SHERMAN STIMLEY

STIMLEY, SHERMAN EDMUND

Hometown:  Jackson, MS
Born August 2, 1944

Sherman E. Stimley Blue Ridge Branch Library
Sherman E. Stimley was a lover of books. He contributed his time and talent to schools and children through his advocacy for libraries across the state. Stimley received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas at Lawrence, a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government and juris doctor at Harvard University Law School. Upon graduation, Stimley became the first African-American attorney hired by Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. to work in the firm's corporate and bank sections. He opened his own practice in 1985. It was the first African-American firm in Texas to consult exclusively in tax-exempt bond law.
Source:  Houston Public Library

Mississippi Legislature Resolution

Houston-based Vinson & Elkins is the defendant in a suit filed recently by one of its former associates, an African-American female attorney who alleges V&E engaged in unlawful employment practices that violated her civil rights. Rhonda Wills alleges in her complaint in Wills v. Vinson & Elkins, filed on June 13 in the U.S. District Court in Houston, that she was the victim of racial and gender discrimination as well as sexual harassment while at the firm.

In her complaint, Wills alleges that V&E has a history of racial discrimination in its hiring, retention and promotion of African-Americans. Sherman Stimley, the first African-American attorney to join V&E, was repeatedly denied a partnership, she alleges.

Author Harold M. Hyman reported in "Craftsmanship and Character: A History of the Vinson & Elkins Law Firm of Houston, 1917-1997," that Stimley, a Harvard Law School graduate, joined V&E in 1974 but left the firm in the mid-1980s after it "had become apparent that he would not be admitted into its partnership." Stimley died in 1997.