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

Previous editions of Faculty Focus can be accessed through the Faculty Focus website.

October 2008

Richard Alderman taught a short course on American Law at Toin University of Yokohama Japan. It was the inaugural event of the university’s Bi-Legal Program. He also spoke to the Houston Bar Association and the Orange County Bar Association about legal issues arising after Hurricane Ike. To assist the public with hurricane related legal issues, he prepared a series of brief legal updates that run throughout the day on Channel 8. He also completed and submitted for publication the 2008 Supplement to The Lawyer’s Guide to the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, published by Lexis Law Publishing; the 2008-09 supplement to Consumer Protection and the Law, published by Thomson/West; and the 2008-09 Teacher’s Manual for Texas Consumer Law: Cases and Materials, published by Imprimatur Press.

Marcilynn Burke was awarded a grant for $2,500 from the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation to support her latest work-in-progress, tentatively titled, “The Public Nature of Private Solar Energy Development on Federal Public Lands.”

Tony Chase testified before the House Judiciary Committee on the federal bailout of AIG and the proposed $700 billion Treasury package on Friday, September 26, 2008.

Brigham Daniels has co-authored an article with Erika Weinthal and Blake Hudson titled, “Is a Loophole from U.S. Groundwater Regulations a Loophole or a Noose?” The article, which appears in the peer-reviewed journal, Policy Sciences, can be accessed at the following website:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/x7419j3776827332/

David R. Dow has signed a contract with Praeger to publish his book, America’s Prophets: How Judicial Activism Makes America Great. He spoke to the Beth Israel Adult Education College in September on the topic of “The Death Penalty in Jewish and American Law.” He addressed the same audience on September 10 on the topic of “Separation of Church and State.” His article, “Judicial Activism on the Rehnquist Court: An Empirical Analysis,” co-authored with Cassandra Jeu and Anthony Coveny, appeared in the St. John’s Journal of Legal Commentary.

Victor Flatt spoke at the University of Michigan’s first environmental law and policy program, on September 26, discussing what the next administration should be doing with respect to alternative energy. He will be hosting a workshop, with the University of North Carolina on October 18, which will examine how legal regimes should be adapted in the face of climate change. Several other UH professors (Professors Burke, Daniels, Hill, and Krause) will participate. Professor Flatt will host two EENR workshops (one in London and one in Washington D.C.) on integrating the offset systems in EU and likely U.S. trading systems in CO2. These workshops will be co-sponsored by the Texas-United Kingdom collaborative, the University of North Carolina Taft Gift for the Environment, American University Washington College of Law, and the University College London. While in London, Professor Flatt will also deliver the inaugural University College of London Environmental Center’s public lecture, entitled, “The U.S. Federal Approach to Climate Change.” Professor Flatt has contributed a chapter to Climate Change Law, edited by William Rodgers, at the University of Washington. The book will be published in November.

Leslie Griffin spoke on “Constitutional Theories of RLUIPA” at the God and the Land conference at Albany Law School on October 2.

Julie Hill’s article, “SEC Discipline of Litigation Attorneys’” has been accepted for publication in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.

Douglas Moll will moderate the Frankel Lecture this year. The topic is “Legal and Managerial ‘Cultures” in Corporate Representation”. Professor Moll will also co-teach a “Doing Deals” course with a partner at Baker Botts in the spring. The course description is as follows: This two-hour class will take students through the life cycle of private and public company mergers and acquisitions from the perspective of a practicing lawyer. Using actual deal documents, we will analyze how the business agreement between the parties is translated into contract terms, as well as the role of the M&A lawyer in advising, negotiating, and documenting the transaction.

Tom Oldham’s supplement to Divorce, Separation, and the Distribution of Property has been published.

Michael A. Olivas delivered the University of Tulsa Law School Distinguished Lecture and the Inaugural Public Lecture at the National Hispanic Center in September and October. Both lectures were on the relationship between anti-terrorism legislation and immigration law. At Texas A&M University, he gave the Buttrill Endowed Lecture at the Glasscock Center for the Humanities, entitled, “Is Financial Aid Ethical?” At BYU Law School, he spoke on the topic of “Immigration Developments in Restrictionist Utah.” He also conducted a prelaw workshop for undergraduates in the Houston area. He is also coordinating a national amicus brief team, intervening in Martinez v. Regents, a recent California Appeals Court ruling on immigration and resident tuition, on appeal to the California Supreme Court.

Jordan Paust has been appointed as member of the 50^th Anniversary Committee of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. He was a member of a panel addressing “The Effect of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Decisions in Bonmediene and Munaf” during a National Security Symposium at Regent University School of Law on September 27, 2008. His paper, “Boumediene and Fundamental Principles of Constitutional Power,” will be published in the Regent University Law Review in 2009. He was also a member of a panel on Prosecuting and Judging Genocide during the ILSA Conference on Understanding Genocide: Prevention, Prosecution, and Progress at Vermont Law School on October 3, 2008.

Greg Vetter was the discussion leader for the Open Source Software breakout group of the Information Law substantive session at the University of Ottawa which hosted the North American Consortium on Legal Education (NACLE) 2008 Annual Workshop.