Page 22 - Briefcase - University of Houston Law Center

FACULTY

NEWS UH LAW CENTER PROFESSOR EMILY BERMAN

AWARDED FOR OUTSTANDING WORK ON

GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT

niversity of Houston Law Center Professor Emily Berman Berman joined the
Uin January became the first annual winner of the Excellence Law Center faculty
in Oversight Research Award by the Levin Center at Wayne in 2014, and teaches
State University Law School. The accolade honors Berman’s Constitutional Law,
Boston College Law Review article, “Weaponizing the Office Foreign Relations Law
of Legal Counsel,” as the year’s most outstanding work on and National Security
government oversight. Law. Her research
The article argues that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal and scholarship
Counsel (OLC) issues legal opinions, which govern executive branch examine the unique
actions that effectively advantage the executive branch in its inter- separation of powers
branch conflicts with Congress. It identifies and explains OLC’s role challenges that arise
in oversight matters and identifies ways that OLC’s opinions are used in the constitutional,
in oversight disputes to favor the executive branch over Congress. statutory and
Berman notes that OLC’s institutional design guarantees its regulatory regimes
separation of powers opinions will paint a pro-executive view of the governing national
law. These executive-friendly analyses not only influence the actions security policy. ^
of executive officials, but also impact the legal and political debate
about oversight issues outside the executive branch. Berman presents Emily Berman, an Associate
various ways in which Congress could take a stand and fight back. Professor at the University of
Houston Law Center

UHLC PROFESSORS SELECTED FOR FACULTY FELLOWS AWARDS BY
UH’S HOBBY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

niversity of Houston Law Center faculty members Renee Knake dedicated in the memory of my mentor, who passed away in January
UJefferson and David Kwok were announced as recipients of the of this year. In this way, both women continue to mentor and I hope
Faculty Fellows Awards in April. The 2021-2022 Faculty Fellows to pass this on to others.”
Awards are presented by the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Kwok, who teaches and writes in the areas of white-collar crime,
Leadership and Ethics at the Hobby School of Public Affairs. whistleblowers, public policy, and law and the social sciences, was
Knake Jefferson, the Joanne and Larry Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics picked for his submission titled, “Anomalous Fraud Punishment.”
and Director of Law Center Outcomes and Assessments, was selected Kwok’s project builds on his previous work on white collar crimes
for her research projected, “Mentored: The Ethical Obligations of and explores the complex relationship between ethics and civil and
Leaders.” Knake Jefferson’s work was inspired by her mentor and criminal laws regarding fraud.
friend, the late Deborah Rhode, who was the second tenured female The goal of the project is to systematically identify anomalies in the
law professor at Stanford Law School and the most-cited legal ethics hierarchy of fraud and punishment and to answer the question: “Are
scholar in the nation. there significant areas in which the punishment regime deviates from
Her resulting article on the ethics of mentoring will include an the standard expectation?” His research will also result in an article
analysis of the ethical obligations of leaders to mentor, examples of on anomalies in which fraud is regulated and deterred.
good and bad mentoring, and implications for women, especially “I am delighted at the privilege to work with the Hobby School as
female minorities, seeking mentorship in pursuit of leadership roles. a Rockwell Fellow in the upcoming year,” Kwok said. “Elizabeth
“I’m honored to be selected as a recipient of the Rockwell Fellows Rockwell’s priorities of honesty, trust, and open communication
Award,” Knake Jefferson said. “It is inspiring and humbling to receive are sorely needed in today’s polarized environment. I can think of
an award named after a pioneering female leader who was a mentor no better partner in studying the challenges of fraud and deception
to many and whose generosity will now support a research project through the interplay of legal regimes, ethics, and leadership.” ^

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