Faculty Focus is a monthly publication documenting the activities, accomplishments, and honors of the University of Houston Law Center Faculty.

August, 2004

Rhonda Beassie and Merle Morris presented "Beyond Simulation: Legal Writing Collaborates with Clinical Programs" at the Legal Writing Institute 20th Biennial Conference in Seattle on July 24th.

Cheryl Butler spoke at the regional conference of the American Express Travel Group on July 22nd in New York City. The talk was entitled "Corporate Diversity on the 50th Anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education."

Victor B. Flatt's article, Spare the Rod and Spoil the Law: Why the Clean Water Act has Never Grown Up, 55 ALLR 595 (2004) was published as part of a symposium issue on the "Clean Water Act at Thirty: Progress, Problems and Potential." He also begins a part-time visit as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Roger Williams University Law School and School of Marine Affairs.

Michelle Michot Foss chaired a panel on international LNG and Dr. Gulen presented a paper on energy sector development and institutions at the International Association of Energy Economics, North American Conference, Washington, DC, July 9-11. Dr. Michot Foss also participated in the July 28th Federal Energy Regulatory Commission meeting (gas quality and interchangeability) as part of the Natural Gas Council Committee. On July 29th she spoke at the Conservation Law Foundation workshop on LNG, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine.

Sanford Gaines will be speaking at the Aug. 8-13 Oxford Round Table on Trade, Growth, and the Environment.  His topic is "Environmental Participation in the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment: Effective or Symbolic?"  His paper is based in part on interviews he conducted in Geneva at the end of June with WTO officials, officials of major environmental agreements administered by the UN Environment Program, and key environmental NGO staff.  Professor Gaines spent the bulk of his summer working on four chapters of a co-authored textbook on trade and environment.  The manuscript will be going to the publishers in the next couple of months. Shortly after his return from Oxford,  Professor Gaines will be on his way to Portland, Oregon for a year-long visit at Lewis and Clark.  Farewell to one and all!

 

Leslie Griffin is quoted in the July 30th, Houston Chronicle article, John Kerry broaches subject of faith during recent speech but just barely. Johnny Buckles is also quoted in that article. Professor Griffin submitted two encyclopedia entries to Piccola Enciclopedia Della Persona E Dei Personalismi Nel XX Secolo (forthcoming 2005).

 

Joan Krause was interviewed by Houston Chronicle reporter Todd Ackerman on July 22nd regarding the ongoing controversy between Baylor College of Medicine and the Methodist Hospital. She also spoke on a panel on "Law Review Publishing" at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools meeting on August 2nd.

 

Douglas Moll was asked by the Wake Forest Law Review to participate in a symposium on "The Future of Business Structures." He will be submitting an article to the Law Review for publication in Spring 2005.

 

Richard Saver presented "Advance Directives and the Geriatric Patient: A Legal Overview" to medical and pharmacy school faculty, fellows, and students at the Texas Medical Center on July 26.  On August 2, he moderated a panel discussion on "Use of Films in the Classroom"  at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting in Kiawah Island, S.C.

 

Robert Schuwerk's article on legal education entitled, The Law Professor as Fiduciary: What Responsibilities Do We Owe Our Students, is published at 45 S. Tex. L. Rev. 753 (2004).  He also gave a presentation on this article at the Institute for Law School Teaching's Eleventh Annual Conference in Spokane, WA on July 9th-10th.

 

Steve Zamora's book, Mexican Law, has just been published by Oxford University Press.  The book is a 700-page overview of the Mexican legal system, separated into 22 chapters that deal with separate areas of Mexican law. He is the lead author, along with José Ramón Cossío, a Justice of the Mexican Supreme Court; Leonel Pereznieto, a well-known Mexican expert on conflicts of law; Professor José Roldán Xopa, of ITAM law school; and David Lopez, a former law professor at St. Mary's University and a member of the Texas Bar.