Faculty Focus is a monthly publication documenting the activities, accomplishments, and honors of the University of Houston Law Center Faculty
Rod Borlase has two new research guides, "Drafting Motions for Novices and Laypersons" and "Motions in Limine". His article, "Trust the Doctor, Not the Drug Companies," 69 Texas Medicine 11 (2000), is the anchor article to a special topics issue concerning the pharmaceutical industry.
John Jay Douglass was quoted by Gannett News Service on December 14, 2000 on President-Elect George Bush, "The executive branch would be well under way in a short period of time…His style is, "Let's get the government running." I think he has surrounded himself with some very astute people who can help him do that."
David R. Dow's essay, "States' Rights Rule," which reviewed the most important developments during the Supreme Court's 1999 term appeared in the Texas Lawyer on December 18, 2000.
Steve Huber was a speaker at the AALS Convention, Joint Session of the Sections on Professional Responsibility and Dispute Resolution. His topic was Professional Responsibility Issues in Arbitration. An extended version of this presentation will appear in the Fordham Urban Law Journal. Steve's article, "Top Ten Arbitration Developments in the 1990's," appears in the latest issue of the Dispute Resolution Journal -- which styles itself "the leading journal in the ADR field."
Christine Hurt participated in a three-person panel discussion for the New and Newer Directors of Legal Research and Writing on January 6, 2001 in conjunction with the AALS annual conference in San Francisco. Among the topics discussed were hiring and training instructors, program design, and administrative hurdles. The presentation was so well received that she has already been asked to repeat it at the Legal Writing Institute's next conference in the summer of 2002.
Peter Linzer has agreed to take part in a colloquium to be held at the University of Texas Law School on February 23, 2001. The colloquium is entitled "Equal Access to Justice: Legal Education and the Provision of Legal Services," and is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Texas, Texas Lawyers Care, and numerous Texas law schools (including UH). It is one of 19 colloquia that the Association of American Law Schools is presenting around the country this academic year to focus on the role of law schools in increasing access to justice for poor people. Peter Linzer was also elected Chair-elect of the AALS Contracts Section.
Nancy Rapoport has been accepted into the 2-week MLE summer program at the Harvard Graduate School of education. MLE stands for the Institute for Management and Leadership and she will be there from June 10th-22nd, 2001. Information on the MLE is available at <http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~ppe/>. She also spoke twice at AALS: first on January 4th at the joint program of the section for the Law School Dean, Graduate Programs for Foreign Lawyers, International Legal Exchange, and Post-Graduate Education (title of the panel is "Working Together: Developing Cooperation in International Legal education") and second on January 6th, for the section on Academic Support (title of the panel is "Developing Strategies and Programs for Maximum Bar Performance: The Ultimate Team Challenge").
Robert Schuwerk gave a presentation reviewing two recent Texas ethics opinions restricting a lawyer's right to accede to insurance company cost-cutting and auditing demands before the South Texas Inns of Court on January 9th. He also served as a facilitator at a presentation on the "Humanizing Dimension of Legal Education" on January 7th at the AALS meeting. West Publishing has accepted his and his co-author's proposal for a treatise on Texas-focused judicial ethics and discipline, lawyer ethics and discipline, and lawyer tort liability. It will be part of West's Texas Practice series with publication scheduled in early 2002. His co-author, Lillian B. Hardwick, is a graduate of the Law Center.
Ira Shepard chaired and spoke at a Mini-Program on "Recent Developments" with Marty McMahon of the University of Florida Law School held at the ABA Tax Section Mid-Winter Meeting in Scottsdale on January 13th. He also spoke before the Wednesday Tax Forum on "Recent Developments in Taxation."
Jacqueline Weaver chaired the Natural Resources Section at the AALS meeting in January.