Robert W. Stayton (1886-1963), legal educator and authority on Texas civil procedure, was a 1909 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. He practiced law privately, served on the Board of Legal Examiners and the Commission of Appeals, and was president of the State Bar Association before joining the UT law faculty in 1925. Stayton served as a member of the Texas Judicial Council, 1929-1946, created to study the organization, rules, procedure and practices of the Texas judicial system. With the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure, 1940-1961, he chaired the Subcommittee on Trial Procedure (Actual trial). After the revised rules, called the greatest work of jurisprudence in the State, were adopted by the court in 1941, Stayton was chair, 1942-1944, of the newly formed Subcommittee on Interpretation of Rules (of the Committee on the Improvement of the Administration of Justice of the State Bar), formed to assist in interpreting the new rules by providing advisory opinions to lawyers. Stayton's life long commitment to civil procedural reform was evidenced by prolific writings and by several research projects.
From the description of Robert W. Stayton papers, ca. 1934-1950. (University of Texas, Tarlton Law Library). WorldCat record id: 80428845
