Page 13 - Briefcase Volume 36 Number 2

PUTTING

DOWN ROOTS

PROFESSORS FAGUNDES AND ROBERTS FIND HOUSTON

AND THE LAW CENTER A PLACE TO CALL HOME

Following stints as an adjunct professor at the City outstanding academic work my fellow professors do, and
University of New York and as an associate-in-law at reminded me how fortunate I am to be their colleague.”
Columbia Law School, Professor Jessica Roberts capitalized Fagundes and Roberts met briefly at an event at the 2012
on an opportunity to return to her hometown to teach at the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting in
University of Houston Law Center in 2010. Washington, D.C. The two got to know each other better
“I’m a native Houstonian, and the Law Center has when Fagundes came to Houston later that year to attend the
consistently had one of the nation’s best health law programs, Works in Progress - IP conference hosted by the Law Center.
so UH was a perfect fit for me,” Roberts said. After a long-distance relationship for a few years, Fagundes
Roberts, the Alumnae College Professor of Law, directs the joined Roberts in Houston when he became part of the
Health Law & Policy Institute, which was ranked No. 2 in the Law Center faculty, gaining a new professional home in the
most recent U.S. News & World Report specialty program process. Fagundes and Roberts were married on Dec. 1, 2014
rankings for health law. She teaches Contracts, Disabilities & in New Orleans, shortly after Roberts’ Law Center colleagues
the Law, Genetics & the Law, and Health Law. voted to grant her tenure.
“I love having the opportunity to run a dynamic, In October 2017, Fagundes and Roberts welcomed their
nationally-recognized program and to cultivate our daughter to the world.
relationship with the Texas Medical Center. Of course, the “Our daughter Lucy is bright, curious and beautiful,”
best part is the students,” Roberts said. Roberts said. “She is our best collaboration to date!”
Her passion for health law was sparked by her own Fagundes added that Houston has been an ideal setting for
family experiences. his and Roberts’ personal and professional lives, and he has
“My dad was a person with disabilities, so I’ve always been enjoyed being a part of a broader university community after
interested in the intersection of health law and disability,” teaching at a freestanding law school.
Roberts said. “It was a natural extension of my passion for “Houston has all the amenities of a global city but is a great
bioethics and the law.” place to raise a family too,” he said. “We live in West U, a
Dave Fagundes, the Baker & Botts Professor in Law, came stone’s throw from the Texas Medical Center where Jessica
to the Law Center in 2014 after nearly seven years as a does some of her health law work and where Lucy was born.”
professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. He While their teaching areas and responsibilities at the
teaches Property, Trusts & Estates, Statutory Interpretation & Law Center differ, Fagundes and Roberts had ambitions of
Regulation, and a course on the Subprime Mortgage Crisis. becoming legal educators during their time as undergraduate
Like Roberts, Fagundes’ parents drew him to his areas students.
of interest. Roberts earned her B.A. in political science from the
“My dad built houses when I was a little kid, and my mom University of Southern California and her J.D. from Yale Law
worked as a real estate agent, so property is in my blood,” School. Fagundes earned an A.B. in history from Harvard and
Fagundes said. “My interest in copyright comes from my completed his legal education at Harvard Law School.
fascination with creative work and the challenge of crafting a “I always wanted to be an academic,” Roberts said. “I took a
body of law that determines what it means to own art.” constitutional law class in college, and I’ve never looked back.
In October 2016, Fagundes was named Assistant Dean for I love the opportunity to play a crucial role in the early career
Faculty Development, a role he said has given him a greater of young lawyers.”
appreciation for his faculty colleagues. “Same here,” Fagundes added. “I’ve wanted to be a law
“Being research dean gives me the opportunity to help professor since I was in college. I love that being a law
develop the Law Center’s already outstanding scholarly professor blends the intellectual challenge of academic work
profile,” he said. “It’s given me a real admiration for the with the real-world relevance of a practical discipline.” ■

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