A Texas judge has shown a keen sense of college football history in resolving a dispute between parties in a wrongful-death suit over where a deposition should be held.

The widow and son of William Waggoner wanted Wal-Mart's corporate representative to be deposed at law offices in San Antonio; Wal-Mart argued that the deposition should take place in Bentonville, Ark., where the world's largest retailer is headquartered.

Senior U.S. District Judge James R. Nowlin, a University of Texas law school graduate and a big Longhorn football fan, said in a June 3 order that he sympathized with Wal-Mart since its corporate representative

would feel great humiliation by being forced to enter the home state of the University of Texas, where the legendary Texas Longhorns have wrought havoc on the Arkansas Razorbacks with an impressive 55-21 all-time series record.

On the other hand, he continued, the Waggoners

might enter Arkansas with a bit of trepidation as many residents of Arkansas are still seeking retribution for the "Game of the Century" in which James Street and Darrell Royal stunned the Razorbacks and went on to win the 1969 national championship.

Nowlin's Solomonic solution? The deposition will be held -- unless the parties agree otherwise -- on the steps of the federal building in Texarkana, which sits on the border between Texas and Arkansas.

Ruth Waggoner and her son Ronald allege in their complaint that William Waggoner, 88, died as a result of the injuries he sustained when an automatic door at a Wal-Mart store in Marble Falls, Texas, "malfunctioned and closed prematurely, knocking him to the ground."

The plaintiffs' attorney said Nowlin had chosen "a humorous way to basically chastise the attorneys to get us to work out something we should be able to do ourselves."

By Matthew Heller
6/6/08