2014, the firm felt it was only right to honor her memory in a way that represented her years of influence as a mentor and leader.
In addition to naming a conference room after her and sponsoring a few leadership awards in her honor, they established the Susan A. Halsey Memorial Endowed Scholarship in her name to benefit students attending LSU Law.
“On all fronts, she was truly someone to admire and emulate, and we can’t imagine a better role model for law students of today and the future,” said Jackson Walker Managing Partner C. Wade Cooper in an announcement for the scholarship fund.
Webber and Heydenburk overwhelmingly agree.
“She gave back to everyone, and she valued everyone,” said Webber. “Susan made everyone feel welcome, whether it was by going to lunch with associates and summer clerks, planning birthday celebrations for coworkers, or attending happy hour with our legal assistants.”
At the end of Jackson Walker’s summer program, Heydenburk discusses mentorship with the clerks and cites Halsey often.
“I tell them ‘Find someone who you think is successful and emulate what they do.’ I always think of Susan when I say that. She was an amazing example.”
About this Scholarship:
Recipients will be selected by the Scholarship Committee of the Law Center or its successor and awarded in accordance with LSU policies and procedures. Recipients of this scholarship/fellowship may retain the scholarship for an additional year(s) provided funds are available and he/she continues to meet the eligibility requirements. However, this scholarship shall terminate when the recipient receives his/her graduate degree; nor shall the recipient hold the scholarship for longer than the duration of the degree program in which recipient is enrolled; or the duration of the fellowship awarded.
