September 2002
Butler Research Professor Announcement: Dean Nancy B. Rapoport announced July 18th that Professors Ronald Turner & Douglas Moll will be next year’s Butler Research Professors.
Dean Nancy B. Rapoport announced that Professor Douglas Moll was named a Fulbright Senior Specialist , joining Law Center Professors Thomas Oldham and Lonny Hoffman in that honor. Fulbright Senior Specialists are matched with organizations, often outside of the U.S., seeking expertise in particular areas.
Professor Michael A. Olivas was named Associate Dean for Student Life by Dean Nancy B. Rapoport.
The University of Houston Law Center’s Institute for Energy, Law & Enterprise (“Energy Institute”) participated in the International Association for Energy Economics Conference in Aberdeen, Scotland in June. Institute Director Michelle Michot Foss chaired a co-plenary session on U.S. Energy Regulation with Donald Santa (Partner, Troutman Sanders, & former member, U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), Shirley Neff (Senior Economist, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources), Brett Perlman (Commissioner, Public Utility Commission of Texas). Director Foss presented two papers, along with Dr. Gurcan Gulen, “Mean Reversion & Volatility in Energy Prices: Implications for Policy” and “Real Time Pricing in Electricity Markets.” Director Foss is president-elect of IAEE for 2003.
The Energy Institute also hosted the U.S.-China Oil & Gas Forum for the U.S. Departments of Energy and of Commerce July 18-19, which is our main government-government exchange on key energy and related technology and environment relationships. This 4th Forum concerned legal/regulatory frameworks for natural gas market development in China.
The Energy Institute, in collaborations with the Center for Global Studies at the Houston Advanced Research Center, worked on the Third Edition to Guide to Electric Power in Texas, due out in late July.
Finally, a number of Law Center students worked on Energy Institute Projects this summer, among them: Barbara Barron on worldwide regimes for deep water oil and gas exploration, Angela Tao on Public Utility Holding Company Act reform and water marketing, and Meaghan Samuels on an update to an existing Energy Institute Report on electricity and natural gas liberalization in Europe; From Bauer College of Business, Ruzanna Markayan on an update to an existing Energy Institute Report on Russian oil and gas prepared by Paul Gregory, Cullen Professor of Economics, and Ivan Van der Linde on new research on energy commodity risk management issues for oil and gas producers.
The Intellectual Property Institute, in the persons of Professors Sandy Gaines, Jordan Paust & Stephen Zamora, announce the arrival Nita Vandiver Jackson as Coordinator of International Programs at the University of Houston Law Center.
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Honorable Mention: Following President Bush’s July 9th speech concerning corporate responsibility, the Honorable Professors Douglas Moll & Robert Ragazzo were extensively quoted the next day (July 10th) in a Houston Chronicle front-page story – Prof. Moll was also quoted that day in the Conroe Courier. The Honorable Professor Richard Saver was interviewed on KPRC-TV (Channel 2) on July 1st and quoted in the Houston Chronicle on July 2nd regarding alleged financial conflicts of interest in a clinical trial of the cancer drug Erbitux conducted at the University of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and current regulations governing financial conflicts of interest at academic medical centers.
The Honorable Professor Jordan Paust was on National Public Radio Aug. 22nd discussing treatment of bodies of Sept. 11th hijackers.
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Academy & Colloquium:
Professor Mary Anne Bobinski presented a “Bioethics Update” to the 26th Annual Health Law Teachers Conference, sponsored by the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, in Indianapolis, Indiana June 8th, and also talked on "Legal Aspects of Risky Reproduction in the United States" at the 14th World Medical Law Congress in Maastricht, The Netherlands on August 13th. More locally, Prof. Bobinski conducted a session on “The New HIPAA Privacy Regulations” to HIV/STD counselors August 21st and will present a “Health Law Update” to the Legal Assistant University September 18th.
