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

October 2011

Editor, Dan Baker djbaker2@central.uh.edu

Previous editions of Faculty Focus can be accessed here.

Richard Alderman submitted the manuscript for the 2011 supplement to The Lawyers’ Guide to the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and published “Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act Remedies” at 15 Journal of Consumer and Commercial Law 2 (2011). He also participated in an Advertising Law Roundtable at the University of Tulsa Law School. On Oct. 1, the Center for Consumer Law, which Dean Alderman directs, held its latest session of the People’s Law School, attended by more than 560 people.

Meredith J. Duncan attended the members consultative group meeting for the ALI’s Restatement Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm, which was held on Sept. 23, 2011, in Philadelphia, PA. Her article “Personal Tort Law” (co-authored with UHLC alum Jacquelyn Craig) was published in the SMU Law Review. Prof. Duncan was also selected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Adam Gershowitz presented his paper “Trading a Confession for a Search: A Proposal to Deter Texting While Driving and Warrantless Cell Phone Searches” at William & Mary Law School on Oct. 4.

Leslie Griffin gave the Constitution Day Lecture at Sam Houston State University on Sept. 14. Prof. Griffin presented her paper "Ordained Discrimination: The Cases Against the Ministerial Exception" at the University of Arizona and Seton Hall law schools. She was interviewed on KUHF about the significant religious freedom case being heard in the U.S. Supreme Court, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC.

Tracy Hester's article “A New Front Blowing In: State Law and the Future of Climate Change Nuisance Litigation” was accepted by the Stanford Environmental Law Journal for its Fall 2011 issue. He also hosted an EENR Center Lecture by Chairman Bryan Shaw of the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality on Sept. 23. Prof. Hester guest-lectured on environmental justice law for an introductory Environmental Health & Policy class at Rice University on Sept. 20, and he helped organize a members’ reception for the American Law Institute in Houston on Sept. 22. Finally, Prof. Hester took the introductory Environmental Law class on a tour of Valero's refinery in the Houston Ship Channel on Sept. 30 and to an environmental justice session in the Manchester neighborhood with Air Alliance Houston and Texas Southern University's Environmental Justice Clinic on Sept. 23.

Geoffrey Hoffman spoke during September on a panel at the Law Center entitled “Current Topics in Immigration Law” with Gordon Quan of Foster Quan, LLP and Frank Knaack of ACLU, Texas Policy. Later in the month, Prof. Hoffman moderated the film showing at the Law Center of Tony and Janina’s American Wedding: A Deportation Love Story, attended by co-producer Steve Dixon and co-sponsored by UH’s Center for the Americas-Latin American Studies Project. Prof. Hoffman was interviewed by International Business Times concerning the immigration position of Gov. Perry. On Sept. 30, Prof. Hoffman spoke at a panel on the Dream Act at the National Latino Law Student Association conference in New Orleans, sponsored by Tulane Law School and Loyola University. On Oct. 14, Prof. Hoffman was interviewed on immigration enforcement and prosecutorial discretion by KPFT 90.1 Pacifica Radio. The archive link from 90.1 KPFT is http://archive.kpft.org/m3u.php?mp3fil=8419289.

Craig Joyce was reappointed to the ABA’s Copyright Reform Task Force. He also was invited to membership in the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, a support group for ABF research that self-describes as “an honorary organization of lawyers, judges, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession.” Joyce also attended a local chapter meeting of the American Law Institute. Eighteen members (more than one-third) of the Law Center’s faculty are ALI members: Deans Nimmer and Alderman, and Professors Dole, Dow, Duncan, Griffin, Hester, L. Hoffman, Huber, Joyce, Linzer, Oldham, Olivas, Sanders, Streng, Thompson, Turner, and Zamora.

Sapna Kumar presented her draft "The Accidental Agency" as part of a panel on Patent Law in the 21st Century at SEALS. Her article "Expert Court, Expert Agency" was recently published in the UC-Davis Law Review.

Peter Linzer attended the Members Consultative Group Meeting on the American Law Institute’s Principles of Election Law in Philadelphia on Oct. 15.

Dean Nimmer was named “Best Lawyers’ 2012 Houston Information Technology Law Lawyer of the Year”.

Tom Oldham will be attending the Family Law Quarterly Board of Editors’ annual meeting later in October in Las Vegas, where they will discuss plans for future issues of the Quarterly. Prof. Oldham was the issue editor for the Summer 2011 issue of the Family Law Quarterly, which became available at the beginning of October.

Michael A. Olivas was a busy boy at Vanderbilt University, where he spoke on Developments in 529 Prepaid Tuition Plans (PTP) and College Savings Plans (CSP), conducted a workshop on writing dissertations for doctoral students at the Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt, and delivered the Victor S. Johnson Lecture at the Vanderbilt Law School on Hernandez v. Texas. At Pomona College, he delivered a University Lecture on immigration and higher education. His book on the Hernandez case, “Colored Men” and “Hombres Aqui”, will be reprinted in paperback format.

Jordan Paust spoke at a lunch session on Sept. 28 sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the International Law Society at UH Law on “The Execution of Leal Garcia: States’ Rights and International Law.” His article “Still Unlawful: The Obama Military Commissions, Supreme Court Holdings, and Deviant Dicta in the D.C. Circuit” has been accepted for publication in 44 Cornell International Law Journal. On Oct. 17, he will be speaking at Tulane School of Law on the Permissibility of Drone Targeting, and on Oct. 18, he will present two lectures on the same general topic during Keystone 2011 in New Orleans, which is a leadership summit hosted by the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps. On Oct. 22, Prof. Paust will participate on a panel addressing “Civilian Casualties in Modern Warfare: The Death of the Collateral Damage Rule” during the annual meeting of the American Branch of the International Law Association in New York City. His article “Permissible Self-Defense Targeting and the Death of bin Laden” has just been published at 39 Denver Journal of International Law & Policy 569 (2011).

Jessica L. Roberts presented her work-in-progress “Who Are We in the Workplace?: Protecting Against DNA-Based Race Discrimination” (co-authored with Prof. Wendy Greene of the Cumberland School of Law) at the annual Labor and Employment Law Colloquium in Los Angeles, CA.

Ben Sheppard served as session co-chair and moderator at the European Users’ Symposium sponsored by the London Court of International Arbitration at Luton Hoo, England. Prof. Sheppard presented an overview and analysis of recent legal developments relating to arbitration as part of the “Eighth Annual Update on Recent Developments in International Dispute Resolution” at the meeting of the ABA Section of International Law in Washington, D.C. He served as co-chair and speaker at “Take the Witness: Cross-Examination in International Arbitration”, a one-day symposium with mock scenarios at The Harvard Club of New York City. Prof. Sheppard has been selected to serve on the local/internal Task on “Decisions as to Costs” for the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, France.

Jacqueline Weaver spoke to the Association of American Mineral Owners on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Sept. 15 at their annual Houston conference. She also taught a course on the Rule of Capture, unitization, joint development zones, international oil spill conventions, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to lawyers from Sonangol, the Angolan national oil company, in an Advanced Legal Studies program in Lisbon.

Bret Wells presented his co-authored paper entitled “Homeless Income: Collection at Source is the Linchpin” and participated in a panel discussion at the American Tax Policy Institute’s conference on International Taxation and Competitiveness in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 17.

Stephen Zamora travelled to Guadalajara, Mexico the last week of September, where he was a featured speaker at ITESM University, as part of a multi-year Academic Leaders series at ITESM that brings national and international speakers to the Guadalajara campus of Mexico’s largest private university. His two-day residency at the ITESM/Guadalajara campus included a public lecture in Spanish – translated, the title was “Rethinking North America: Why NAFTA’s Limited Approach to Integration is Flawed, and What To Do About It.” He also taught two classes in Spanish on the subject of NAFTA’s influence in the development of Mexican law. Finally, Prof. Zamora addressed the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico—Guadalajara Division, on the subject of NAFTA’s limitations and their implications for business development in Mexico.