Public servant. Legal giant. Texas titan. Institution-builder. There were a lot of words used by those who knew best how to describe Tom Luce, but one kept coming up in conversations on Monday: kind.
Even as sources from across the state talked to The Texas Lawbook about his role in reshaping Texas public education and awareness of mental health and helping to build influential law firm Hughes & Luce or founding the highly effective nonpartisan economic-focused think-tank Texas 2036, people always returned to how he treated others.
He listened more than he spoke, they said. He seemed to have time for everyone and was always present in a conversation. And, in rooms full of power, he never made anyone feel small. For someone referred to as a “a man for all seasons” by Gibson Dunn’s Jeff Chapman, Mr. Luce’s peers, friends and former colleagues say the thing that really set him apart was how gently he carried that weight.
The former CMO at Hughes & Luce recalled that when she arrived in 1992 as the firm’s new marketing director, Mr. Luce’s first interaction with her was a question: “How can I help you succeed here?”
“Six years later, when I launched my consulting firm, he said, ‘Tell me how I can help you.’ Tom’s vision, reach and leadership were world-class,” said Deborah McMurray, who is now CEO of Dallas-based Content Pilot. “But what I remember most is that he asked, ‘How can I help?’ He asked me twice, years apart. This was classic Tom Luce. He saw everyone,” she told The Lawbook.
Mr. Luce died Saturday at age 86 in Colorado, where he had traveled to attend his grandson’s wedding. The obituary in The Dallas Morning News was written by Cheryl Hall, the dean of Texas business journalism, and it captures his life and influence. It’s essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the full measure of his impact on the state and country.
“Everything he did, he did well,” Chapman told The Lawbook. “The law firm he founded was a force be reckoned with. His civic and governmental service was always superb. He was deeply devoted to his family and his friends, and, as far as I know, he was a man of faith as well.
“But setting all the objective criteria aside, he was just a really great friend.”
Lawyers who worked alongside him recall their time fondly at Hughes & Luce, which Mr. Luce co-founded with legendary tax lawyer Vester Hughes, who died in 2017. The firm grew for three decades before combining with K&L Gates in 2008.
They remembered a mentor who never confused what success really meant. They recalled him pulling lawyers into his office to ask what they wanted out of the law and challenging them to think beyond clients and paychecks. He was proof that a lawyer could be both smart and kind: the rare one who could help steer major deals and still remember the names of everyone’s family.
Peter Altabef started as an associate at Hughes & Luce in 1985 and was mentored by Mr. Luce. “I went to breakfast with him every six weeks. So, Aug. 20 will be a lonely time because that was our next scheduled breakfast,” the longtime leader of public companies and colleague of Mr. Luce told The Lawbook.
“The thing that that struck me about Tom was that he was always present. Over four decades, I never had a recollection of a conversation with him, either personal or professional, where he was hurried. When you were talking to Tom, you knew you were the only person he was focused on and you got 100 percent of his attention. That made him an awfully special mentor.”
Peter Altabef’s son, Will, an associate at Gibson Dunn, agreed, telling The Lawbook that Mr. Luce’s impact was felt by younger lawyers, as well. “With Tom, he had an aura about him: a real straight talker, so knowledgeable but so humble. He also had that golden reputation that went with him everywhere.”
Will Altabef said that Mr. Luce, who has an annual law school scholarship endowed in his name at SMU, “really believed in a lawyer’s role in society in terms of making it a better place” and that he saw the law as a means to do just that. “He was a big reason why I wanted to ultimately go to law school,” he said. “He continued to be an inspiration and a mentor to me.”
Peter Altabef, who joined Perot Systems’ in-house legal department in 1993 before eventually being named CEO in 2004, is one of the committee members that helped Mr. Luce select the scholarship recipients. “We actually make recommendations and SMU has always chosen our recommendations,” he said. “They get the scholarship, which includes not only financial support, but also getting together and networking. We really make it a community. As the head of that, Tom has developed this relationship with people who not only are young lawyers, but some of them are just entering law school.”
He was helping people in their careers be lawyers as well as leaders, Peter Altabef said, noting that Mr. Luce did so until the end of his life. “He still was going hard at it up until last week” helping the next generation.
Many also said in various ways that their careers have his fingerprints all over them. As any mentor would, he opened doors for them that might not have otherwise been available. What set Mr. Luce apart was that he spent more time talking with them about which doors were worth walking through.
“Tom told me very early in my career to ‘never forget that lawyers are servants; respected and well-paid servants, but servants nonetheless.’ He also told me to ‘remember that our clients come to us with the most serious problems in their business lives,’” said Dykema’s Christopher Kratovil. “I think about both those observations frequently, as together they properly frame our profession and correctly put the emphasis on serving our clients by solving their most challenging issues.”
The Lawbook spoke with a number of people about Mr. Luce’s lasting legacy below and will continue to update this story and our newsletters as we talk to more of his colleagues and peers:
As a lawyer …
“I’m saddened by the loss of an excellent lawyer, and if possible, an even greater citizen of the City of Dallas and State of Texas. It was an honor to see first-hand Tom practice law with the highest level of skill and commitment to professionalism. It is amazing that after all he accomplished and built as an attorney, his legacy of civic involvement, especially with his unparalleled advancement of public education in the State of Texas, will be just as long remembered.”
Mike Gruber, Greenberg Traurig
“Tom was a solutions-oriented pragmatist who did not crave the spotlight or demand the credit. He looked for and was open to creative solutions to solve problems, regardless of who came up with or proposed those solutions. Tom’s approach to policy and problem-solving was so different than what we see in today’s deeply polarized and partisan society; he genuinely wanted to make life better for everyday Texans, and he was intellectually flexible about finding ways to do so.”