Rod Borlase spoke twice September 20th on “Fundamental Legal Research Strategies & Tactics” at State Bar of Texas’ Legal Assistants Program. He as recently added the following essays to Law Library & Legal Research Guides ( http://www.law.uh.edu/guides/ ): “Dress for the Job You Seek,” “Better Displacement Behaviors: Self-Help,” “Job Interviews: Doing what Comes Unnaturally,” “Job Searching: Your Life’s Biggest ‘Do-It-Yourself’ Project.”
Professor Johnny Rex Buckles’ latest article, “When Charitable Gifts Soar Above Twin Towers: A Federal Solution to the Problem of Publicly Solicited Surplus Donations Raised for a Designated Charitable Purpose,” has been accepted for publication in Fordham Law Review. An abstract of Professor Buckles' article published last March, “The Case For the Taxpaying Good Samaritan: Deducting Earmarked Transfers to Charity under Federal Income Tax Law, Theory, & Policy,” has been published in Tax Law & Policy, an electronic abstract journal comprising part of the Social Science Research Network Electronic Library.
Professor John Jay Douglass has been appointed by the President of the American Bar Association to a three year term as a member of the Standing Committee on Armed Forces Law effective with the ABA meeting in Washington this summer.
Professor David Dow’s op-ed article, “Moral Clarity Replaced by Foggy Ideas About War,” was published in the Houston Chronicle on Sunday, September 8th.
Professor Meredith Duncan spoke on July 7th at the N.A.A.C.P. National Convention regarding “An Ethical Analysis of Incompetent Criminal Defense Counsel & the Unjust Impact on Clients.” On July 11th, Prof. Duncan participated in a workshop in Bethesda, Maryland sponsored by the National Institutes of Health concerning non-medical uses of genetic information during which she provided her perspective on the current and potential use of genetic information in the criminal law.
Energy Institute Director Michelle Michot Foss accompanied the United States delegation, led by DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham to Casablanca, Morocco for the U.S.-Africa Energy Ministerial Meetings June 3-4, where Director Foss chaired the oil and gas panel and also participated in a panel on sustainable development with DOE Assistant Secretary Vickey Bailey.
Professor Sanford Gaines participated in a day-long seminar at the University of Freiburg on the Proposed European Environmental Liability Directive, contributing understanding of natural resources damages liability under U.S. environmental law. In August, Prof. Gaines, who is in summer residence in Germany, went first to Cuba as part of an 18-person group of environmental law professors and lawyers engaged in exchange with legal and regulatory officials in the Cuban government organized by Tulane University, and flew from there direct to Stockholm where he gave two papers at the week-long 11th Annual Environmental Law Seminar sponsored by the Nordic Research Association, the first (August 18th) on trade, environmental protection, and competitiveness, and the second (August 19th) his experiences with integrating trade and environment issues in the Americas. Prof. Gaines’ early summer work includes an article, “International Trade, Environmental Protection, & Development” that will appear shortly in the Review of European Community & International Environmental Law (RECIEL).
Professor Leslie Griffin spoke to the Guam Bar Association on August 16th and to the Saipan Bar Association on August 17th about recent amendments to the ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Earlier in the summer, Prof. Griffin submitted an entry on religious freedom to the new Encyclopedia of Religious Freedom.
Professor Steve Huber spoke in June to a State Department–sponsored group of law professors and public officials from Kosovo on international arbitration and related matters.
Professor Christine Hurt’s article, “Network Effects & Legal Citation: How Antitrust Theory Predicts Who Will Build a Better Bluebook Mousetrap in the Age of Electronic Mice,” was published in the Iowa Law Review (87 Iowa Law Review 1257 (2002)). Prof. Hurt's textbook and accompanying website, the Interactive Citation Workstation (with McGaugh & Holloway, Lexis L. Publishing 2002) was very favorably reviewed in the Law Library Journal by Asst. Prof. Linda G. Brakeall of the University of Southern Florida, and was compiled in “Legal Reference Books Review” by Diana C. Jacque & Lee Neugebauer, 94 Law Library Journal 315 (2002), calling the book “coherent,” “useful,” & “impressive,” & ending with the statement, “Only dentists will suffer as teeth-gnashing at law schools across the land will surely decline.”
