Texas, Texans & the Law
Looking for the Key to Unlock the Floodgates in Climate Change Litigation
Stephan Faris’ Conspiracy Theory in the new issue of the Atlantic posits climate change as this era’s Tobacco settlement, profiling the efforts of Steve Susman and Steve Berman.
As scientific evidence accumulates on the destructive impact of carbon-dioxide emissions, a handful of lawyers are beginning to bring suits against the major contributors to climate change. Their […]
Living La Vida Large Firm
Jeanne Graham has a great article in Texas Lawyer on the current batch of summer associates, Fewer Summer Associates Spread Their Wings at Big-Tex Firms This Year, while some firms are cutting back on the number of positions offered it, it doesn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the summers she follows around for the […]
Attrition Rate Numbers Among Texas Law Schools
Via one of my favorite new reads, the Sophistic Miltonian Serbonian Blog, mouthful that, comes Retentionally yours, noting the following attrition rates among Texas law schools:
University of Houston Law Center: 1.79%
SMU Dedman School of Law: 1.81%
University of Texas School of Law: 2.13%
Texas Tech University School of Law: 2.99%
South Texas College of Law: 4.45%
Texas Southern University […]
Houston Law Review Article on Death Penalty Profiled in New York Times
The New York Times’ Adam Liptak highlights a forthcoming article from the Houston Law Review in today’s A New Look at Race When Death Is Sought. In Racial Disparities in the Capital of Capital Punishment, Scott Phillips of the University of Denver makes a surprising finding in analysis of death penalty statistics.
A new study to […]
Carl Icahn reminisces about Tort King Lawyer Joe Jamail, Texaco-Pennzoil case
Via Houston’s Clear Thinkers, “Corporate Raider Carl Icahn caught on video at Caroline’s Comedy Club in Manhattan talking about the Texaco/Getty Oil Lawsuit.” Icahn’s Joe Jamail impression is worth the price of admission.
Texas Man Successfully Asserts Necessity Defense in Medical Marijuana Possession Case
From Reason Magazine, via Boing Boing, comes the interesting news that…
Tim Stevens, a 53-year-old Amarillo man who smokes marijuana to relieve the cyclical vomiting syndrome associated with HIV infection, used a necessity defense to win an acquittal on a possession charge.
A little Ragazzo-esque voice in Bennett’s head demands “What’s your authority for that?” to […]
Texas Bar YouTube Video Contest Wraps Up
As I noted previously in State Bar of Texas, Texans on Justice Video Contest, the Texas State Bar sponsored an interesting YouTube video contest with a $2,500 grand prize. Eleven entries were submitted by the deadline. Here are a few of my favorites.
YouTube: Texans on Justice
State Bar of Texas, Texans on Justice Video Contest
State Bar of Texas: Lone Star Stories: Texans on Justice
Who are you and what have you done with the State Bar of Texas? Let’s just say this fit of tech-savvy-ness is um… uncharacteristic, at least of the smoke-filled basement of the capitol building in Austin that I always imagine when I think about the State […]
Lise Olsen delves into story behind Judge Kent’s reprimand and transfer
Houston Chronicle investigative reporter Lise Olsen, who made a name for herself reporting on the case of Ruben Cantu, has turned her sights on Federal District Judge Sam Kent in an in-depth article - How far did this federal judge go?
The reprimand issued by the 5th Circuit judicial council which placed Kent on paid leave […]
Texas State Legislature so Collegial They Let Each Other Cast their Ballots, How Heart-Warming
Austin’s KEYE-TV exposes what may euphemistically be termed the ‘lax’ voting procedure of the Texas legislature, or if you were to apply the rules those same legislators propose for the rest of us - intentional, widespread voting fraud.
These same legislators presumably learned a little about the notion of ‘one person, one vote’ during our little […]