Tulane University of Louisiana
Burt Hunley's documented background is connected with Louisiana, where he received his legal training at Tulane University and was admitted to the state bar in 1960. Louisiana's legal tradition rests partly on a civil-law heritage that distinguishes it from most other American states, and this environment shaped the legal education offered in New Orleans, where Tulane's law school was located.
Hunley received a Bachelor of Laws from Tulane University of Louisiana in 1960. Tulane Law School was established in 1847, thirteen years after Tulane University was founded, and is the twelfth oldest law school in the United States. The university traces its history to the Medical College of Louisiana, founded in 1834.
From 1847 to 1884 the institution operated as the state-chartered University of Louisiana. In 1884 it was reorganized as a private, non-sectarian university named for the philanthropist Paul Tulane. By the mid-twentieth century it was known as the Tulane University of Louisiana, and in 1949 the English comparatist Harold Gutteridge described it as a center of comparative legal study. From its founding, the law school taught both the common law and the civil law systems, which gave its curriculum a distinctive character in a state with a civil-law tradition.
Hunley was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 1960, becoming part of the state's legal profession. The Louisiana State Bar Association, which regulates the practice of law in the state, was created in 1941 by the Louisiana Supreme Court under authority granted by the Legislature.
His documented professional career is centered on his position as a partner of Central Division Houston in Houston, Texas. Houston, the largest city in Texas, became the location of this partnership.
Hunley is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the mandatory integrated bar of the state. Legislation enacted in 1940 authorized the Louisiana Supreme Court to create the association and to require all lawyers practicing in Louisiana to join it. Its stated mission includes assisting members in the practice of law, promoting the professional competence of attorneys, and encouraging collegiality among them.