Prof. Hurt's article, “Counselor, Gatekeeper, Shareholder, Thief: Why Attorneys Who Invest in Their Clients in a Post-Enron World are ‘Selling Out,’ Not ‘Buying In’,” has been accepted for publication in volume 64 of the Ohio State Law Journal.
Professor Paul Janicke chaired the 2nd Annual Conference of Intellectual Property Professors in Santa Fe in May, and spoke on patent law developments San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association's Annual Seminar in Phoenix(!). Prof. Janicke also taught a two-week Patent Law Course at the University of Amsterdam, as part of Tulane University’s summer program.
Professor Craig Joyce published a 1,270-page supplement to his nationally most-adopted Copyright casebook. In his capacity as Chair of the Law Center’s Facilities Planning & Policy Committee, Prof. Joyce oversaw completion of the 14-month post-Allison reconstruction of Bates Ground Floor and transformation of the law library’s sub-basement into a new Student Organizations Suite.
Professor Joan Krause’s article, “ ‘Promises to Keep’: Health Care Providers & the Civil False Claims Act,” was published in March, 23 Cardozo Law Review 1363. Prof. Krause spoke June 7th on “Reconceptualizing Fraud & Abuse” at the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics’ Health Law Teachers Conference in Indianapolis and, at the same Conference on June 8th, led a Roundtable Discussion on Teaching Issues, and was interviewed July 2nd by the Daily Texan regarding allegations of the illegal brokering of body parts at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Professor Bryan A. Liang published a Comment, “Patient Threats Present an Ethical Dilemma for the Anesthesiologist,” 46 Survey of Anesthesiology 201 (2002) and the following articles this summer, “Patient Information Privacy: HIPAA Provisions & Patient Safety Issues,” 38(7) Hospital Physician 43 (2002) and, with Karen Coulson as co-author, “Legal Issues in Performing Patient Safety Work,” 20(3) Nursing Economics 118 (2002); with Doctors John Bramhall & Bruce Cullen, “Which Syringe Did I Use? Anesthesiologist Confusion & Potential Liability for a Medical Error,” 15(5) Journal of Clinical Anesthesia 371 (2002); with Doctors Fatma Inanici, & Muhammad B. Yunus, “Fibromyalgia Syndrome: Diagnosis & Management,” 38(8) Hospital Physician 53 (2002); and with Doctors Sheila A. Dugan, Kevin P. Sullivan, & Denise A. Frost, PT, “An Active & Cost-Conserving Approach to the Management of Low Back Pain,” 38(10) Hospital Physician (2002) (forthcoming).
Prof. Liang also spoke at the 10th Ottawa Conference on Medical Education (July 13-16th) on “Foundational Precepts in Safety: Beginning the Process for Implementing a Safety Curriculum” and, on July 16th, at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Education in Springfield, Illinois, on “A Patient Safety Curriculum: Application of Principles for Undergraduate & Graduate Medical Education.” On August 11-15th, Prof. Liang spoke at the World Congress in Medicine & Law in Maastricht (Netherlands) on “Themes for a System of Medical Error Disclosure to Promote Patient Safety.” On October 9th-13th, Prof. Liang will speak at the Academy of Dispensing Audiologists' Annual Meeting in Palm Springs on “Law, Fraud and Abuse, & Professional Ethics.”
Prof. Liang’s editorial, advisory and grant review commitments include the Legal Advisory Council Meeting, National Legal Center for the Public Interest, New York, September 19th, the Journal of Clinical Anesthesia Editorial Board Meeting & Survey of Anesthesiology Editorial Board Meeting, American Society of Anesthesiologists (Annual Meeting), Orlando, October 11-16th, and the Research Program Committee Review of Grant Proposals, National Patient Safety Foundation, Chicago, October 27th.
