October 2002
The University of Houston Law Center mourns the September 22nd passing of Professor Yale Rosenberg, A. A. White Professor of Law, Teacher, Colleague & Friend.
Professor Rosenberg received the 2000 University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award and, in 1998, was Student Bar Association Professor of the Year.
Professor Leslie Griffin has been elected to membership in the American Law Institute.
Professor Victor B. Flatt delivered the Inaugural Lecture for the A.L. O’Quinn Chair in Environmental Law, entitled “This Land is Your Land: The Importance of Recognizing Environmental Rights,” on October 23rd.
Professor Richard Alderman’s work as “The People’s Lawyer” is favorably featured in the current (November) issue of the Texas Bar Journal.
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Honorable Mentions:
Professor Peter Hoffman was quoted May 20th in The Beaumont enterprise on the Enron bankruptcy.
Professor David R. Dow’s op-ed, “Moral Clarity Replaced by Foggy Ideas About ’War’,” appeared in the Houston Chronicle on September 8th.
Professor Lonny S. Hoffman was quoted in the October 2nd Houston Chronicle in an article entitled, “Suit Slams 9 Executives, but Lay Charge is Minor,” regarding the plaintiffs' forum decision in the Enron case.
Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson was interviewed on a live radio news show in Virginia on the day the suspected snipers were arrested regarding which jurisdiction would try the men first.
Professor Richard Alderman’s op-ed was published in the October 28th Houston Chronicle, “In Defense of So-Called ‘Greedy Trial Lawyers’.”
Associate Dean Seth Chandler made several media appearances on Channel 2 and in the Houston Chronicle discussing the exit of Farmers Insurance from the Texas homeowner’s market.
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Academy & Colloquium:
Professor Richard Alderman published the 2002 edition of Texas Consumer Law Cases & Materials (currently used in all Texas law schools), and the 2002 100-page supplement to The Lawyers’ Guide to the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Prof. Alderman also submitted “Consumer Arbitration in the United States,” to be published in the Latin American Journal for Mediation & Arbitration, and agreed to participate in a symposium issue of the Journal of American Arbitration devoted to consumer arbitration. Prof. Alderman gave talks to the State Bar College, TSU Middle College for Technology Careers High School, Clear Lake Regional Hospital Better Breathers Society, National Association of Retired Federal Employees, Sigma Gamma Row Sorority, Shell Alumni, Houston Bar Association Senior Lawyers, Montgomery County Rotary Club, Harris County Shriner, Galveston County Small Business Administration, and the Harris County Credit Coalition.
Rod Borlase hosted the Houston Volunteer Lawyers’ Program for Pro se Litigants in Family Court at the Law Center on October 26th. Rod also added three new library guides for lay-patrons to his Law Library & Legal Research Guides website (http://www.law.uh.edu/guides ): “First Things in Legal Research Guide”; “Texas Family Law Research Guide”; & “Texas Legislative Histories Guide.”
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Seth Chandler represented the law school a meeting of the Texas Environmental Health Institute in Austin, a state government agency working on toxic tort and other issues. Dean Chandler also visited the United States Supreme Court for the Installation Ceremony of Third Circuit Chief Judge Edward R. Becker as the 2002 recipient of the “Devitt Award” for service to the judiciary. Dean Chandler’s article “Visualizing Adverse Selection: An Economic Approach to the Law of Insurance Underwriting,” was published in the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal. Dean Chandler gave a “Friday Frontier” presentation to the law faculty on “Simple Games: Using Cellular Automata to Model Legal Rules.” Finally, Dean Chandler’s initiative to invite Nobel laureate John Nash to the Fifth International Mathematica Symposium in London during July 2003 (at which he will be presenting) has succeeded.
Professor David R. Dow read from his book, Machinery of Death, at the Regulator Bookstore in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. The event was part of a program that included the release of a study of the quality of counsel who represent indigent capital defendants in North Carolina. (As it happens, 1 in 5 death row inmates in North Carolina was represented by a lawyer who has been sanctioned by the state bar.) On October 11th, Prof. Dow addressed the Civil Rights Subcommittee of the Anti-Defamation League at its Annual Meeting; Prof. Dow’s topic was the balance between civil liberties and security in the aftermath of 9/11.
Professor Meredith Duncan’s article, “Criminal Malpractice: A Lawyer's Holiday” was accepted by the Georgia Law Review, to be published in the Spring 2003.
Professor Victor B. Flatt’s new article, entitled “Notice and Comment for Nonprofits,” was accepted for publication in Rutgers Law Review, to be published in January 2003. Prof. Flatt attended the Law School Admissions Council Subcommittee Meeting on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered issues, and continues to assist in the preparation of statistical studies for the subcommittee.
Professor Leslie Griffin participated in the Emory School of Law’s Law & Human Nature Project, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Law & Religion. The Project will prepare two volumes, one of primary sources and one of analytical essays, to be published in 2004.
