our heroes: LEGAL EAGLES
Borden & Westhoff —
Firm Traditions, Promising Future
BY MARSHA BROWN
J
12
Parker County Traditional Law Firm
Takes Pride in its Next Generation
ohn Westhoff sits at his desk. He’s been there since
before dawn and he worked through lunch. He presides
over the law firm of Borden & Westhoff, the firm he
joined in 1974, fresh out of law school, as protégé to his
famous uncle, the firm’s founder, Jack Borden.
“I would say Jack based his life on the principle and
premise of trying to help people,” Westhoff said. Clearly,
Westhoff learned from the best.
“John is one of the most effective business attorneys
I’ve ever worked with,” said Len Bearden, president of
First National Bank of Weatherford. The bank has been
represented by Borden & Westhoff for years. “John’s judg-
ment in litigating business interests is as good as it gets, in
my opinion. To some degree, he’s in his office working all
the time. You won’t see him out having lunch on a week
day often. He’s very task-oriented and when he attaches
himself to a case he works on it with an intense focus.”
Borden & Westhoff is the oldest continuously-operated
Parker County Law Firm, now 71-years-old and it has
been home base to some of the most highly regarded
attorneys to ever practice in Parker County.
The bronze sculpture of a mare and her foal that
graces the lawn of the stately structure that houses the
law firm of Borden & Westhoff on Weatherford’s Santa Fe
Drive is a subtle nod to the roots of the firm.
It all began with Jack Borden whose dreams of
becoming a country lawyer led him to work his way
through Weatherford College. He graduated in 1931
and earned his law degree in 1936 from the University
of Texas at Austin. He returned to Parker County,
immediately hung out his shingle, and set the foundation
for the Firm of Borden & Westhoff.
Borden put his law practice on hold when World
War II was in progress. He tried to enlist, but his
colorblindness kept the military from taking him. He
found another way to further his country’s cause — he
went to work as an FBI agent.
Once World War II was over, Borden’s FBI career
ended. He returned to his law practice in Weatherford.
Post war-era Parker County was booming and the law
practice flourished.
Soon Roy Joe Grogan joined Borden in his law
practice in 1953/54. Like Borden, Grogan was raised
in Weatherford, attended Weatherford College and
ultimately received his law degree from Duke University
in 1950. Grogan also served in the FBI, and after
returning to Weatherford was elected District Attorney for
Parker County, and he left the firm shortly thereafter in
1955/56.
I.B. Hand joined Jack Borden in the practice after
Grogan was elected District Attorney. Hand received his
law degree from the University of Texas in 1940, also
served as an FBI agent, and was a long-time resident
of Parker County. Borden and Hand, at that time, were
known by the community generally as Mr. Clean and Mr.
Mean. It has yet to be determined who wore which title.
In 1958, Austin Zellers joined the firm, having
received his law degree from the University of Texas.
Zellers was a long-time resident of Parker County. His
father was an attorney, as is his son, who practices law in
Weatherford to this day.
One of the law firm’s proudest moments came in
1974, when Jack Borden’s nephew, John Westhoff joined
the firm, having been licensed to practice law in that
year. Westhoff had obtained his law degree from Texas
Tech University. The firm then became Borden, Hand,
Zellers & Westhoff.
A new breed of young business owners had cropped
up in Parker County around that time and many of them
were working hard to establish their business. Westhoff
was someone those young business leaders soon began to
look to for help when they had legal issues of almost any
ilk from contracts to divorces. Westhoff quickly went from
being Borden’s protégé to becoming one of the firm’s
greatest assets and a legal force to be reckoned with.
One of those young business leaders was Jerry Durant.
“I call him, ‘daddy,’ because he keeps me out of trouble
at times,” Durant said. “I’ve used him as my legal council
for years. I’ve closed a lot of transactions where John
represented both me and the seller. I have a great deal of
confidence in the man. John is my attorney but he’s also
my friend and my neighbor. He lives right next door to
me.”
Word spread quickly that Westhoff was a dynamic
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