Sher Garner endows new emphasis on commercial law
Law partners Jim Garner, left, and Lee Sher, both alumni and members of Tulane Law School"s adjunct faculty, have endowed a fund dedicated to commercial law. (Photo by Linda P. Campbell)
Lee Sher and Jim Garner, devoted Tulane University alumni and founders of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, have endowed a new fund to support Tulane Law School"s expanding emphasis on business law.
The Sher Garner Fund for the Advancement of Commercial Law will underwrite lectures, roundtables and other activities devoted to the study of commercial, business and finance law.
The fund augments the law school"s other recent additions in the field, including the arrival of Ann Lipton, associate professor of law and an experienced securities and corporate litigator; the introduction of a course focused on small business planning taught by John Herbert (Tulane Law School class of 1976), a longtime general counsel for Ceritas Energy in Houston; and the launch of a workshop series on regulation conducted by law faculty in partnership with the Murphy Institute at Tulane.
Sher, a 1974 graduate who received his law degree in 1976, said the fund is “really to give back” to the school to which he, Garner, a 1986 graduate who received his law degree in 1989, and their families have remained committed for decades.
“Fortunately, we"ve had a fair amount of success practicing law, and we understand that Tulane Law School laid the foundation for it,” he said.
Their devotion to Tulane takes many forms: They seek out Tulane graduates to hire and develop. Both men, along with five colleagues, volunteer their time to teach law classes. And the firm established the Sher Garner scholarship in 2012.
Garner said that the new resources for commercial law would provide for examining issues beyond those raised in litigation something especially important in a field where most of the action never reaches the courthouse.
“It addresses a broader audience of lawyers on both sides,#x201d; he said. “And it dovetails with our firm philosophy,” he added, referring to having the business and litigation practice groups work together.
Linda P. Campbell is Tulane Law School"s director of communications.
