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On October 19, Ralph Oman, the former U.S. Register of Copyrights, visited Texas A&M University School of Law to deliver his lecture, “The US Copyright Office: Transitioning to the Digital Age, Finally.” 

During his lecture, which was part of Texas A&M Law’s “Perspectives on Practice” Speaker Series, Oman discussed the role and evolution of the U.S. Copyright Office, including the challenges it encounters in the digital age. He also shared with students and faculty interesting experiences during his tenure as the Register of Copyrights. 

“One of the goals of our speaker series is to bring to the campus thought leaders in the intellectual property field,” said Professor Peter Yu, who joined the law school this past summer as co-director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property (CLIP). “For copyright law students, there is nothing more inspiring than to learn directly from a former Register of Copyrights.” 

Oman served as the U.S. Register of Copyrights from 1985 to 1993. Before then, he served as the chief counsel to the Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the chief minority counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Patent, Copyrights, and Trademarks. During his tenure, Oman helped draft the language and negotiate the compromises that resulted in the passage of the 1976 Copyright Act, the current copyright statute. 

After retiring from federal service in 1993, Oman entered private practice. He now serves as Pravel, Hewitt, Kimball and Kreiger Professorial Lecturer in Intellectual Property and Patent Law at The George Washington University Law School. 

Since its establishment in spring 2009, CLIP has brought to the campus leading intellectual property academics and practitioners to discuss cutting-edge topics. In April 2016, David Kappos, the former Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and former director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, will deliver a keynote address at the center's annual symposium, “Intellectual Property in All the New Places.”
Matthew McGowan ’15 placed second in the American Planning Association’s (APA) Planning and Law Division’s 32nd Annual Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition. McGowan was recognized for his paper “Location, Location, Mis-Locations: How Local Land-use Restrictions Are Dulling Halfway Houses’ Criminal Rehabilitation Potential.” He originally wrote the paper for Texas A&M School of Law’s Sentencing Law and Policy seminar this past February. 
The APA Planning and Law Division members include planners, attorneys, students and other professionals, many of whom work in government, interested in the diverse legal issues of the planning profession. The contest honors the memory of “three leading figures in American city planning law”: R. Marlin Smith, Richard Babcock, and Norman Williams. By placing second, McGowan received a $400 prize.
McGowan is very thankful to the American Planning Association. 
“I'm still shocked that I managed to place in the competition, but it's truly an honor to see my name on the list of the prize winners,” he said. 
He also credits Professor Lisa Rich for his success. 
“Her insight and first-hand knowledge about criminal sentencing is stunning, and her guidance and patience throughout the writing process was extraordinary."
This isn’t the first time McGowan, former Texas A&M Law Review articles editor, has been awarded for his writing talent. In Spring 2015, he won the national White River Environmental Law Writing Competition by the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law for his article titled “Locomotives v. Local Motives: The Coming Conflict, Statutory Void, and Legal Uncertainties Riding with Reactivated Rails-to-Trails." The article was lauded as “far exceed[ing] the existing academic literature on the topic.”
Since graduating Texas A&M School of Law, McGowan is awaiting his bar exam results and works as a law clerk at Pulman, Cappuccio, Pullen, Benson & Jones, LLP in Fort Worth. 
- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
The Texas A&M Journal of Property Law hosted a symposium, “The Blunt Truth: Looking at the Effects of Marijuana Law on Property Interests,” on Oct. 16 at Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth. 
Legal scholars gathered from across the country to discuss the “often overlooked legal and logistical issues” resulting from state marijuana legalization. Specifically, the speakers explored the impacts on real and intellectual property, environment, securities, and patents, among others. The symposium offered a forum for experts to exchange ideas and advance the collective understanding of these issues.
Mitch Monthie, third-year law student and the Journal’s symposia editor, said, “The symposium's conversations will be embodied in our upcoming publication in what promises to be a valuable resource toward ensuring that these issues are effectively resolved.”
The distinguished panel of guest speakers, Sean O’Connor from University of Washington School of Law, Alex Kreit from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Donald Kochan from Chapman University Fowler School of Law, and Jessica Owley from State University of New York Law School, led the insightful discussion.

