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MAY

STAR JONES ’86 ANALYZES program with two former Latin American government officials as its first
LAW’S RELATIONSHIP WITH participants.
NEWS AT UHLC LECTURE The joint initiative with UH Energy is a unique effort to promote
New York prosecutor-turned-TV journalist exchanges and research on best regulatory practices in the oil and gas
industry in the Americas.
and talk show host Star Jones returned to
her alma mater on May 5 to discuss the law’s The initial visiting scholars are Magda Chambriard, former president of the
intersection with the press in a talk titled, Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP), and Dr. Yvonne Fabara, former
“Law, Justice & the Media” in Krost Hall at Secretary of Hydrocarbons of Ecuador.
Star Jones
the University of Houston Law Center. They will be affiliated with the Law Center for one year, conducting
Jones, a 1986 alumna of the Law Center, began her legal career as a research, participating in lectures, and sharing their expertise on specific
prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office before becoming a concerns that affect the oil industry in the western hemisphere
senior district attorney for New York City. She gained notoriety as a legal “We are very fortunate to have these two outstanding experts and energy
commentator for the cable network “Court TV” in the early 1990s. She then leaders from the Americas, who will help us disseminate both fact-based
worked as a legal analyst and correspondent for NBC’s “Today” and “NBC research and policy recommendations to government, decision-makers and
Nightly News.” She later was a co-host of the ABC woman-centric talk show the general public on vital energy issues,” said UHLC Research Professor
“The View” from 1997-2006. Julian Cardenas, who is coordinating the program.
“When I came to the University of Houston Law Center, law and justice The energy scholars program is an offshoot of the “Inter-American
obviously went together,” she said. “I just never thought the media would Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue,” an initiative started by the EENR
make such a vital impact on my whole career.” Center in 2016 that seeks to bridge the gap between the oil and gas industry,
In her talk, Jones referenced the high-profile trials of William Kennedy national hydrocarbon agencies and academia.
Smith, the Menendez brothers, O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson and others.
She said these trials are partly responsible for the tabloidization of media ZEALOUS ADVOCACY
and helped feed the public’s insatiable appetite for celebrity news and gossip. CONFERENCE
“With the media, there’s a very fine line between reporting on a trial and COMMEMORATES 50-YEAR
sensationalizing a trial that can lead to jury dismissals, jury sequesters, MARK OF GAULT DECISION
and the disregarding of evidence in fear of media biases,” Jones said. Juvenile justice attorneys learned new
“Sometimes the law steps on its own toes as we saw in some of these cases. legal techniques to defend their clients
It’s unfortunate, but justice doesn’t always mean closure.” during the 16th annual Zealous Advocacy
Jones is now president of the Professional Diversity Network, an internet Conference in May at the University of
software and services company that develops and operates online Ellen Marrus at podium Houston Law Center. The conference,
networking opportunities for professionals and employers seeking to hire titled “Gault@50: Quality Representation for Youth,” was a two-day event
women, minorities, veterans, LGBT and disabled professionals. that highlighted the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court
“Star Jones is one of our most prominent alums,” Law Center Dean Leonard Case that granted children the right to counsel in delinquency cases.
M. Baynes said. “She is an all-around player. She is a lawyer, she has been a The conference focused on access to counsel and quality of counsel in
legal correspondent, she’s been an author, and now she’s a businesswoman delinquency proceedings.
who is the CEO of a major enterprise. She is one of our own, and I couldn’t “Gault is a landmark decision as it granted children due process rights,
be prouder to have Star come back to the Law Center.” particularly the right to counsel, in delinquency proceedings. As with any
Supreme Court decision, however, the implementation is just as important
UHLC ‘ENERGY VISITING and is why we wanted to focus on access and quality of counsel,” said
SCHOLAR’ PROGRAM Professor Ellen Marrus, director of the Center for Children, Law & Policy
and Royce Till Professor of Law at the Law Center.
DESIGNED TO SHARE “Having an attorney guide a child through the delinquency process is more
EXPERTISE AND PROMOTE than just having a warm body sitting next to the youth. It is important for the
RESEARCH THROUGHOUT attorney to understand delinquency, civil, criminal, education, immigration
Mada Chambriard Yvonne Fabara THE AMERICAS and disability law as several examples, adolescent development, family

The Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Center at the University interactions, and how to give a voice to the child’s expressed interests.
of Houston Law Center launched an “Energy Visiting Scholar” research Juvenile law is one of the most complicated and demanding areas of practice.”

14 Briefcase 2018