Professor Lonny S. Hoffman and his Procedure I class, discussing a recent 5th Circuit decision, were among the subjects of a September 2002 article in the Texas Lawyer. On October 15th, Prof. Hoffman participated in the oral argument as second-chair before the United States Supreme Court in Syngenta v. Henson (No. 01-757), after previously filing an amicus brief on behalf of the State of Texas in support of respondent's position in the case. In September, Prof. Hoffman was invited to be a speaker at the American Law Institute-American Bar Association’s program on Civil Practice & Effective Litigation Techniques in Federal & State Courts, to be held in January 2003 in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; and was also named as Editor-in-Chief of Advocate, the State Bar of Texas’ Litigation Section’s flagship quarterly publication, continuously published since 1983 under the principal direction of Professor Patrick Hazel of the University of Texas School of Law.
Prof. Hoffman's article, “Removal Jurisdiction & the All Writs Act,” 148 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 401 (1999) was cited by Southeastern Pennsylvania Transp. Authority v. Pa Public Utility Commission, 210 F.Supp.2d 689 (2002), and by Professor Georgine Vairo in American Law Institute - American Bar Association Continuing Legal Education August 21-23, 2002 Civil Practice & Litigation Techniques in Federal & State Courts “Problems in Federal Forum Selection & Concurrent Federal State Jurisdiction: Supplemental Jurisdiction; Diversity Jurisdiction; Removal; Preemption; Venue; Transfer of Venue; Personal Jurisdiction; Abstention & the All Writs Acts, H009 ALI-ABA 191 (August 2002). Prof. Hoffman’s article, “Forum Non Conveniens in Federal Statutory Cases,” 49 Emory Law Journal 1137 (2000), was cited by Professor Ralph Whitten in Texas International Law Journal, Summer 2002 Symposium on International Forum Shopping U.S. Conflict-of-laws Doctrine & Forum Shopping, International & Domestic (Revisited).
Professor Peter Hoffman served as NITA Southern California Regional Deposition Program Team Leader on August 1st-3rd and at the NITA New Jersey Regional Deposition Program (Team Leader) on July 17-19th. Prof. Hoffman spoke on Deposition Techniques to the Navajo Nation Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, Durango, Colorado, June 6th in Durango, Colorado. Prof. Hoffman served as Program Director & Team Leader for the NITA/ABA Section of Litigation/UH Law Center Co-Sponsored Advocacy Teacher Training Program August 9-10th, and Faculty Member at the ABA Section of Family Law Trial Advocacy, University of Houston Law Center, August 18-24th. Finally, Prof. Hoffman organized and was Team Leader for the Advocacy Teacher Training Session, AALS Clinical Teachers Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, May 19th-23rd (session received the highest evaluations of any conference session)
Professor Steve Huber has been active speaking to international visitors. Prof. Huber talked to a group of executives from the Beijing Airport Authority about Alternative Dispute Resolution, and to a group of senior bankers from Ukraine about Money Laundering & Bank Secrecy.
Professor Paul Janicke spoke in September at the Annual Institute on Intellectual Property law in Galveston, co-sponsored by the Law Center’s IPIL and the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association. On October 18th, Prof. Janicke spoke in Washington DC at the Annual Meeting of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. This is the world's largest organization devoted to intellectual property law, and the meeting drew over 1800 persons.
Professor Craig Joyce has been reappointed to the Board of Editors of the Journal of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., the leading publication in its field. Prof. Joyce has served as an editor of the Journal since 1988. In addition, Prof. Joyce attended oral argument in Eldred v. Ashcroft, in which the United States Supreme Court is expected to determine the meaning of the Constitution's provision that copyrights may be secured by Congress only for “limited Times.” Prof. Joyce's prior co-authored article construing the Constitution's companion limitation that such grants may be made only to “Authors” was cited by the Court as the leading law review authority on the subject in a 1991 decision. Prof. Joyce is currently at work on an essay concerning the “limited Times” provision.
Professor Joan Krause spoke September 13th on “Relationships with Pharmaceutical Companies: The TAP Pharmaceutical Products Case” at the Cumberland Law School’s Development & Trends in Health Care Law 2002 Conference in Birmingham, Alabama. On October 15th, Prof. Krause spoke on “Fraud & Abuse Issues for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers” at the Legal & Ethical Challenges for a Changing Health Care Industry Conference sponsored by the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis.
