Page 8 - Briefcase - University of Houston Law Center

UH LAW CENTER STUDENTS AND FACULTY MET WITH LOCAL FEDERAL

JUDGES DURING VIRTUAL MEET-AND-GREET EVENT

embers of the federal judiciary and University of Houston District of Texas Judge Jeff Brown ’95 outlined some of the
MLaw Center students and professors networked in small group advantages of attending the Law Center and pursuing a legal career in
settings during a Judicial Lunch-and-Learn program held in March the Houston area.
on Zoom. The virtual gathering was hosted by the Law Center’s “I thank my colleagues on the bench and all of the students and
Career Development Office. faculty at the Law Center for joining us,” Brown said. “I’m very proud
“I’m delighted the Law Center had this event, and we look forward to to be an alumnus of the Law Center’s Class of ’95.
interacting with many more judges in the future,” said Dean Leonard “There are a lot of advantages to attending the Law Center, and one
M. Baynes. “We hope to have our students pursue judicial clerkships, of them is the City of Houston itself - the legal market that it has, the
and we would like to have more UH Law Center alumni serving industry that it has and the judiciary. The Southern District has a
as judges. This was a great opportunity to have conversations with lot of judges based in Houston, and the state bench too. That’s a real
judges and we thank all of the judges who participated.” advantage for internships and programs like this.” ^
In his welcoming remarks, U.S. District Court for the Southern

TEXAS STATE SENATOR SAID TEXAS WINTER STORM CRISIS

CANNOT BE A PREDICTOR OF THE FUTURE DURING UH LAW CENTER’S

3RD ANNUAL DENNEY WRIGHT CONFERENCE

exas State Senator Paul Bettencourt said the impact of the severe The conference’s opening panel discussed the tax and energy
Twinter weather across Texas in February was the result of poor investment climate in Mexico. Another panel, “When the Going
preparation, and he pointed to solutions that he believes will ensure Gets Tough the Tough Get Going: Brazil Oil & Gas Thrives Despite
such hardships never occur again. the Pandemic,” featured Norman Jacob Nardoff, special counsel
Bettencourt was one of several speakers at the University of Houston for Mayer Brown in Houston and an adjunct professor at the Law
Law Center’s 3rd Annual Denney L. Wright International Energy Center, and Leonardo Duarte Alves, an associate at Mayer Brown’s
Conference, held in April in conjunction with the Houston Business office in Rio de Janeiro.
and Tax Law Journal’s 21st Annual Symposium. The event was held Sponsors included BakerHostetler, Bracewell, ExxonMobil, Mayer
virtually, and attendees received 5.5 hours in Texas continuing legal Brown, Skadden, Thompson & Knight and White & Case.
education credit. More than 320 people from 12 different countries The conference is named for Professor of Practice Denney Wright.
tuned into the conference. After a 42-year career as senior tax counsel with ExxonMobil, Wright
“We have to fix it and we will fix it,” Bettencourt said. “Texas is too big joined the Law Center’s faculty in 2017 after serving as an adjunct
of a state to have an unreliable grid - we’ve got too much economy, professor for 20 years, and he made it a priority for the school to host
too many lives are at risk.” an annual event that crossed international borders. ^

8 Briefcase 2021