Volume 3 Issue 5
May/June 2006

• Professor Lawrence Sager has been appointed the new dean of UT Law, UT-Austin Executive Vice President and Provost Sheldon Ekland-Olson announced Wed., May 10.

  Sager holds the Alice Jane Drysdale Sheffield Regents Chair and is one of the nation’s preeminent constitutional theorists and scholars. Sager, who joined the faculty in 2002, becomes the 13th dean in the Law School’s 123-year history. Steven Goode currently serves as dean ad interim.

  Of note, former dean Mark Yudof is now chancellor of the UT System and former dean William Powers is now president of UT-Austin.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/051006_dean.html
  Sager profile: http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/sagerl/
  Sager and Yale’s Akil Amar on the U.S. Constitution: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/031606_tlr.html

• Sunflower Ceremony, May 20

  Texas Senator Judith Zaffirini will give the commencement address at the Law School's Sunflower Ceremony on Sat., May 20, at 3:30 p.m. at the Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Special Events Center.

  Elected to the Texas Senate in 1986, Sen. Zaffirini (D-Laredo) represents the 21st Senatorial District in Texas and is the fourth-highest ranking senator and the highest-ranking senator for Bexar County and the border region.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/050306_sunflower.html

• Chief Justice Jefferson, ’88, and the Hon. Bruce Gibson, ’78, Address Alumni Executive Committee

  The Alumni Association Executive Committee convened for its bi-annual meeting on Friday, April 21 at the Old Supreme Court Room at the Capitol. The Executive Committee is charged with the management of the UT Law Alumni Association and focuses on fundraising and strengthening the relationship between the Law School and its alumni.

  Alumni Association President Del Williams (1985) invited two special alumni guests to speak to the Committee. Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson (1988) talked to the group about the state of the Texas judiciary and about his vision for its future. The Honorable Bruce Gibson (1978), chief of staff for Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, gave the Committee a legislative update. He spoke about school finance and tax issues facing Texas.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/051106_alumni.html

• Symposium Examines Dred Scott Case on its 150-Year Anniversary

  This March, UT Law and the Chicago-Kent Law Review co-sponsored a symposium on the Dred Scott decision to reflect on the 150-year anniversary of the case. Professor Sanford Levinson organized the conference, inviting some of the most prominent academics in the U.S. to Austin. UT Law participants included Sarah Cleveland, Sanford Levinson, Scot Powe, Louise Weinberg, and visiting professor Keith Whittington.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/032706_scott.html

• Video of Open Source Workshop Available Online

  On May 2, in conjunction with the historic World Congress on Information Technology 2006, UT hosted an open source workshop:"The Future of Open Source Peer Production Models: Business and Legal Frontiers." Law school professors Ronald Mann, R. Anthony Reese, and Oren Bracha spoke.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/041306_opensource.html

• Law Library Examines Watergate with Wright, Lezar papers

  A new exhibit by the Tarlton Law Library titled "Writing Watergate: Written Works from the White House and Beyond" is on display in the Law School's Susman Godfrey Atrium through November. The exhibit looks at how the professional roles of four skilled writers shaped the way they wrote about Watergate.

  The exhibit highlights documents and artifacts from two Tarlton Law Library manuscript collections, the Charles Alan Wright Papers and the Harold J. "Tex" Lezar Papers. "Together these collections provide a fascinating look at what went on behind the scenes at the White House during Watergate," said Professor Roy Mersky, Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law and Director of Research at the Tarlton Law Library.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/050506_watergate.html

• Action Committee Wins UT-Austin Career Service Award

  The Texas Campus Career Council (TC3) at UT-Austin honored the Law School's Action Committee for Career Services (ACCS) with a 2006 Robert Murff Excellence Award for outstanding support of career services at the Law School.

  “In addition to the many employer outreach and program-related tasks that they assisted with, their ambassadorship between the CSO and the student body was beneficial in helping us learn about student needs and helping students understand how best to utilize the resources of our office,” said David Montoya, Assistant Dean for Career Services at the UT School of Law.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/050806_murff.html

• Graduating Law Students Receive University Co-op Public Interest Awards

  Six graduating UT Law students have been awarded University Co-op Public Interest Awards in honor of their extraordinary commitment to public service. Each student received a $5,000 award made possible by a grant from the University Co-op, and administered by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law at the Law School.

  The award recipients were selected by Interim Dean Steven Goode and will be presented on Wed., May 17, at a banquet celebrating the University Co-op Awards for Excellence in Graduate Education.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/050106_coopawards.html

• Allen Cooper Receives UT Law Faculty Fellowship in Public Interest Law

  Allen Cooper, ’06, was awarded the UT Law Faculty Fellowship in Public Interest Law by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law. The Fellowship will provide a stipend for Cooper to develop the Injured Poultry Worker Justice Project at the Equal Justice Center in Austin. The program will increase access to justice for injured workers employed in the poultry processing industry in East Texas, especially those employed in plants that have opted out of the state’s workers’ compensation system.

  The purpose of the Fellowship is to create opportunities for outstanding graduating law students to work with public interest legal organizations on behalf of underrepresented individuals or groups. Cooper was selected by a faculty committee based on his project proposal, and he will receive a stipend of $37,000. The Fellowship was created through generous contributions from members of the law faculty and the Law School.

  Full story: http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/050806_cooper.html

• Tax Professors Calvin Johnson and David Gamage Profiled in TaxProf Blog

  Gamage profile: http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2005/10/tax_prof_profil_2.html
  Johnson profile: http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2006/05/calvin_h_johnso.html

• A full list of faculty activities and publications can be found online at:
  http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/news/ .

• Update your e-mail and home address
• Make a gift to the Annual Fund
• Join the Non-Practicing Alumni Advisory Council
• Nominate an alumnus for the Alumni Awards
• Alumni directory
• Continuing Legal Education
• Alumni calendar

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UT Law News is a bi-monthly electronic newsletter for alumni and friends to keep you informed about The University of Texas at Austin School of Law and its impact on the world. Please share your comments and suggestions by emailing Allegra Young, assistant dean for communications, at ayoung@law.utexas.edu.

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