LAURA SANDERS FOWLER
lfowler
@thefowlerlawfirm.com

Laura Fowler is one of Texas's preeminent experts in school and real estate law, and a popular speaker who frequently presents at conferences throughout the nation. Her practice areas include construction litigation with an emphasis in public works and labor law, educational facilities and telecommunications, public finance and real estate. In addition, she advises on transactional matters including land, insuring and financing agreements and serves as counsel to a number of nonprofit and pool financing and insuring agents. An accomplished counselor whose work has made her one of the most sought out attorneys in the state, Mrs. Fowler has established herself as a leader and innovator in real estate and school law.

In 1976 Laura Fowler received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Central Florida at Orlando. Immediately thereafter she entered Baylor Law School with a full scholarship at a time when there were few women in the law school. In her first year of law school she was recruited by the U.S. Navy at a time when women were limited by federal law as to their numbers as commissioned officers and in the combat assignments they might receive. Nevertheless, Laura Fowler was among the first women JAGC officers to serve aboard a combat vessel, an amphibious aircraft carrier where she found herself at times the lone woman and lawyer aboard a ship with over three thousand navy and marine corps personnel embarked, steaming merrily along the eastern shores of North America. Thereafter she was detailed to the Western Pacific where her duties included the prosecution of various saboteurs and scoundrels who threatened national security in ports of call as diverse as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the Philippines and Australia, serving both as Senior Trial Counsel in many general and special court martials and as Special U.S. Attorney for matters related to the Navy. These unique opportunities gave her unparalleled opportunities for mentorship by some of the most highly skilled senior officers in the Navy whom to this day she credits with instilling in her a true understanding of discipline, self-sacrifice and patriotism in its most meaningful form. Ms. Fowler recently retired with great pride from active service in the Naval Reserves as a full commander.

In 1983, Ms. Fowler returned to Texas and served as counsel to the Texas Commissioner of Education during a tumultuous time in public education reform, counseling school districts as well as agency administrators and serving as litigation liaison to the Texas Attorney General's office whenever the Texas Education Agency or its officers and administrators were sued. She was rapidly recruited into private practice and by 1986 was a named partner in a firm which grew while she was a part of it from a three lawyer firm in Austin, Texas to the largest woman owned law firm in Texas and one of the top one hundred law firms in the State of Texas.

During the 1990's, Ms. Fowler was one of the first attorneys to realize the potential of developing technology and the Internet to improve the quality of legal services for each client of the firm. Her work in creating and distributing electronic newsletters that reach thousands of readers each week was a visionary approach to the law that has served her clients well in helping them avoid legal trouble. In addition to using the Internet to provide invaluable advice, Ms. Fowler is also a popular guest speaker and instructor. She frequently speaks and teaches on topics as diverse as construction, real estate, employment and school administration, topics that she enlivens with the use of music and humor.

As she enters her third decade of law practice, Ms. Fowler's true passion is in giving back to the community and professionals who have so magically enriched her professional and personal life. She is a much sought out public speaker whose courses are approved by many diverse licensing authorities for continuing education including: The State Bar of Texas, the Texas Education Agency for School Board Trustee and Administrator training, the Texas Real Estate Commission, the Texas Department of Insurance and many similar private certification associations. She is the publisher and co-author of five books which have been adopted by the graduate level programs of eighteen Texas colleges and universities. She publishes two electronic newsletters weekly and authors a great many other articles in the fields of real estate, labor law and public works construction and school administration. The proceeds of all sales of all publications support a variety of scholarships to deserving students in many different areas of study both in Texas and abroad.

As the founder of The Fowler Law Firm PC, Ms. Fowler has assembled a team of remarkable Texas attorneys and support staff members who are uniquely qualified and capable in their fields, and committed to making a meaningful difference by serving their clients and community.

Areas of Practice

Construction
Employment
Real Estate
School
Small Business

Education

J.D., Baylor University School of Law, 1979
B.A., Central Florida University , Allied Legal Services, 1976

Publications

How It Works… School Construction in Texas , 3 rd Edition
How It Works… Complete Legal Reference Manual for School Principals , 2 nd Edition
How It Works… School Personnel Law for School Principals , 2 nd Edition
How it Works… Special Education in Texas , Assessment the Key to It All , 2 nd Edition
Risk Management for School Officials

Bar Memberships/Licenses

State Bar of Texas
State Bar of Texas Business Law Section
State Bar of Texas Construction Law Section
State Bar of Texas Labor Law Section
State Bar of Texas School Law Section
Supreme Court of the State of Texas
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas