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

April 2011

Editor, Dan Baker djbaker2@central.uh.edu

Previous editions of Faculty Focus can be accessed here.

Zachary Bray presented a work-in-progress on the Section 8 housing program, local eviction controls, and progressive theories of property to a panel at Arizona State’s Junior Faculty Conference on Mar. 14.

Aaron Bruhl presented a paper on statutory interpretation at a workshop held at Columbia Law School.

Darren Bush’s article “Too Big to Bail: Antitrust as Applied to Distressed Industries” came out in print at 77 Antitrust L.J. 277 (2010). He also has, along with coauthor Betsy Gelb, submitted an article to a peer-reviewed marketing journal. Another article with Betsy Gelb, “Advertising and Policy Insights for the Voter-vs-Customer Tradeoff,” forthcoming in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, is available online at http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/AMA%20Publications/AMA%20Journals/Journal%20of%20Public%20Policy%20Marketing/JPPMForthcoming.aspx. Prof. Bush also completed work on John J. Flynn, Harry First, and Darren Bush, Antitrust: Statutes, Treaties, Regulations, Guidelines, and Policies, 2011-2012. He also served as a panelist in a D.C. Bar brown-bag discussion on the Airtran/Southwest merger.

Gavin Clarkson presented his research on tribal finance and economic development at a symposium hosted by the University of Wisconsin Law School. He was also a panelist at the annual meeting of the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Section. Prof. Clarkson has also been invited to present a working paper on securities law as it applies to Indian tribes at a conference at the University of Kansas Law School.

Adam Gershowitz’s article “Is Texas Tough on Crime But Soft on Criminal Procedure?” has been accepted for publication in the American Criminal Law Review. The Student Bar Association selected him as Professor of the Year for 2010-2011.

Patricia Gray, Craig Conway, and Cynthia Marietta, research faculty with the Health Law & Policy Institute, are leading a session on resolving ethical dilemmas in the practice of public health at the Texas Public Health Association’s 87th Annual Education Conference in Houston on Apr. 14.

Jim Hawkins organized a symposium on fringe banking called “Regulation in the Fringe Economy” that will occur this Fall and was accepted for publication in the Washington and Lee Law Review.  The confirmed participants include his co-proposers Jean Braucher (U. of Arizona) and Nathalie Martin (New Mexico), as well as the following contributing authors: John Caskey (Swarthmore), Rich Hynes (U. of Virginia), Creola Johnson (Ohio State), Robert Mayer (Loyola Chicago), Christopher Peterson (Utah), Katie Porter (UC Irvine), Paige Marta Skiba (Vanderbilt), Alan White (Valparaiso), and Todd Zywicki (George Mason). Prof. Hawkins will also present a work-in-progress at a Federal Reserve research conference for 350 federal policy makers at the end of April. The commentator on his paper will be Swarthmore economist John Caskey.

Tracy Hester’s article “Remaking the World to Save It: Applying U.S. Laws to Climate Engineering Projects” has been named of the top ten downloaded articles on SSRN’s Environment & Natural Resource Journals in 2011 (so far). Prof. Hester spoke at a panel on “New Approaches to Government Oversight” on Mar. 24 at George Washington University School of Law’s symposium on Environmental Law at the Leading Edge of Technology. He also guest lectured on Endangered Species Act issues at Sam Houston State University on Apr. 12.

Julie Hill Julie Hill’s article “Bank Capital Regulation by Enforcement: An Empirical Study” was accepted for publication by the Indiana Law Journal. The article was featured in American Banker, the Bank Safety & Soundness Advisor, and on the Bank Lawyer’s Blog. Prof. Hill also presented the article at the George Washington University Law School’s Center for Law, Economics & Finance Junior Faculty Workshop.

Geoffrey Hoffman's Op-Ed concerning Texas House Bill 1202 and immigrant rights was published in the Houston Chronicle on Mar. 28, 2011 (available at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7493901.html). It appeared previously as a guest post on the Immigration Prof's Blog. On Mar. 30, Prof. Hoffman met with a Skadden fellow from the National Immigration Law Center, working on a project to monitor and document DHS violations of a nation-wide injunction with respect to specific conditions in immigration detention centers. On Apr. 1, 2011, Prof. Hoffman taught the course on immigration law for the People's Law School at UHLC.

Robert B. Johnson was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Commercial & Consumer Law Section of the Houston Bar Association.

Tom Oldham was invited to be a participant in the Louisiana Law Review’s annual symposium held in Baton Rouge on Apr. 1, 2011. The program was devoted to “The Future of Community Property Law.” The papers delivered last week will be published next fall. Prof. Oldham has also been appointed the issue editor for the summer 2011 issue of the Family Law Quarterly. The issue will be devoted to “New Ideas and Developments in Child Support and Spousal Support”.

Michael A. Olivas spoke on the DREAM Act and immigration reform issues at Rutgers University (New Brunswick Campus), Northern Virginia Community College, and Brown University. He also spoke on recent legal education developments at Columbus School of Law, Catholic University. On behalf of the AALS, Prof. Olivas also responded to proposals from the ABA/Standards Review Committee of the Council, and delivered oral testimony to the ABA/SRC in Chicago. He also wrote the Foreword to Dorothy Evensen and Carla D. Pratt, eds., The End of the Pipeline at the Millenium: A Journey of Recognition for African Americans to the Profession of Law (Carolina Academic Press, 2011).

Jessica L. Roberts has accepted an offer to publish her paper “’Healthism’: A Critique of the Antidiscrimination Approach to Health Insurance and Health-Care Reform” in the University of Illinois Law Review. It will appear in the Aug. 2012 issue.

Ira B. Shepard spoke on “Recent Developments in Federal Income Tax” to the Houston Bar Association Tax Section in February and to the Houston IRS CPA Society in March. He plans to speak in May on the same subject to the (Houston) Tax Executives Institute Tax School, the American Petroleum Institute Tax Forum, the (Houston) Attorneys in Tax and Probate, and the Great Lakes Federal Tax Institute in Cleveland, OH. His June schedule includes presentations at the American Institute on Federal Taxation in Birmingham, AL and the Tax Alliance meeting in Plano, TX. Prof. Shepard also plans to make presentations on the same topic during the summer to the Denver Tax Institute, the CBIZ Tax Conference in Las Vegas, and to the State Bar of Texas Advanced Tax Course in Houston. His Fall presentation schedule includes the Southern Federal Tax Institute in Atlanta, the Tulane Tax Institute in New Orleans, the Maryland Tax Institute in Baltimore, the William & Mary Tax Conference in Williamsburg, and the Tennessee Tax Institute in Nashville. He also makes monthly presentations to the (Houston) Wednesday Tax Institute. Prof. Shepard chaired the planning committee for the University of Texas Tax Conference, to be held in Austin in December. His outline, “Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2010,” co-authored by Martin J. McMahon, Jr. (University of Florida Law School) and Daniel L. Simmons (University of California at Davis Law School) was published by the Florida Tax Review in March.

Prof. Shepard plans to stop teaching at the end of the Spring 2011 Semester, but will continue his speaking activities and will continue to advise the students in the LL.M. Tax Program.

Greg Vetter was an invited commentator at the 2011 Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable held on April 1-2, 2011, by the Intellectual Property Law Center at the Drake University Law School.

Bret Wells presented a paper entitled “Schedule UTP: Uncertain Tax Positions in the Age of Transparency” to the Wednesday Tax Forum on Mar. 29, 2011. Prof. Wells’ paper has been accepted for publication in the Baylor Law Review and will also be published in a forthcoming edition of the Texas Journal of Business Law.