If you're in San Antonio tonight, drop by La Fonda Oak Hills Mexican Restaurant at 350 Northhaven, near Loop 410 and Fredericksburg Rd. The Court Jesters, a band composed of some of San Antonio's finest legal talent will be performing from 8-10. If you can't make it this evening, they'll be coming back on the first Saturday in March.
It was the suave, detective-like character
of Perry Mason that partly influenced
Ruben R. Barrera to attend
the University of Texas School of Law in
the mid-1970s.
But, if things were just a bit different,
he may have been a session player with
some well-known musicians, or even a
teacher.
“Clearly, law was my first choice,”
Barrera, a partner in the San Antonio
office of Bracewell & Giuliani, L.L.P.,
says. “I decided I always wanted to keep
music as my hobby.”
Though Barrera practices his first love
everyday, he still manages to fit music
into his schedule as a member of the 15-
person, nearly all-lawyer ensemble, the
Court Jesters.
The San Antonio group formed about
a year ago when they were asked to perform
at the San Antonio Bar Association’s
Installation Gala.
Only two members are not lawyers:
Dr. Teri Hospers (who is married to San
Antonio attorney Lee Cusenbary) and
real estate broker Robert Trevino, who knew and played with members from
former bands.
Beside Barrera, the Court Jesters
boast 11 lawyers — Stephen A. Barrera,
Linda W. Browning, Joseph “Joe”
Casseb, Solomon “Sol” Casseb III,
Mary Belan Doggett, James “Jim” S.
Frost, Michael W. “Mike” Jackson,
Fred Riley Jones, Michael Paul, Brett
B. Rowe, and Douglas C. “Doug”
Walsdorf — and one judge, Mark R.
Luitjen.
“All of us are aging rock-and-rollers
who never got it out of our systems,”
guitarist Joe Casseb, a partner in Goode,
Casseb, Jones, Riklin, Choate & Watson,
P.C., quips.
Having so many lawyers in the group
is helpful in keeping the peace, lead
vocalist Belan Doggett says, because of
the mediation and negotiation skills they
possess.
“We know which fight is worth fighting
for,” laughs Belan Doggett, a partner
in Harrison & Doggett, L.L.P.
Though the Court Jesters are a ’50s,
’60s, ’70s and ’80s rock and R&B cover band, Barrera says the Court Jesters are a
serious band that puts an enormous
amount of time and effort into the group
and the music it covers.
Barrera gives each song a little bit of
his own flavor by writing parts for the
horn section or adding background
vocals prominently into a song.
Their most popular songs? “Anything
that’s a good danceable song, that’s what
really gets the crowds going,” Barrera says,
adding that a particular crowd favorite is
Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.”
Casseb, a mediator, says the group is
“absolutely therapeutic” and “a great
release.”
Casseb likens performing live music
to stepping out into a courtroom, something
his bandmates agree with.
“It’s always a rush to perform music,”
he asserts. “And let’s face it, when you’re
in a courtroom, you’re performing as
well.”
By and large, the members see the
Court Jesters as an opportunity to get
back into something they reluctantly put
on hold for family and other responsibilities.
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