Patricia Wilson, J.D. 
Professor of Law | Baylor University
Waco, TX, UNITED STATES
Professor Patricia A. Wilson has been a member of the Baylor Law School faculty since 1993
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Biography
Patricia Wilson has been a professor at Baylor Law School since 1993. She teaches courses in Family Law as well as Labor and Employment Law. Professor Wilson serves as faculty advisor in the Baylor moot court program, preparing students for three competitions each year. She is currently taking a hiatus from serving as the Faculty Advisor to the Baylor Client Counseling Competition Team given her duties as a member of the ABA Law Student Division Competitions Committee, which is responsible for writing the problems used in the Regional and National Client Counseling Competitions.
Family Law is important to Professor Wilson. In addition to raising two children of their own, she and her husband, Michael Jones, have fostered more than 20 children over the past 20 years and adopted two children in the process. This immersion in the foster care system has given Wilson a clearer understanding than most of the complexities of family law. Easy black-and-white answers give way to multiple shades of grey when it comes to dealing with families and children. It is Wilson's goal to train students to become fair, ethical advocates in the face of complicated, life-altering issues. She is a contributing editor for the Family Law section of the General Practice Digest of the State Bar of Texas.
Wilson also developed an expertise in Labor and Employment, gained from her experience as an in-house lawyer for American Airlines, Inc. She is a trained mediator and is involved in the Waco community serving on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. Each year, she organizes the People’s Law School, an event for the community to address legal issues and to enhance understanding of the law.
Wilson has taught a number of other courses at the Law School, including Property for more than 12 years. She was a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago on the topic of legal ethics in real estate transactions. She also taught Consumer Protection. She is a former member of the State Bar of Texas Consumer and Commercial Law Council and occasionally assists in planning continuing legal education programs for the Council.
Professor Wilson earned her B.A. in sociology from Purdue University in 1982, graduating With Distinction. She earned her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 1985, where she was named a Wigmore Scholar and was a member of the Board of Editors of the Journal of International Law and Business.
Industry Expertise (2)
Legal Services
Education/Learning
Areas of Expertise (4)
Mediation
Public Speaking
Family Law
International Law
Education (2)
Northwestern University Law School: J.D., International Law and Business 1985
Editorial Board, Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business John Henry Wigmore Scholar (full tuition scholarship)
Purdue University: B.A., Sociology 1982
Graduated "With Distinction"
Affiliations (13)
- General Practice Digest : Contributing editor
- Kaplan PMBR Bar Review Course : Lecturer
- ABA Client Counseling Subcommittee : Chair
- Waco/McLennan County Bar Association : Director
- Cooperative Baptist Fellowship : Member
- Vanguard College Preparatory School Board of Trustees : Member
- Brazos Valley Public Broadcasting Board of Trustees : Member
- McLennan County Dispute Resolution Center Board of Directors: Member
- Seventh & James Baptist Church: Deacon-Chair Elect
- Waco McLennan County Bar Association: Past President
- National Cooperative Baptist Fellowship: Nominating Committee: Member. Former Member of the Governing Board; former Chair of the Legal Committee.
- Vanguard College Preparatory School Board of Trustees: Former Member
- Brazos Valley Public Broadcasting Board of Trustees: Former Member
Links (2)
Media Appearances (9)
Voices: Justice is making sure Black lives matter
Baptist Standard online
2020-10-19
Patricia Wilson, J.D., professor of law, writes about the history behind the Black Lives Matter movement, how systematic racism has affected justice in the U.S. and her perspective on justice as a lawyer and Christian.
Bill Whitaker: Civil rights icon John Lewis taught America, Waco courage, optimism
Waco Tribune-Herald online
2020-07-25
Baylor Law Professor Patricia Wilson, who hosted Congressman John Lewis when he spoke at Baylor Law School in February 2007, was interviewed for this column about the legacies of Congressman Lewis and others in the Civil Rights Movement that have not been in vain.
Patricia Wilson to become CBF Moderator-Elect at virtual General Assembly
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Blog online
2020-06-17
Baylor Law Professor Patricia Wilson, JD, a lay leader deeply involved in CBF, is the nominee to become the next Moderator-Elect for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. She is a member of Seventh & James Baptist Church, a CBF congregation, where she currently serves as a deacon.
Free Law Classes: People’s Law School
KXXV-TV online
2020-02-06
Baylor Law School will host its 15th annual People’s Law School on Feb. 15, which helps make the law easier to understand for everyone. Interviewed are Baylor Law Professor Patricia A. Wilson and Ed Nelson, director of marketing and communications for Baylor Law.
City Talk - February 2, 2020
WCCC.TV radio
2020-02-02
Baylor Law professor Patricia Wilson is a guest on the City Talk podcast to discuss the People’s Law School on Feb. 15, a half-day curriculum of courses designed to educate consumers about their legal rights and to make the law “user friendly.”
Lawyers lobby for local appointment to Waco federal judge seat
Waco Tribune-Herald
2016-10-11
Patricia Wilson, a Baylor University law professor and president of the Waco-McLennan County Bar Association, and Nora Farah, president of the local criminal defense bar, both said they are aware that at least one judge has expressed interest in transferring to Waco. That is why they said their associations thought it important to write letters endorsing a local resident as Smith’s successor. “The bar association believes strongly in the importance and the value of having someone from this community appointed to serve this community,” Wilson said Tuesday...
What Should Employers Do About Misrepresentation?
Entrepreneur online
2015-02-26
Patricia Wilson, J.D., professor of law at Baylor Law School, provides expert commentary in this article about employers’ rights when they believe employees have misrepresented information. This story, originally published by Entrepreneur magazine, was spurred by the acknowledgement by NBC News anchor Brian Williams that he misrepresented his wartime reporting experience. "Most employees are employees at will, meaning that barring a statute or case law that precludes termination, they can be terminated for any reason or no reason at all,” Wilson said. "If those employees are terminated for lying or exaggerating, they have no legal recourse.”
People’s Law School to teach need-to-know law
The Baylor Lariat
2012-02-17
Hosted by the Baylor Law School and sponsored by various contributors, the program includes 18 hour-long law courses, Patricia Wilson, Baylor professor of law, said. Wilson has had primary responsibility for the program since it began. “This program is meant to provide information to the community about law-related topics that they might be interested in,” she said...
Baylor Law School celebrates Black History Month with 'voices of freedom' dramatic presentation
Baylor University
2008-02-11
"This is a good event for Baylor because many of us either had not been born or were too young to remember this era," said law professor Patricia Wilson, who is helping organize the event. "Dr. Tutt's performance brings these two civil rights figures alive, giving us a chance to sense what it might have been like to hear Dr. King or Malcolm X speak in person as opposed to simply reading the text of their speeches."...
Articles (1)
Recreating the Law School to Increase Minority Participation: The Conceptual Law School
Texas Wesleyan Law ReviewPatricia A. Wilson
2010 By now, there is more than enough evidence that minorities are significantly under-represented in the legal profession...
