February 2006 News
Gerry Beyer, who teaches estate law at Texas Tech University, has written about people who come into sudden wealth — such as lottery winners, sports figures, actors and actresses — and how they end up losing it. Many don't realize that if they spend their money, rather than investing and living off the earnings, “there's nothing to replace it,” Beyer says. Read the entire article...
Professor Gerry Beyer has contributed many books that he has authored to the Mosul University College of Law in northern Iraq. An article regarding his contributions appeared in the February 13, 2006 issue of Texas Lawyer. Below is the article taken from Texas Lawyer:
A Texas Tech University School of Law professor has contributed books for the rebuilding effort at the Mosul University College of Law in northern Iraq. Gerry Beyer, an authority on wills, trusts, probate and estate planning, says that Ali Adnan Al-Feel, a law researcher and assistant lecturer at Mosul University College of Law, requested in a Jan. 26 e-mail that Beyer send books that he has authored. One of the books that the Iraqi specifically requested, Beyer says, is the Modern Dictionary for the Legal Profession. Beyer says the dictionary, first published in 1993, is a compilation of defined terms that are legally related. "You wouldn't find 90 percent of these terms in Black's Law Dictionary or any other legal dictionary," he says. Beyer says he also sent a book titled "Wills, Trusts and Estates: Examples and Explanations," which he wrote. Beyer says he mailed the books in late January. "I was pleased to help, even in this small way, to assist Iraqi legal education in its effort to rebuild," he says.
Texas Tech Law School student, Joni Ogle, co-authored an article on the sport of hunting, offering positive points on the sport after the accidental shooting of Austin attorney Harry Whittington by Vice President Dick Cheney. Read the article...
In an opinion published in October 2005, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals cited and relied upon Associate Dean Richard Rosen's article, Funding "Non-Traditional" Military Operations: The Alluring Myth of a Presidential Power of the Purse, 155 Mil. L. Rev. 1, 137 & nn.672-74 (1998). In Ernst v. Rising, 427 F.3d 351, the Sixth Circuit considered a suit by four state judges against the state employee retirement system. The chief issue was sovereign immunity. The retirement system defendant argued that it was an arm of the state---like the governor's office---and so was immune from suit. The plaintiffs argued that the retirement system was a political subdivision of the state---like a town---and so was not immune from suit. The Sixth Circuit looked to Dean Rosen's article to help it resolve these arguments in favor of the defendant. In addition, in December 2005, Dean Rosen's article Civilian Courts and the Military Justice System: Collateral Review of Courts-Martial, 108 Mil. L. Rev. 5 (1985) was cited by The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Loving v. United States, 62 M.J. 235 (December 2005), which is another chapter in the same case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. United States, 517 U.S. 748, 116 S. Ct. 1737, 135 L. Ed. 2d 36 (1996).
Brandon Hill and Gara Hill,both 3L students, placed 5th at the national finals of the ABA Negotiation Competition held on February 11-12 in Chicago. They had finished in 1st place at the regional event hosted by TTU Law in November 2005. This year’s topic involved negotiations in the field of contracts law. The team was coached by Associate Dean Brian Shannon and Legal Practice Professor Cristina Knolton.
The Texas Tech School of Law received official notice today (February 3, 2006) that our proposed Exchange and Cooperation Agreement with the La Trobe University School of Law, Melbourne, Australia, has been approved by both universities. This agreement, which allows both student and faculty exchanges and other cooperative efforts, is our first agreement in this area of the world and further broadens the international opportunities previously available to Texas Tech University School of Law students and faculty under our existing agreements with law schools in France, Mexico, and Spain. The La Trobe School of law has a distinguished history and will provide excellent opportunities for both cultural and educational enrichment. Thanks to Professor Pawlowic and our Director of International Programs, Professor Ramirez, for their special help in making this exciting opportunity a reality.
In February Susan Saab Fortney, George H. Mahon Professor of Law, will speak at the University of Oklahoma School of Law. Professor Fortney will discuss her recent empirical work, called In Pursuit of Attorney Work-Life Balance: Best Practices in Management--A Report On a Cross-Profession National Study of Attorneys. Her remarks will focus on the significance of the study for law students and new lawyers. For more information on the study, see the NALP Foundation press release.
Chad West's article, "Economics and Ethics in the Genetic Engineering of Animals" will be published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, Volume 19. West is a third year student at the Texas Tech University School of Law.
Mosul University in Iraq is adding the books of Texas Tech University School of Law Professor Gerry W. Beyer to its rebuilding effort.
Beyer, the Governor Preston Smith Regents Professor of Law at Texas Tech, was recently contacted by Ali Adnan Al-Feel, a law researcher at Mosul University in northern Iraq. Al-Feel said Beyer’s books would both enable them to increase their knowledge and allow them to develop Arabic legal publications.
Mosul University, the country's second-largest college, emerged from decades of war and embargo with an almost barren library and an academic staff isolated from advances in their fields.
“I was pleased to help, even in this small way, to assist Iraqi legal education in its effort to rebuild,” Beyer said.
Professor Beyer is one of the leading authorities in the United States on wills, trusts, probate, and estate planning, and his texts on those subjects are used in law schools throughout the nation.
Dean Walter Huffman featured in the February issue of Austin Lawyer.
Dean Walter Huffman quoted in Investor's Business Daily on the warrantless searches being conducted by the National Security Agency.
Dean Walter Huffman quoted in the LA Times regarding some of the issues arising out of the recent hostage abuse trials in the military.
Assistant Dean Amy Jarmon's tips for exam review featured on the Law School Academic Support Blog.
Texas Tech Law students, Robert Owen and Chad West, awarded a full-tuition scholarship to attend ALI-ABA's Environmental Law program to be held February 8-10, 2006 in Bethesda, Maryland.
West Texas General Practice Symposium, hosted by Texas Tech University School of Law and TexasBarCLE, will be held on March 3, 2006.