Christopher Kratovil, Dykema
As a mentor …
“I met Tom for the first time relatively late in my life; in my early 50s. I immediately recognized that even at that point in my life, I could learn a lot from somebody who’d been around the track a few more times than I had been. He became my friend and mentor. I went to him for advice and there was just no ego involved. He always had time for me. To know him was to love him. And there was no better mentor to young lawyers than Tom Luce.”
Jeff Chapman, Gibson Dunn
“Early on in his legal career, he became effectively the personal lawyer for Ross Perot Sr., and Tom had a great relationship with him. Ross Perot Sr. was an incredibly capable businessperson and leader, but could sometimes put lawyers in a box, and Tom broke out of that mold. Tom was evidence that lawyers could do actually anything because Tom did anything. The fact that Tom broke the mold, allowed others to follow, and I was one of the beneficiaries of that.”
Peter Altabef, former CEO of several companies and public and private company board member
On how to treat people …
“By the time I knew him, Tom’s greatest interest and passion was for addressing the long-term issues confronting the State of Texas. He genuinely wanted to make life in this state better for everyday Texans. He was not an ideologue, but rather a problem solver. That was a rare thing 25 years ago, and it is almost unheard of today. Texas and America desperately need more leaders like Tom Luce.”
Christopher Kratovil
“Tom did not come from an advantaged home situation. There was a collection among the community where he lived to put him through school, and he went to SMU law school at night. It’s remarkable that he has had the career that he had and helped so many people. He never forgot that. Tom showed us all that you can be effective and kind at the same time. That you can make a meaningful difference, whether it’s in the practice of law or running a business or public policy. He always treated people the way that you would want to be treated. He really lived by that, and his kindness was infectious, and it infected his mentees. He taught me that you don’t have to sacrifice kindness to be effective.”
Peter Altabef
“He was such a great man. He’s one of the kindest folks I ever had the pleasure of meeting, and one of the lawyers I always looked up to. He was a beacon of what it means to be a great lawyer and a great citizen.”
Will Altabef, Gibson Dunn
On his high standards and involvement …
“Both the late Vester T. Hughes, Jr. and Tom Luce expected excellence from themselves and from their colleagues. Hughes & Luce was filled with smart, talented, often quirky people who genuinely enjoyed working together, even as they practiced law at a very sophisticated level and achieved great results for the firm’s clients. Every law firm is proud of their culture, but Hughes & Luce was a genuinely special place to practice law as it blended excellence with collegiality and fundamental decency in a way that few firms can achieve. That unique and special culture was a reflection of the personalities and expectations of Vester and Tom.”
Christopher Kratovil
“I became active on six different civic boards and Tom was one of my inspirations for that. Even though I’m now in my 60s, I’m more interested than ever than serving the community. The very best lawyers don’t just practice law; they serve the community in ways beyond their law practice. No one exemplified that better than Tom.”
Jeff Chapman
On leadership …
“He had boundless energy. I remember we were we were on a plane and I was sitting with him and was exhausted. And he opened up this big briefcase, and pulled out magazines and newspapers, and was just going through them. I looked at him like, ‘Are you kidding me? You have the energy to do this?’
He excelled in so many different fields, from technology to law to business to mental health to public policy, and even the future of the state with Texas 2036. He was continuously learning and reinventing himself. He was already 76 years old when he set up Texas 2036.
I remember sitting with him early in that effort, and he looked at me and said, ‘Peter, data is the key. We are going to have better data than anybody else, and we’re going to help Texas progress through data.’
That’s a remarkable thing for a person to say at age 76 as he was he was starting on an entirely new thing. He had a remarkable breadth of leadership.”
Peter Altabef
On his legacy …
“Tom Luce was a titan in the Dallas legal community who was committed to causes that positively impacted many people across our great country. Whether it was education reform, scientific innovation or political reform, everyone listened when Tom Luce spoke and led. He left a proud legacy that many of us hold close to our hearts.”
Craig Budner, former partner at Hughes & Luce and K&L Gates, who is now CEO of Dallas-based Budner Performance Group
“At our best, lawyers serve both our clients and our communities. Lawyers enjoy a privileged place in our society, but to whom much is given much is expected. Tom embodied that ideal as much as any lawyer I’ve known. He was a highly successful lawyer, but he was an even more successful citizen and community leader. Cases and deals come and go, but the legacy of Tom Luce is the policy reforms —particularly in public education — that he led, the wonderful and supportive culture he helped to establish at Hughes & Luce, and the lawyers (including myself) who grew up and were shaped by that culture.
Christopher Kratovil
“I think it’s an interesting dichotomy in the sense that when you got to actually talk to Tom, he was deeply personal. He cared about you. He knew everything about you, and he was as humble and kind as could be.
His legacy of achievements that is mythical in some ways. He was just such a personal guide and really cared about the individual when you were speaking with him. He just had this breadth of knowledge about him at all times that was both you know past, present and also future, and that was just that’s kind of a unique gift.”
Will Altabef
“Tom married his high-school sweetheart, and they recently celebrated their 65th anniversary. She was always present and active and still is. Pam is a remarkable force of nature, and I would say that one of the things that needs to be mentioned about him is that he always gave her credit as being a full partner in their relationship. He would always draw attention to Pam, which is something you see more of nowadays. Back then, you didn’t see that all the time. Tom did it all the time.”
Peter Altabef
“I don’t think there’ll ever be another Tom Luce, and that’s not meant to denigrate the next generation of professionals, but he came around and developed his career at a time when Dallas was starting to become a national city. The historical and contextual factors that he thrived in probably are not going to be replicated. That’s not to say there aren’t sensational legal leaders in the community, but lawyers generally don’t have as much civic influence now as they used to, and so I don’t know that we’ll ever see anyone quite like him again.”
Jeff Chapman