Professor Bryan Liang published the following articles, “An Active & Cost-Conserving Approach to the Management of Low Back Pain,” Hospital Physician, October 2002, at 55-66 [with Sheila A. Dugan, MD, PT; Denise A. Frost, PT; Kevin P. Sullivan, MD]; “Which Syringe Did I Use? Anesthesiologist Confusion & Potential Liability for a Medical Error,” 14 Journal of Clinical Anesthesia 371-374 (2002) [with J Bramhall, MD, and B. Cullen, MD], which was included on the National Patient Safety Foundation's Current Literature Awareness list. Prof. Liang spoke on “The Law & the Profession: Fraud, Abuse, Privacy & Professional Ethics” and also (with Dennis Van Vliet, Angela Loavenbruck, Carole Rogin, David Fabry, & Frank Bucaro) on “Ethos in Audiology: The Distinguishing Character of Our Business, Professional, & Personal Lives” at the Plenary Panel Discussion, at the Academy of Dispensing Audiologists’ Annual Convention on October 9-12th in Palm Springs, California; and Prof. Liang will speak on “Lawyers in the Clinic: Legal Issues in Performing Patient Safety Work. Do No Harm” at the Second Annual Colorado Patient Safety Conference on November 1st.
Prof. Liang attended Editorial Board Meetings & attended events at the Legal Advisory Board Meeting and at the at the National Legal Center for the Public Interest in New York on September 19th, concurrently attending the Gauer Lecture in Law & Public Policy honoring The Hon. William Webster (where Prof. Liang was also invited to attend a private reception for William Webster). Prof. Liang attended the Journal of Clinical Anesthesia Editorial Board Meeting, American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting on October 11-15th, and concurrently at the Survey of Anesthesiology Editorial Board Meeting.
Prof. Liang was interviewed by Legal Affairs on his empirical work that questions the reliability of the dying declaration hearsay exception based on linguistic and medical studies of language and communication.
Professor Peter Linzer has been invited to be a judge for the 2004 American Association of Law Schools’ Scholarly Paper Competition. Prof. Linzer completed his essay for the Festschrift in honor of Professor Joseph Perillo. Its current (evolving) title is “The Comfort of Certainty: Plain Meaning & the Parol Evidence Rule.”
Professor Ellen Marrus spoke at the Rocky Mountain Clinical Conference, held at the University of New Mexico School of Law on October 4-5th on “Children & Family Issues in Clinical Settings.” Also attending were the Law Center’s Clinical Professor Rhonda Beassie, who spoke on “Economic Disparities, and Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Region.” Juvenile Defense Clinic Lecturer Frank Birchak led a session on “Technology and Access to Justice,” and Immigration Clinic Lecturer Diana Velardo gave a talk on “Immigration Issues Facing Clients in the Region.” The next Rocky Mountain Clinical Conference will be held at the University of Houston Law Center in November 2003.
Prof. Marrus, Clinical Professor Janet Heppard and Diana Velardo attended sessions at the Center for Missing and Exploited Children on the Hague Convention in order to involve law school clinics in the representation of petitioners under the Child Abduction provisions of the Hague Convention.
The Southwest Regional Juvenile Defender Center received a leadership award from the National Center and the American Bar Association for the outstanding work that has been done in the region on behalf of juveniles and the attorneys representing them in delinquency proceedings. Additionally, Prof. Ellen Marrus and Frank Birchak, in cooperation with Texas Appleseed published two booklets: Juvenile Practice is Not Child's Play: A Handbook for Attorneys Who Represent Juveniles in Texas and Navigating The Juvenile Justice System A Handbook for Juveniles & Their Families.
Professor Douglas Moll was asked to be one of the founders of a new Securities Litigation & Arbitration Section of the Houston Bar Association (HBA). The HBA board unanimously approved the creation of the Section. In addition, as a founder of the New Law Professors Section of the American Association of Law Schools, Prof. Moll has also been busy planning the Section's first program (which will be held at the annual meeting in January). The program, entitled "Developing a Scholarly Agenda," will feature presentations from Professor Ian Ayres (Yale), Professor Ted Ruger (Washington St. Louis), Professor Jeremy Paul (Connecticut), Professor Bob Lawless (UNLV), and our very own Dean Nancy Rapoport.
Professor Geraldine S. Moohr presented “The Harm & Morality of Copyright Infringement” at Washington & Lee University School of Law on October 28th. The faculty workshops are sponsored by the Frances Lewis Law Center, a special program within the Law School that honors Justice Powell.
Professor Thomas Oldham has submitted (with Kelly Weisberg, Hastings) a manuscript to Aspen Publishing for publication in early 2003, an Annotated Texas Family Code for Aspen’s new set of annotated state statutes.
Professor Michael A. Olivas survived the lecture tour from hell when, in four days he lectured on legal issues concerning academic freedom at the National Academy of Education meeting in Toronto, and flew to Atlanta, where he delivered the Distinguished Education Lecture at Georgia State University’s College of Education (legal issues in the classroom), conducted a workshop at the Hispanic National Bar Association (on becoming a law professor), and delivered the Neil Rappoport Distinguished Memorial Lecture at the American Association of University Professors Annual Governance Conference (theory and practice of bad governance). On September 25th, Prof. Olivas lectured at the University of Texas Immigration CLE, where his topic was the effect of 9/11 upon colleges and universities.
