South Texas College of Law Houston alumna Keri D. Brown ’06, a partner at Baker Botts L.L.P., received the 2022 Terry Lee Grantham Memorial Award from the Texas Bar Foundation, a prestigious honor given annually to an outstanding Texas lawyer.
Brown will be publicly recognized and be presented the Terry Lee Grantham Memorial Award at the Texas Bar Foundation Annual Dinner, scheduled June 10 at the Marriott Marquis in Houston.
“Keri is very deserving of this high honor and certainly exemplifies the achievements, talent, dedication, service and advocacy this award highlights,” said South Texas President and Dean Michael F. Barry. “She is an outstanding South Texas alumna, and we are very proud of her.”
The Terry Lee Grantham Memorial Award celebrates Grantham’s life as a gifted and committed man and lawyer who devoted himself completely to every task he undertook. The recipient of this award exemplifies the qualities of an accomplished, talented, and dedicated practitioner, a servant of the profession, and an advocate for those we serve, demonstrating dedication and service with the same passion that defined Grantham’s life and work.
This award, an enduring tribute to Grantham’s life and work in the practice of law, was endowed through the Texas Bar Foundation in 2014 in honor and memory of Terry Lee Grantham by his family and friends who were so richly blessed by his love, friendship, and presence in their lives.
At Baker Botts L.L.P., Brown represents high net worth taxpayers in complex federal tax litigation. She also counsels fiduciaries and beneficiaries of trusts and estates.
Brown has been involved in pro bono work throughout her career. In March 2020, Keri was named the first firmwide partner-in-charge of Corporate Social Responsibility at Baker Botts. In this role, she augments her practice by overseeing corporate citizenship, managing the firm’s pro bono efforts, and aligning the firm’s corporate social responsibility efforts with those of its clients.
Her pro bono recognitions include the State Bar of Texas’s Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year (2018), Texas Appleseed’s Pro Bono Leadership Award (2019) and the Houston Bar Foundation’s Outstanding Contribution to HVL by a Pro Bono Coordinator (2021) and Outstanding Contribution to HVL by an Individual (2017).
She was recognized as a “Woman Who Means Business” (2021) and a “40 Under 40” (2018) by the Houston Business Journal for her significant business and legal accomplishments and her commitment to community service and received a resolution in her honor from the SBOT Board of Directors in 2020.
Her pro bono legal efforts have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The American Lawyer, ABA Journal, Texas Lawbook, Houston Chronicle, and others. Brown is Chambers-ranked, a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and board-certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by TBLS. In her free time, she volunteers as a soccer coach and a Girl Scout troop leader.
Founded in 1965 by attorneys determined to assist the public and improve the profession, the Texas Bar Foundation has become the largest charitably-funded bar foundation in the country. The Texas Bar Foundation relies on the contributions of its Fellows to improve the lives of Texans. To date, through the generosity of the Fellows, the Texas Bar Foundation has awarded more than $23 million in grants to numerous organizations across the state.
Election to the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a member of the State Bar of Texas, representing one-third of one percent of Texas attorneys. Selection is based on an outstanding record in the legal profession as well as a proven commitment to supporting the community at large. For more information about the Texas Bar Foundation, please visit www.txbf.org.