In addition to the panel, the speakers judged the student poster contest. Professor Gina Warren, faculty adviser to the Journal and moderator for the symposium, said the poster competition was a great success, eliciting seven "amazing entries.”
The speakers selected third-year law student Jessica Foster’s poster on societal and legal obstacles facing industrial hemp cultivation as the winner. Foster won a $500 gift card and will receive recognition in the Journal’s symposium edition. 
Monthie said in a statement that the Journal received reports on how people were impressed with the symposium, school, students and faculty organizers. “We are extraordinarily happy to have received such positive feedback, and would like to thank everyone whose efforts made the event successful,” he said.
Warren said the Texas A&M Journal of Property Law should “be proud for putting together such an excellent symposium.”


- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
Texas A&M University School of Law was honored to host the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) section's ninth annual Works-in-Progress Conference on October 23-24, 2015, in Fort Worth. Dispute resolution scholars from around the ​world presented papers on a diverse range of ​ADR topics. The conference is held every fall and has earned a reputation for collegiality and rigorous scholarship.  

Andrea Schneider from Marquette University, Jill Gross from Pace University, Ilhyung Lee from University of Missouri and Ron Aronovsky from Southwestern ​Law School were just a few of the leading ADR scholars who presented​ papers. Other top scholars ​featuring their work were from University of Maryland, University of Nebraska, Michigan State University, University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Harvard University, St. Johns University, Texas Tech University and Ono Academic College in Israel.  

Texas A&M Law professors Cynthia Alkon, chair-elect of the AALS ADR section, and Peter Reilly also presented papers and co-chaired the coordination of the entire program.
 
This year's conference was unique as Texas A&M provided a travel stipend to junior scholars to enable a larger number of junior faculty to attend. Participants this year complimented the addition of Texas hospitality thanks to the hard work of Events Coordinator Deb Barnett.

Dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chair Andrew Morriss gave welcoming remarks. 

"This is exactly the type of event that fits within Texas A&M University's mission as a land-grant research institution to support quality scholarship," Morriss said.

This year’s Works-in-Progress conference attendees included (back row, left-to-right) Peter Reilly, Omer Shapira, Erin Archerd, Cynthia Alkon, Andrea Schneider, Elayne Greenberg, Michael Green, Rishi Batra, Ron Aronovsky, Carol Pauli, and (front row, left-to-right) Brian Pappas, Sheila Purcell, Deborah Eisenberg, Lydia Nussbaum, Heather Kulp, Kristen Blankley, Jill Gross and Lauren Newell.
Texas A&M University School of Law Professor Irene Calboli is among the 7​5 newly elected members of the American Law Institute (ALI).
ALI, based in Philadelphia, “is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law,” according to its website. The members of the institute “influence the development” of the drafting and publishing of restatements of the law, model codes and principles of law that contribute to legal scholarship and education.
The new ALI members were confidentially nominated by their peers, vetted by the ALI Membership Committee, and elected by the ALI Council. The diverse group of new members are from all over the country and the world. Calboli, who is also on faculty at Singapore Management University School of Law as the Lee Kong Chian Fellow, Visiting Professor, and Deputy Director of the Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia, is one of three international members of the October 2015 class.
She joins seven T​exas A&M Law faculty who are existing ALI members: Dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chair Andrew Morriss, Dean Emeritus Frank Elliott, Professors Susan Fortney, Paul George, Michael Z. Green, Bill Henning and Meg Penrose.
Calboli said is very honored and humbled to have been elected. 
 “I look forward to contribute to important work of the Institute in the ongoing projects and new projects, particularly with respect to intellectual property developments and international private law."
- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
On October 9-10, 2015, more than 40 intellectual property scholars visited Texas A&M University School of Law to participate in the inaugural Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable ​hosted by the Center for Law and Intellectual Property (CLIP).
Tim McFarlin, a fellow at Elon University School of Law, discusses the idea of authorship during the Copyright Law session
The roundtable provides intellectual property (IP) and technology law scholars with an annual forum to share research and network with peers. In addition to six full-time Texas A&M Law IP professors, the speakers and commentators featured scholars from all over the country as well as IP​ scholars from Australia, Canada and India.
 
"We are very excited to launch this roundtable as one of our annual events," said Professor Peter Yu, who created the top IP program among the Big Ten law schools before joining T​exas A&M Law as CLIP's co-director. "The event allows Texas A&M students to study the law not only from textbooks, but also through face-to-face interactions with scholars whose writings they study in class."
 