Professor Jordan Paust panel presentation during the American Branch of the International Law Association's International Law Weekend in New York in October 2001 on “Sanctions Against Non-State Actors for Violations of International Law” was published in 8 ILSA Journal of Intentional & Comparative Law 417 (2002). Prof. Paust spoke at a “Friday Frontiers” session with faculty on use of force in Afghanistan and Iraq, and participated in a Sept. 11th panel with Law Center Professors Dow, Douglass, Vail, and Zamora in Krost Hall. Prof. Paust has prepared a book chapter, entitled “Links Between Terrorism & Human Rights & Implications Concerning Responses to Terrorism,” for Human Rights and Conflict (Julie Mertus & Jeff Helsing eds., 2003).
Dean Nancy Rapoport spoke at September 13th to the American Bar Institute’s Southwestern Institute on a panelist discussing “A Look Inside the Mega-case” in Las Vegas; September 19th at the Texas Bar CLE Advanced Tax Law Course in Houston on “Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Get Back in the Water: Reflections on Crisis Management & Ethics after a Disaster (Natural or Otherwise)”; September 27th at the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association Institute in Galveston on “Images of Lawyers in Film; October 1st at the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Houston on Ethics; & September 16th, Dean Rapoport led a discussion on Enron, Dialogues 2002, sponsored by Jewish Community Center. Dean Rapoport will also be a member this year of the Gulf Coast Division of the American Leadership Forum. Dean Rapoport’s most recent publication is “Is ‘Thinking Like a Lawyer’ Really What We Want to Teach?,” 2001 ALWD Conference Proceedings 91.
Professor Ira B. Shepard was quoted in the October 11th issue of Tax Notes Today, “Idea of Greater Corporate Disclosure Sparks Controversy, Concerns” 2002 TNT 198-4, & spoke on “Real Estate Taxation” to the UH Law Foundation Advanced Real Estate Course on October 3rd in Dallas and on October 10th in Houston. On October 8th Prof. Shepard spoke on “Current Developments in Federal Taxation” to the Wednesday Tax Institute and, on October 25th, hosted a presentation by United States Tax Court Judge Paige Marvel on “The Burden of Proof” to the same group. On October 25th, Prof. Shepard made a three-hour presentation for the Tax Executives Institute on “Ethical Rules & Guidelines for In-House Tax Lawyers in Texas” in Houston and, on October 30th-31st, Prof. Shepard will speak at the Tulane Tax Institute (with Professor Martin McMahon) on “Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation.”
Professor William P. Streng participation in the American Bar Association’s Section of Taxation meeting in Los Angeles in October, including the Teaching Taxation Committee and the Foreign Activities of U.S. Taxpayers Committee. Prof. Streng’s Supplement 2002-2 to Bittker, Emory & Streng’s Federal Income Taxation of Corporations & Shareholders – Forms" (Two volumes; Fourth Edition), Warren, Gorham & Lamont/RIAG has been released, and Supplement 2002-3 has been submitted for publication. Further, Chapters 1 & 2 of these volumes have been completely revised and are being released as part of Supplement 2002-3. Release Number 34 supplementing the six volume treatise by Streng & Salacuse, International Business Planning, Law & Taxation: United States (Matthew Bender) has been published, and the manuscript for Release 35 has been transmitted for publication. Prof. Streng’s (with UHLC Adjunct Professor Mickey Davis) Tax Planning for Retirement, one volume, revised edition, was published by RIAG Warren, Gorham & Lamont. Prof. Streng’s article, entitled “Form & Substance in Tax Law,” the USA Report included in Cahier de Droit Fiscal International, Volume LXXXV11a, was published by Kluwer for International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation for 56th International Fiscal Association Congress, Oslo, Norway, August 2002, William P. Streng as principal co-reporter for U.S. Branch. Prof. Streng’s article, entitled “U.S. Income Taxation of Foreign Persons Engaged in a U.S. Trade or Business” has again been included (as revised) in one of the multiple volumes issued in conjunction with the Practising Law Institute's Fall 2002 Program entitled Tax Strategies for Corporate Acquisitions, Dispositions, Spin-offs, Joint Ventures, Financing Reorganizations & Restructurings 2001.
Professor Jacqueline Weaver presented a half-day lecture on “Oil & Gas Conservation” at the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute’s Oil & Gas Short Course.
Professor Joseph Vail presented a paper and spoke at the University of Texas Immigration Law Conference in San Antonio on October 25th on recent changes in immigration law relating to criminal activity and the resulting impact on immigration status. The Immigration Clinic was awarded a grant of $28,000. 00 from the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation on October 15th.
Rod Borlase, Editor