Congratulations to Robert Emmet (Robin) Morse III and James E. (Jim) Smith, who practice environmental law, for appearing on The Best Lawyers in America List for 25 years.

Besides being well known in the legal and Houston community, both Robin and Jim have mutual interests, which extend beyond the law.

• Robin is named after Robert Emmet, an Irish nationalist, who in 1803 led an ill-fated rebellion in Dublin. He was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason by a British Court.  When the Clerk of the Crown read the indictment, he asked Emmet if he had anything to say and he responded with the famous impromptu Speech from the Dock which ended with: 

I have but one request to ask at my departure from this world; it is—THE CHARITY OF ITS SILENCE. Let no man write my epitaph; for as no man who knows my motives dare now vindicate them, let not prejudice or ignorance asperse them. Let them and me rest in obscurity and peace, and my name remain uninscribed, until other times and other men can do justice to my character. When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written.

Jim Smith is of Irish descent; two of Jim’s family members are named after Robert Emmet.

• On a day during the Holidays, Jim Smith can be spotted strumming his guitar and leading carols in one of the Firm’s conference rooms. Robin has been a fan since they practiced together in the 1980s.
• When asked to name one of life’s greatest treasures, both Jim and Robin answered spending time with their children and coaching their sports teams.