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52 HOUSTON LAW REVIEW
Restrictions on Use as Exhibit and Proposals for Change,73 ran to
74 pages in Issue 17:3. Not a record, but certainly a good start.
Newell Blakely, however, was only getting started. Within
three years, he would both preside over a true landmark of
Decade 2’s Texas-themed scholarship and, in the process, provide
the local law review, founded on his watch as dean, a hugely
needed financial shot in the arm.
The Book. Nothing published during Decade 2 better
reflected Houston Law Review’s dedication to lofty service to the
Texas Bar than the appearance in Volume 20 of the Texas Rules
of Evidence Handbook. The ultimate “themed issue,” the
Handbook was a turning point in the Review’s history. Three
decades later, HLR still benefits from the publication of its
successor volumes (although now separately bound and sold by
an outside publisher), as the royalty checks they produce help fill
the organization’s operating coffers every year.
The timing of the Handbook’s publication was both
deliberate and doubly fortuitous. In one sense, the timing was
simply responsive to HLR’s immediate financial need: future
funding from the school had been drawn into question, and the
Review had received “orders from headquarters” to develop
outside revenue. As if to oblige, the Texas Supreme Court created
an opening for the publication of an evidence handbook by
promulgating newly revised Rules of Evidence for civil cases in
late 1982.74 On top of that, the rule changes fell squarely within
Newell Blakely’s academic wheelhouse. In dedicating the
Handbook to Blakely, the Review noted:
It is entirely fitting that this Texas Rules of Evidence
Handbook be dedicated to Newell H. Blakely. Not only did
he play a major role in drafting the Texas Rules of
Evidence, he also provided the inspiration for this
Handbook and wrote two of its articles. . . .
Since 1949, Professor Blakely has dedicated himself to
serving the Texas legal community. It is with the greatest
respect and the deepest sense of appreciation that the
Houston Law Review dedicates this Texas Rules of Evidence
Handbook to Newell H. Blakely.75
Having served as Co-Chief Reporter for the State Bar
Liaison Committee for the drafting of the new Rules, Blakely
knew all of the players. His presence as a contributing author to
HLR’s Handbook lent indispensable credibility and expertise to
the enterprise.
The Handbook itself, according to its Foreword, was
intended “to serve the legal profession” and had been “designed