Professor Peter Linzer is feverishly completing an article that he was asked to contribute to the Fordham Law Review’s Festschrift in honor of Joseph M. Perillo, who is retiring from the Fordham faculty after about forty years. Prof. Perillo is the co-author of a well-known contracts hornbook, and the general editor of the revised edition of Corbin On Contracts, to which Prof. Linzer is writing Volume Six, dealing with the parol evidence rule, implied terms and other matters of contract interpretation. Other contributors to the Perillo Festschrift include Allan Farnsworth of Columbia, Mel Eisenberg of Berkeley, Dick Speidel of Northwestern and Randy Barnett of BU. Prof. Linzer’s topic is the psychology of the parol evidence rule and its involvement with formalism. Prof. Linzer is the Chair of the American Association of Law Schools’ Contracts Section, whose chosen the topic is “Teaching Contracts Transactionally,” and has put together a panel with five speakers who will describe how they use transactional materials in their courses; in addition, there will be a 45 minute plenary session at which members of the audience will be encouraged to put forth their ideas, whether in response to the speakers or not. The program will be published in the Toledo Law Review. Prof. Linzer has also been asked to be a commentator at the Remedies Section’s program, which will discuss current proposals for restitution for African-American slavery, respecting a pending lawsuit demanding restitution as a matter of right.
Professor Ellen Marrus’ op-ed article, “Executed Texan Lived & Died in Wrong State” was published May 31st in the Houston Chronicle (p. 45A). Prof. Marrus, along with Frank Birchak, planned the first Southwest Regional Juvenile Defender Conference which was hosted by the Law Center in June. Prof. Marrus presented a short version of her article entitled “Best Interests = Zealous Advocacy: A Not So Radical View of Holistic Representation for Children Accused of Crime” at the conference. Prof. Marrus' article has been accepted for publication by the University of Maryland Law Review. The Southwest Regional Juvenile Defender Center has received another $13,000 in funding from the Soros Foundation via the American Bar Association's Juvenile Justice Center.
Professor Geraldine S. Moohr presented a paper June 30th, “From Misappropriation to Theft: A Story of Expanded Property Rights in Information," to the Law & Society Conference in Vancouver, BC. A panel on property issues was chaired by Dorothy Brown, and included papers by Ron Krotoszynski, Dan Cole, and Russell Weaver. Prof. Moohr participated July 20th in a Roundtable discussion on law review publishing the annual Southeastern Conference of the American Association of Law Schools.
Reference Librarian Maryellen O’Brien’s article, “The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act: A Fatal Blow for Libraries,” was published in NYSBA and is available online at:
http://www.nysba.org/Content/ContentGroups/Section_Information1/Intellectual_Property_Law_Writing_Contest/obrien.pdf
Professor Thomas Oldham published the 30th Supplement to his treatise, Divorce, Separation & the Distribution of Property and wrote the 4th edition to his Texas Marital Property Rights, which should appear this fall. In August, Prof. Oldham attended the International Society of Family Law Conference (I.S.F.L.) in Copenhagen and participated on a panel discussion about regulation of unmarried partners. Prof. Oldham has been named to the Planning Committees of both, the I.S.F.L.’s 2003 Conference in Oregon and the 2005 International Conference in Salt Lake City, and has been designated the University of Houston Law Center’s Planning Committee Representative for the 2003 Southeastern American Association of Law School’s Annual Conference.
Professor Michael A. Olivas delivered a lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on 9/11’s effect upon colleges, where he reviewed the many new laws and regulations that govern international students, including his favorite, the Amendments to the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, § 113, which requires aviation schools to report any foreign national from certain nations to be reported to the FBI if they want to be trained on planes that weigh more than 2500 lbs. Watch out for stripped down Piper Cubs and Cessnas !!
Professor Jordan Paust’s essay, “Antiterrorism Military Commissions: The Ad Hoc DOD Rules of Procedure,” was published at 23 Michigan Journal of International Law 677 (2002). Prof. Paust’s NPR comments – See above, Honorable Mention – were published on the National Institute of Military Justice website www.nimj.com/Home.asp under the title, “Judicial Power to Finally Determine the Legal Status of Detainees under International Law.”
