WALTER S. FORTNEY

Personal-Educational
Mr. Fortney was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on February 11, 1939, and graduated from Paschal High School in 1957.  He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.  He also graduated from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1964 with a Bachelor of Laws Degree.

Professional
After serving one year as Briefing Attorney for the Honorable Joe Greenhill, Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Texas, Mr. Fortney returned to Fort Worth in 1965 to become associated with his uncle, Richard Owens.  In 1969, they formed the partnership of Owens & Fortney.  After Mr. Owens' death, Mr. Fortney joined the firm in 1974.
Mr. Fortney is involved primarily in real estate and land title litigation.  He is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Civil Trial Law.  Mr. Fortney is an associate member of the Texas Land Title Association and has served on various committees for the TLTA.  He has served as an instructor at the Texas Land Title Association Land Title School.  Mr. Fortney has spoken at conventions, meetings, and seminars of the American Land Title Association, the Texas Land Title Association, the Oklahoma Land Title Association, and the Palmetto Land Title Association.  He has served as a speaker at the State Bar of Texas Institute on Real Property and the State Bar of Texas Institute on Real Estate Litigation.  Mr. Fortney has been a guest speaker at various meetings of legal organizations of attorneys and real estate brokers on such subjects as drafting of real estate contracts, changes in the homestead law, and liability of brokers under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.  Mr. Fortney was appointed in 1972 to the first Board of Directors of the Tarrant County Legal Aid Foundation and was elected its President and Chairman of the Board in January, 1973.  Mr. Fortney was appointed by the Governor of Texas in 1986 to the Texas Board of Land Surveying.  He has served as a director of the Tarrant County Bar Association and is the 1996 President-Elect of the TCBA.  Mr. Fortney has served on various State Bar of Texas committees.  He is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Service to Community
Mr. Fortney has worked as a volunteer for many charities and has served on the Board of Directors of the North-East Texas Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Tarrant County Cancer Society.  He has served as a director of the University of Texas at Austin Law Alumni Association and on an advisory council for excellence in women's athletics at the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Fortney can be reached directly at (817) 878-6353, or via email at wfortney@lawsnakard.com.