March 2006 News

Professor Vaughn James will be making presentations at two events in Austin, Texas, this week. On Wednesday, March 29, Prof. James will speak at a conference hosted by Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT) for presidents and chancellors of its member institutions. The conference, titled “Sectarian Purpose and Texas Private Higher Education,” will grapple with the issue of public funding for higher education institutions owned or otherwise funded by religious organizations. On Thursday and Friday, March 30 and 31, Prof. James will attend the State Bar of Texas Religious Liberty CLE. There, he will be a member of a panel discussing the topic “Religious Liberty Issues in America.”

Professor Ann Graham will Chair the 32nd Annual Legal Conference for the Texas Savings & Community Bankers Association and the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. The Conference is in Horseshoe Bay, Texas on March 30 and 31, 2006. Professor Graham will also deliver a paper on “Predatory Lending”. The Associations expect around 100 financial institution lawyers and bankers to be in attendance.

Tech Law 2L Noaman Azhar received one of the Best Oralist awards at the ABA National Appellate Competition in San Francisco in March. This is the second national competition for which Mr. Azhar received a best oralist award.

Professor Susan Saab Fortney’s cross-profession study of attorney work-life conflicts continues to attract a great deal of national publicity. A number of journalists have covered The National Association of Law Placement Foundation empirical study of attorneys practicing in law firms, government and corporate offices. Professor Fortney served as the principal researcher for the study, called In Pursuit of Work-Life Balance, Best Practices in Management.

Coverage includes the following articles: Discontented in the Law, a March 13, 2006 article published in the American Bar Association Journal e-Report; Study finds younger attorneys value personal time over longer hours, a February 6, 2006 article published in Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News; and Study Says Lawyers’ Job Satisfaction is Low, a February 3, 2006 article published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

Professor Fortney’s study was also featured in a February 1, 2006 piece, called Overworked Lawyers, appearing in WORKPLACE PROF BLOG. TEXAS TECH TODAY, the monthly e-newsletter of the Texas Tech University System, also published a piece called Study Reveals Push/Pull Between Private and Work Lives of Attorneys.

Preston Smith Professor Gerry Beyer will be the speaker at the March 28th meeting of the Probate, Trusts and Estates Section of the Dallas Bar Association. Beyer’s presentation will cover judicial developments relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters.

Susan Saab Fortney, George H. Mahon Professor of Law, has returned from teaching a one-week legal ethics class in Cracow, Poland. Professor Fortney co-taught the class with Professor Lisa Lerman of Catholic University School of Law. The class is part of the American Law Program offered by Catholic University School of Law in cooperation with the Law Faculty at Jagiellonian University. The Jagiellonian University, founded in the 14th Century, is one of Europe's most prestigious universities. See http://law.cua.edu/academic/jagiellonian/jag_new2.cfm. Professor Fortney reports that she loved the experience, especially co-teaching the class and getting to know Polish students and faculty members.

Alberto (Beto) Cardenas, Tech Law ’98, was recently selected to be General Counsel to the senior Senator from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Prior to his selection, Mr. Cardenas served as the Texas Tech System’s Federal Liaison in Washington, DC. Dean Walter Huffman stated that “we are sorry to lose Beto as our point man in Washington, but we are extremely proud that he has been selected for such a prestigious position”.

Professor Gerry Beyer will speaks at the Elder Law Course in Dallas which is sponsored by the State Bar of Texas on Friday, March 10, 2006. Beyer’s presentation is entitled "I Love My Dog/Cat/Bird" -- New Trust Code Opportunities. The article is also available on his Web site

Professor Michael Dinnerstein will speak at the Sixth Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference at the University of Arizona in Tucson on March 17, 2006. More information is available on the University of Arizona conference page.

Professor Gabriel Eckstein has been invited to lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder on March 21 on “The U.N. International Law Commission’s Efforts to Codify the International Law of Transboundary Ground Water Resources." He will also participate on a panel addressing global water issues, international relations, and international law.

The International Council of Museums (ICOM), headquartered in Paris, France, has adopted a mediation plan developed by Texas Tech University School of Law Professor Marilyn Phelan. Many of the world’s major museums currently face ownership disputes concerning objects in museum collections that were acquired under less strict acquisition rules than those existing today and the history of the objects was either not known or sometimes concealed or falsified by a former owner or dealer. There are special problems associated with works of art allegedly acquired by confiscation from Holocaust victims and others affected by war or occupation. As ICOM President Alissandra Cummins noted in a statement praising Professor Phelan for her efforts, the mediation plan will allow ICOM to offer a workable alternative to the expensive and time-consuming lawsuits pending in courts in several nations. Phelan is the Paul W. Horn Professor of Law and Museum Science at Texas Tech and a member of ICOM’s Legal Affairs and Properties Committee.

Professor Charles Bubany will make a presentation, "Warrants: Search and Arrest," at a Justice of the Peace and Justice Clerks Training Program in Lubbock on March 9, 2006. The program, which is sponsored by the V.G. Young Institute of County Government and the Texas Justice Court Judges Association, will emphasize the magistrate duties of justices of the peace. Among those duties is the issuing of arrest and search warrants, the practical aspects of which will be the subject of Professor Bubany's presentation.

Law and Science Symposium to be held in the Law School forum on Friday, March 31. More.

Associate Dean Richard Rosen quoted in recent issue of U.S. News and World Reports regarding military tribunals and detainees. More.

Dean Walter B. Huffman quoted in "Guantánamo officer maintains silence on Abu Ghraib", Financial Times, March 8, 2006. More.

Administrative Law Symposium and Career Fair to be held in Lubbock March 20-21. More.