USD Law Professor Thomas J Horton honored with Jackson Award for Excellence in Teaching
“Tom Horton, as the newest faculty member (2009), immediately began demonstrating his dedication as a classroom and courtroom teacher and legal scholar,” said Dean Barry R. Vickrey. “He works effectively with students, whose improvement is constant and discipline is evident each semester. The USD School of Law School is fortunate to have him as a member of our faculty and he is a deserving recipient of the Jackson Award.”
Horton received a J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University, his M.A.L.S. (American Studies) from Georgetown University, and a B.A. in biological sciences from Harvard University. He is a member of The Order of the Coif. His memberships, admissions and appointments include the Ohio State Bar, the District of Columbia Bar and the District of Columbia Federal Civil Pro Bono Panel. In 1990, he was appointed by Rhode Island to serve as Assistant Special Counsel to investigate the collapse of RISDIC – insured financial institutions. Throughout his career, Horton has organized, chaired, and taught courses on trial and litigation skills, including deposition skills for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and he has served as a judge in the National Intercollegiate Mock Trial Competition.
Prior to joining South Dakota’s Law School faculty, Horton spent 28 years litigating and trying antitrust and complex civil cases in federal courts throughout the United States. His career includes governmental stints with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission, and private practice as a partner with several major international law firms in the District of Columbia, including Howrey & Simon, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP. He has been active in a variety of civic organizations and boards, including managing little league baseball teams, coaching Odyssey of the Mind, and tutoring juvenile inmates. Horton is married with four children and moved to Vermillion from Falls Church, Va.
The Jackson Award was established in 1981 through a gift by Horace and Dorothy Jackson of Rapid City, S. D., in honor of members of the Jackson family. Selection is based on criteria demonstrating excellence in the teaching of law, including effectiveness in the classroom; efforts to improve legal education in ways that serve the needs of the profession and of South Dakota; research and writing; contributions to the profession through public service; and contributions to the academic environment of the Law School.