Professor Megan Carpenter, who founded CLIP in Spring 2009, said it was an honor to welcome many leading IP scholars to campus.
Prof. Megan Carpenter, Texas A&M School of Law; Dilan Thampapillai, Australian National University College of Law (Australia); Prof. Jessica M. Kiser, Gonzaga University School of Law; Prof. Peter Yu, Texas A&M School of Law; and Prof. Oren Bracha, University of Texas School of Law; in discussion at the IP Scholars Roundtable
"Throughout this two-day conference, scholars shared a diversity of views and engaged in lively discussion about cutting-edge intellectual property topics," she said.
 
The Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable marked the first major CLIP event since the recent expansion of the IP faculty of Texas A&M School of Law. The law school currently boasts one of the lowest student-faculty ratios in the IP field in law schools across the country. Its accessible faculty includes not only leading scholars in all major IP "food groups," but also two patent attorneys and a former attorney advisor of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
 
"This conference, which Peter previously ran at Michigan State and Drake, is well-known for an unusual format that provides just as much time for comments and questions as it does for the presentations themselves," said T​exas A&M Law Professor Brian Holland, who chaired the panel on international IP law. "It is the kind of substantive peer review that makes scholarship a whole lot better."
Texas A&M University School of Law Intellectual Property faculty with an Aggie Gig 'em for the inaugural IP Scholars Roundtable. L-R: CLIP Co-Director Prof. Peter Yu, Prof. Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Prof. Brian Holland, CLIP Co-Director Prof. Megan Carpenter, Prof. Glynn Lunney, and Prof. Srividhya Ragavan (joining T​exas A&M Law in Jan. 2016)
- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
Texas A&M University School of Law American Constitution Society chapter presented former Texas State Senator and 2014 Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis on Wednesday, Oct. 14. 
Davis presented, “Walking and Talking: Using your feet and voice to change the world.” One well known example of Davis portraying such action is in 2013 when she took the Senate floor for 11 hours in pink sneakers to filibuster an anti-abortion bill. She said her main thought behind her choice to “take a stand” was simply putting herself in other people’s shoes.
“Before I put those [pink sneakers] shoes on, I wore many others,” she said. She put herself in her mother’s shoes. ​Davis said her mother worked hard so that she and her siblings would have a chance at a bright future. 
She also thought of others who took a stand. She remembered Ruby Bridges, the first black child to attend an all-white school in Louisiana, and Emma Sulkowicz, who was raped at Columbia University and carried her 50 pound mattress with her every day until she graduated. 
Davis said that every law student has “the power to do something in this world.” Since the 2014 gubernatorial election, Davis has been traveling and speaking on women’s rights, particularly a new initiative that’s aimed at millennial women.
She was happy to be at T​exas A&M Law, where her former colleague and good friend Professor Meg Penrose, ​teaches. Davis and Penrose were both Senior Law Clerks for the Honorable Jerry Buchmeyer, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. Penrose said she views Davis as a role model for all lawyers. 
“She lives by the values our Judge instilled in us:  Justice for all – equally, tirelessly, completely,” ​Penrose said.
Davis has a mutual feeling and says Penrose helped her develop perspectives. 
“Meg helped me stand in many shoes,” ​Davis said.








View Davis' presentation “Walking and Talking: Using your feet and voice to change the world,” sponsored by T​exas A&M Law's American Constitution Society student chapter. 

 



- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
What comes to mind when you hear the word “diversity?” Write out the words that first pop in your head. You may not realize it, but you very likely practiced what’s called “unconscious bias.”

Jack Manhire, Director of Program Development at Texas A&M University School of Law, wants to simply “break” that with his workshop, “Breaking Bias,” ​which ​was presented to faculty and staff on Friday, Oct. 2. 

Manhire noticed that very few law schools offer this type of workshop, and thought this could be valuable to students, faculty and staff at ​Texas A&M School of Law.

Now, you may say to yourself, “But I’m not biased.”

“If you have a brain, that implies bias,” said Manhire.

Professor John Murphy was among the 30 faculty and staff present at the workshop. He agrees with Manhire and that acknowledging implicit bias is the first step in overcoming it.

Despite commitment to diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias exists, and it can mess up everything. The workshop includes activities that bring realization to typical bias assumptions.

“It’s kind of like if you stand under a pecan tree, you naturally assume that a pecan turned loose of the branch and hit your head,” said Rebecca Key, facilities coordinator. “But what if you were standing under a pecan tree and a peach hit you in the head?”

