Donald E. Godwin Earns Lifetime Achievement Honors from SMU Dedman School of Law

Godwin Bowman Chairman and CEO Donald E. Godwin is one of five attorneys to earn Distinguished Achievement Award honors from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law for 2024.

Mr. Godwin was recognized as the 13^th recipient of the Robert G. Storey Award for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement during a dinner and awards presentation on March 6, 2024. He was previously honored with SMU’s 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award for Private Practice.

Among the nation’s most respected trial lawyers, Mr. Godwin has earned honors reflective of the high standards of excellence he has displayed throughout his storied career. Named a Living Legend by the Dallas Bar Association in 2022, he is also among Texas Lawbook’s 50 Lions of the Texas Bar. Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA,) his work has also earned Chambers USA, the Lawdragon 500, Texas Super Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America, Dallas Business Journal and D Magazine recognition. He has previously earned Distinguished Alumni honors from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and The University of Memphis. He was inducted into Memphis’ Fogelman College Hall of Fame in 2016.

The Storey Award is presented in recognition of “Distinguished Lifetime Achievement” and is the highest award that the law school can bestow.

The award is named in honor of former SMU Law School Dean Robert Storey, who also served as executive trial counsel for the U.S. at the Nuremberg Trial of major axis war criminals. He founded the Southwestern Legal Foundation, served as the President of the American Bar Association, served as President of the Inter-American Bar Association, and was a member of the Commission to Reorganize the Executive Branch of Government (Hoover Commission). He was also a board member and Chair of the Fulbright Scholarship Commission and Vice Chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

Pictured above, left to right: Gerald Turner, SMU President; Donald E. Godwin; Jason Nance, Dean of SMU Dedman School of Law.