September 2006 News

Texas Tech School of law graduate Brandon Barnett has earned the highest score on the February Texas Bar exam. Barnett is a December graduate of the school’s class of 2006. On the past six bar exams, two Texas Tech School of Law graduates have earned the highest score in the state – the most top scorers of any Texas law school.

“It is a tremendous achievement to attain the highest score on the Texas Bar Exam, and we are extraordinarily proud of Brandon and the faculty who prepared him,” said Walter B. Huffman, dean of the School of Law.

Professor Jennifer Bard will be presenting a report at the Annual meeting of the Western Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 29, 2006.

Following the Banking Law Symposium on “Federal Preemption in the Financial Institutions Arena” hosted by the Texas Tech Law Review and the Texas Banker in April 2006, law professors and others who attended the seminar remained in active contact. This fall, Professor Ann Graham joined with 17 Law Professors and the Center for Responsible Lending in filing an Amici Curae Brief to the Supreme Court in Wachovia v. Watters, a federal preemption case.

Following a process that included nominations by the law faculty, a vote by those law professors holding endowed professorships, interviews and a vote by the Deans of three other university colleges, and consideration of the candidates by Dean Huffman and university Provost Dr. William Marcy, the Provost has selected Professor Wes Cochran to hold the Maddox endowed professorship in law upon the retirement of current Maddox Professor Bruce Kramer, and Professor Bob Weninger to hold the J. Hadley Edgar endowed professorship in law, previously held by Professor Rachel Van Cleave. The new positions of professors Cochran and Weninger will become effective October 1st, 2006.

In early September, Professor Beyer traveled to Virginia to speak to the Phoenix Landing Foundation about estate planning for pet owners with emphasis on parrot owners. The article can be found on Professor Beyer's personal Web site: Prepare for Your Companion Pet's Future.

Susan Saab Fortney, George H. Mahon Professor of Law, has been appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas to serve on the Supreme Court Grievance Oversight Committee. The Committee is responsible for helping the Court monitor the attorney discipline system in Texas. For more information on the GOC and a questionnaire on attorney discipline, see http://www.texasgoc.us.

Professor Marilyn Phelan presented: “How U.S. Courts Address Issues Relating to the Return /Restitution of Stolen and Illegally Exported Cultural Property” during an international conference in Mexico City sponsored by the Mexican Government and UNIDROIT from September 6th to 8th. The conference entitled: “La Proteccion Juridica de los Bienes Culturales” brought together international experts to discuss the protection of art and cultural property.

Professor Vaughn James will be a participant and presenter at the 2006 meeting of the Board of Experts of the International Religious Liberty Association being held at the Universite Paul Cezanne Aix-Marseille, Aix en Provence, France, from September 10 to 14. The five-day meeting will feature presentations by Law and Religion professors from all over the globe. The theme of this year’s meeting is “Nationalism and Religious Freedom.” Participants will also collectively draft a position paper entitled “Religion and Law in Transitional Societies: The Incidence of Nationalism on Religious Freedom” for presentation to the United Nations and the government of France.

On August 22, 2006, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Murphy v. IRS. The court held that section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code was unconstitutional in allowing taxation on compensation for emotional damanges arising from a non-physical injury. The decision has the tax world in a tizzy. Tax Notes is a national weekly publication devoted entirely to reporting tax news. In its September 5th issue, Tax Notes ran a long article on the academic reaction to Murphy. The article quotes several professors extensively: Prof. Yin from University of Virginia; Professor Graetz of Yale, Professor Wolfman of Harvard, Professor Lederman of Georgetown University, and Professor Camp of our very own Texas Tech. Pretty good company! The full Tax Notes article is on reserve in the Library or you can read it here. More of Professor Camp's commentary on Murphy can be found on the TaxProf blog, as part of a wider set of reactions (scroll down to the August 23rd Entry). Professors were limited to 250 words.

McCleskey Professor of Water Law, Gabriel Eckstein, will speak at the upcoming conference on Texas Water Law: Scarcity and Growth, September 28-29, 2006, in Austin, TX. Professor Eckstein will speak on the ethic and value of water as a commodity and as a life-giving resource.

Professor Gerry Beyer will be speaking at two upcoming events this September. The first, Case Law Update, will be held at the South Texas College of Law Wills and Probate Institute in Houston, Texas on September 14. The presentation will discuss recent judicial developments relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trust, and other estate planning matters. The second, Estate Planning - Prepare for Your Parrot's Future (Your Dog or Cat's, Too!), will be held at Phoenix Landing in Arlington, Viginia on September 16. This presentation will discuss the steps a pet owner should take to be sure their companions are provided for when the owner becomes disabled or dies. Emphasis will be placed on the additional factors a parrot owner must consider due to a variety of factors such as the long-lived nature of parrots.

On September 12, 2006, Susan Saab Fortney, George H. Mahon Professor of Law, and Adjunct Professor Gene Valentini, will be conducting a program for the Texas Tech Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Professor Valentini and Fortney will discuss the new Health Care and Bioethics Mediation Program, co-sponsored by Texas Tech University School of Law and the Dispute Resolution Center of Lubbock.

Professor Charles Bubany will speak in Galveston, Texas on September 15, 2006, at a Seminar for Municipal Court Judges sponsored by the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. Professor Bubany will make two presentations: one on “Search and Seizure” which will focus on the requirements for municipal court judges acting as magistrates in issuing search warrants, and another on “Possession” which will review the evidence requirements for proof of possession in Class C misdemeanors cases such as minor in possession of alcohol and the open container law.

Professor Jennifer Bard to speak at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center on National Constitution Day. Bard’s topic is “The Constitution and Medical Privacy”.

Assistant Dean Jarmon serving as a Contributing Editor for the Law School Academic Support Blog.

Professor Gerry Beyer appointed as an advisor to LifeSharers, a non-profit voluntary network of organ donors headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit the Web site...

Certificate of Excellence in Legal Research now available from the Law School Library.