that time, Eugene P. Locke had been practicing law with his father in the firm of Locke & Locke for 15 years, having joined the firm right after graduating from the University of Texas Law School in 1904. During their partnership, the father and son would argue at least 10 cases before the Texas Supreme Court and would argue for or against writs of certiorari seven times before the U.S. Supreme Court and be granted two such writs. Indeed, in December 1910, Maurice Locke was recommended as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in a letter to Attorney General George Wickersham by Haley Fiske of the New York-based Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Fiske called Maurice Locke "the best lawyer I ever met," and said he was "quite sure he is the best life insurance lawyer in the United States." Wickersham responded in a letter that Maurice Locke’s name "has been brought to my attention several times" and he is "very highly spoken of" and "may be of value to the Government in some important post." In addition, in 1940 Eugene P. Locke turned down an offer by Texas Governor W. Lee O’Daniel to be chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. In his letter declining the offer, Eugene P. Locke wrote that he was "deeply sensible of the great honor" bestowed, but "it will be impossible for me to accept." Locke felt he was better equipped for his position as head of the firm in Dallas. Among his accomplishments, Eugene P. Locke composed the legal document that brought the Dallas Foundation into existence. It was a document that was long recognized for providing flexibility through grants and appropriate management of gifts. A newspaper editorial after Eugene P. Locke’s death said that he was "widely recognized as one of the country’s most successful and responsible lawyers in the field of civil practice" and that "in the highest ethical concept of the profession he was unflinchingly and indefatigably a seeker of justice through the processes of law." After graduating from Yale Law School in 1940, Eugene M. Locke signed the partnership agreement for the Locke law firm on March 15, 1941. After the outbreak of World War II, he left the firm and served for a short period with the Office of Price Administration and then joined the Navy, where he served as a gunnery officer on a destroyer called the