Page 12 - Briefcase Volume 37 Number 2

UH LAW CENTER ALUMNUS

BROWN ‘95 SWORN IN AS

FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE

Judge Jeff Brown, a 1995 graduate of the University of Houston Law
Center, took his oath of office as a U.S. district judge in the Southern
District of Texas during a September ceremony in Austin.
“I’m honored to have been nominated by the president and confirmed
by the Senate,” Brown said at the time of his confirmation. “I thoroughly
enjoyed being a trial judge and I’m looking forward to doing it again. My
family and I are excited to move to Galveston and become part of that
remarkable community.”
Brown was nominated on March 8 and confirmed by the Senate on July
31. His seat is in Galveston.
Professor Emeritus Richard M. Alderman, Director of the Consumer Law Center, teaches
participants of the People’s Law School how to avoid check scams. He was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court by then-Gov. Rick Perry
in September 2013. He previously served as a justice on Houston’s
‘PEOPLE’S LAW SCHOOL’ MOVES 14th Court of Appeals and as judge of the 55th District Court. Prior

ONLINE to becoming a judge, he practiced at Baker Botts LLP in Houston and
earlier served as briefing attorney to Justices Jack Hightower and Greg
In October, hundreds of people from the Houston area poured into Abbott on the Texas Supreme Court.
the University of Houston Law Center’s classrooms for their last live, Brown is an active supporter of the Law Center, having served over
in-person chance to pick up some basic legal knowledge on subjects the years as an adjunct professor, frequent speaker, member of the UH
ranging from Social Security to tax law to landlord-tenant disputes. Law Alumni Association Board, and participant in the school’s jurist-in-
The event, called the People’s Law School, covered 13 areas of law and residence and lecture program.
was a mainstay at the Law Center for nearly 30 years. But now it is
moving online. OLIVAS AND NELSON WIN AALS

As Professor Emeritus Richard M. Alderman, who started the school AWARDS
in 1991, approached the stage to welcome the public for the last time,
he was greeted with sustained applause in appreciation for the long- Two members of the University of Houston Law Center faculty received
running program. accolades for their excellence in legal scholarship at the Association of
“I think of everything I’ve done in my career, and what I’m most proud American Law Schools annual meeting in New Orleans.
of is the People’s Law School, educating people about their legal rights,” The AALS honored Professor Michael A. Olivas, the William B. Bates
said Alderman. Distinguished Chair in Law and director of the Institute for Higher
Moving the program online gives a wider audience access to the Education Law & Governance, with the Triennial Award. The lifetime
information 24/7, he said. “It will continue, but it won’t be the same. achievement award recognized Olivas’ decades of service to legal
I really enjoy doing it and having people right there to talk to, but education and the legal profession.
putting it online will enable people that need the information to get the Olivas joined the Law Center faculty in 1982 and teaches courses in
information.” Business Law & Immigration, Higher Education Law, and Immigration
Presented by the Center for Consumer Law at the Law Center, the Law and Policy.
People’s Law School is recognized as the oldest and most successful law Professor James D. Nelson won the AALS’ Scholarly Papers Competition
program for the layperson in the country. An estimated 55,000 people for his article, “Corporate Disestablishment.” In his paper, Nelson
have attended the free program over the years at the Law Center and identifies and defends a set of legal principles limiting corporate
around the state to learn their legal rights from volunteer lawyers, judges religious liberty in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Burwell
and professors. v. Hobby Lobby.
The online version of People’s Law School will feature much of the Nelson, who joined the Law Center faculty in 2015 as an assistant
information from the live classes. It will cover eight to 10 topics, professor of law, teaches Business Organizations and a seminar titled,
including consumer law, small claims court, family law, debt collection, “The Modern Corporation and Society.” He earned a J.D. and BA from
starting a new business, landlord-tenant law, Alderman said. the University of Virginia.

12 Briefcase 2019