Dean Nancy B. Rapoport was interviewed by Reporter John Hockenberry (NBC Television’s Dateline; local Channel 2) for 2 hours in June -- Air-date not yet set. Dean Rapoport spoke on “Mega-Cases” at the Southwest American Bankruptcy Institute Conference in Las Vegas September 14th, serves on the Texas Gender Fairness Task Board, and is a new Board Member for the Houston World Affairs Council.
Professor Richard Saver was panel moderator for a presentation on Genetics, Biotechnology & Research Regulation to the American Society of Law, Medicine, & Ethics’ Annual Health Law Teachers’ Conference, held June 6th-8th at the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis. In August, Prof. Saver lectured on “Legal Issues for Geriatric Patients: Advance Directives” to University of Houston pharmacy and University of Texas medical residents and students at the University of Texas Medical Center (Houston).
Professor Robert Schuwerk treatise on Texas legal ethics and attorney tort liability will be published this fall by Thompson-West (formerly West Group; formerly West Publishing Company)
Professor Ira B. Shepard moderated the Tax Controversy Workshop for the Houston Bar Association’s Houston Volunteer Lawyers’ Low Income Tax Clinic June 11th, spoke on Recent Developments each month to the Wednesday Tax Forum, and gave annual overviews of income tax developments at the American Institute on Federal Taxation in Birmingham June 13th and the Denver Tax Institute on July 25th. Prof. Shepard’s recent developments outline, which he maintains with Professor Martin J. McMahon, Jr., covers 2001 developments and was published at 5 Florida Tax Review 627-775 (2002).
In September, Prof. Shepard will be make presentations on recent developments in income taxation to the Houston Tax Roundtable (September 18th), to the State Bar of Texas’ Advanced Tax Course (September 19th), to the American Petroleum Institute Capital Cost Recovery Committee (also September 19th), and to the Southern Federal Tax Institute (with Marty McMahon) in Atlanta 23rd. In addition, Prof. Shepard’s recent developments outline will be used in the near future at the Mississippi Tax Institute, the Arizona Tax Institute, and at the Chamberlain Hrdlicka law firm tax conference.
Prof. Shepard serves as Chair of the University of Houston Transportation & Parking Advisory Committee, as a Member of Council of the Houston Bar Association Tax Section, and as a Planning Committee Member for the University of Texas Tax Conference.
Adjunct Professor Herbert T. Schwartz was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Be An Angel Fund, Inc., a charitable foundation for the benefit of profoundly disabled children.
Professor Ronald Turner's article “When the Court Makes Law & Policy (With Special Reference to the Employment Arbitration Issue),” was published at 19 Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal 287 (2002).
Professor Jacqueline Weaver completed a paper on “Sustainable Development in the Petroleum Industry” for a book to be published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and participated in a Conference on Energy, Terrorism & Technology sponsored by the Foundation for Research on Economics & the Environment in Bozeman, Montana for 5 days in early August, along with 12 federal judges and one other law professor. Speakers included Professors Thomas Schelling from Maryland; Prof. Phil Heymann from Harvard Law; and Prof. David Sands, a plant geneticist from Montana State University.
Acting Law Library Director Michelle Wu’s article, co-authored with Leslie Lee and entitled “Do Librarians Dream of Electronic Serials,” was published at 15(3) Law Library Journal 102 (2002). Director Wu’s contribution (Chapter on the District of Columbia) to State Practice Materials: Annotated Bibliographies (William S. Hein, 2002; AALL Publication Series No. 63) has been submitted for inclusion, and another article, also co-authored with Leslie Lee, “Department of Justice: A Selective Compilation of Internet Resources," has been submitted to Legal Reference Services Quarterly.
Professor Stephen Zamora recently hosted a luncheon for Mexico City Law Center alumni at a luncheon honoring the General Counsel of Pemex and celebrating our 15 years of cooperation with that agency. Energy Institute Director Michelle Foss co-hosted the luncheon and made a presentation about the Law Center’s Institute for Energy, Law & Enterprise.
Rod Borlase, Editor