The next step was to implement strategies to overcome that bias. Participants were asked to acknowledge a bias they had and apply a strategy to it to complete over the next couple of months. 

Of the 30 participants, 97 percent said they knew and understood more about unconscious bias than before the workshop. One hundred percent said they would recommend the workshop to others and implement a strategy discussed over the next couple of months. 

Sonia Jimenez, assistant to the dean, said this workshop could be beneficial to any profession.

“Examining sensitive material with the people you work with under the microscope helps create workable solutions in real time,” she said. 

Manhire will next travel to Washington D.C. to present the workshop to executive candidates from federal agencies, and to College Station later in October to present it to senior leaders of Texas A&M University. 

“It is important for them to understand the power of implicit biases and what they can do individually and structurally within organizations they lead to reduce the negative effects of bias,” he said.

Andrew Morriss, Dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chair, said the workshop was eye-opening. “He [Jack] makes some challenging concepts accessible and immediately applicable to work and life.”

“Jack taught us concrete, practical tools to mitigate the effects of implicit bias—tools I could and did put to use immediately,” said Murphy.

Jimenez agrees. “I don’t feel like everyone with a passion for diversity can pull off the type of engaging narrative that Jack Manhire demonstrated for us—which is all the more reason to sign up!” Jimenez said. 

Manhire is hoping to offer the workshop to students within the next month. More information on that to come when available.


 
- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
Texas A&M University School of Law Professor Terri Helge authored the initial draft of a new subchapter to Chapter 255 of the Texas Estates Code that was enacted by the legislature and became effective as of Sept. 1.

Helge is a member of the Decedent’s Estates Committee of the Real Estate, Property & Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas which prepared and finalized the new subchapter of Chapter 255 (Subchapter J), “Construction and Interpretation of Wills.” 

Helge said this new statute changes “long-standing” Texas law, which prevented courts from reforming clear and unambiguous wills to reflect the testator’s intent.

“The prior rule prevented courts from reforming wills even if there was clear evidence of a scrivener’s error in drafting the will,” she said. “Similarly, the court could not reform a will even if the reform was necessary to accomplish tax savings desired by the testator or to ensure that property left to a special needs beneficiary did not disrupt the beneficiary’s eligibility for government assistance programs.”

The new law will allow courts to modify wills when necessary to better reflect the testator’s intent, she said. 

“This change in the law will help to further, rather than to frustrate, the intention of testators when, as sometimes happens, certain language in their wills is clearly the product of a mistake made by the drafting attorney,” said Stephen Alton, professor and Associate Dean for Evening Division Programs. 

“[Helge] is to be applauded for putting theory into practice for the public’s benefit,” Alton said.

- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
Twelve Texas A&M University School of Law students received their Aggie Rings on Friday, Sept. 25. 
Rosalind Jeffers, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, said receiving the rings is the “impending end of your law school experience.”
The first Aggie ring was made in 1889 and has since been a rite of passage for Texas A&M students. As Texas A&M University Provost Karan Watson puts it, there is simply no other way to earn the ring than to attend the school. 
The distribution is a lot different at the law school ​from the main campus due to fewer amounts of students receiving them, and it’s a unique factor for a presenter.
“All law school deans get to do graduation,” said Andrew Morriss, Dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chair. “Only the Texas A&M dean gets to do Ring Day.”

L-R: Provost Karan Watson, Dr. Carol Akers '87, Dean Andrew Morriss with the surprise Aggie Ring presentation

After the 12 Aggie law students received their rings, there was one more left on the table for a Texas A&M former student. Dr. Carol Akers, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences graduate and Morriss’ wife, didn’t receive her ring when she graduated in 1987.
“She’s getting it today,” said Provost Watson. 
A reception followed, along with a chance to pose with the First Lady of Aggieland, Reveille IX.
Congrats to all!  More pictures are available ​in our Facebook album.



- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
Texas A&M University School of Law Associate Professor Gina Warren’s article on sustainable development of small hydropower was cited in the Colorado Supreme Court Case No. 14SA234.
The case, Concerning the Application for Water Rights of Tidd: Frees v. Tidd, is between neighbors regarding the installation of a small hydropower facility on an existing irrigation ditch.
Her article, “Hydropower: Time for a Small Makeover,” emphasizes the benefits of developing small facilities on existing infrastructure near a customer base. The article was published in Indiana International & Comparative Law Review (2014).
Former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs delivered the Opinion of the Court. He is known as a prominent and influential scholar and justice on U.S. water law. Hobbs retired in August. 
Warren is very excited Hobbs authored the opinion. “It’s a very large compliment to me,” she said.
“This is a great example of the real-world impact the best legal scholarship has,” said Texas A&M University School of Law Dean & Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chair Andrew Morriss. 

 - Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
Texas A&M University School of Law Professor Michael Z. Green was presented the Paul Stephen Miller Memorial Award at the 10th Colloquium on Scholarship in Employment and Labor Law (COSELL) on Sept. 11 at Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Ind.
The COSELL brings together employment and labor law scholars to present works-in-progress and exchange ideas.
The annual award is given to a law scholar who has demonstrated outstanding academic and public contributions in the field o​f labor and employment law. 
The award is named for Paul Miller, a ten-year commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and adviser to two presidents. Miller, born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, was a leading advocate for disability rights and an expert on anti-discrimination law. 
Green said he was unaware he was receiving the award, but was “absolutely” astonished. “It is very gratifying to have your peers recognize you in that way.”
Green has been teaching law since 1999, and is an elected fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and an elected member of American Law Institute. 
 “It’s great to see Professor Green getting this recognition,” said Andrew Morriss, Dean & Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chair. “He’s a making a real difference in labor and employment law, both for our students and nationally."

- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
Texas A&M University School of Law was among the ​primary sponsors at the Ignite Law-Las Vegas Conference in early September.

The Ignite website describes the conference as a “geek event” for the top legal innovators across the country to present briefly on how they’re using their expertise to change the law and world. 

With just five minutes and 20 slides to present, associate professor Milan Markovic spoke on how T​exas A&M Law is integrating legal technology into law practice.  He said this will help lawyers do their job better, and that the school is benefiting from programming with tech companies, including Avvo, Legal Zoom and more.

He hopes other law schools can gain such experience. 

L-R: Arturo Errisuriz, Texas A&M Law Assistant Dean, Office of Career Services; Dan Lear, Avvo Director of Industry Relations; Milan Markovic, Texas A&M Law Associate Professor of Law
“I also encouraged legal tech companies to reach out to law schools and engage with them because we've changed a great deal since the time of Kingsfield,” he said. 

Arturo Errisuriz, Assistant Dean, Office of Career Services, attended the conference with Markovic and said it was very successful.

“The conference provided us with a unique opportunity to connect with attorneys on the forefront of where technology and the law come together so that we can better prepare our law students,” he said. 

- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law
Texas A&M University School of Law 3L Justin S. Davis, Texas A&M Law Review technology editor and Air Force veteran, will soon add publication in the Texas Tech Administrative Law Journal to his curriculum vitae. 

Davis’ article, “The Unarmed Army: Evolving Second Amendment Rights and Today’s Military Member,” explores the historic interaction of military and civilian jurisprudence and analyzes Department of Defense regulations that restrict military members from carrying firearms on military bases. Currently serving as an officer in the Texas Air National Guard while attending law school, Davis is in a unique position to write a scholarly legal article concerning military affairs. His article will be published in the Texas Tech Administrative Law Journal, Volume 17, Book 1, which is slated for release in early 2016.
“I could not have written an article of this scope without the tremendous support I received from the faculty at T​exas A&M Law,” Davis said. “It was extremely gracious of Dean Andrew Morriss to make room in his busy schedule to be my faculty article advisor. Professor Meg Penrose deserves recognition for being an additional sounding board, while providing a metric ton of encouragement. I give my sincere thanks to both.”
Texas A&M University ranks among the top three colleges in the nation—and first in Texas—in Washington Monthly’s new poll, which takes into major consideration factors such as research and service to the nation, as well as academic standing.

In the magazine’s 2015 rankings released this week, Texas A&M advanced one place higher than in the magazine’s previous annual ranking and is now headed only by the University of California at San Diego and the University of California at Riverside. The University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University round out the magazine’s list of the top five institutions based on its editors’ assessments.

“As a leading land-grant university, Texas A&M has a long and distinguished history of service to our state and nation, so it’s especially gratifying to see a key national poll take such public service into consideration, along with emphasis on high academic standards and a stellar record for conducting meaningful research,” Texas A&M President Michael K. Young said. “With our ability to attract top students who go on to key leadership positions in both the public and private sectors, and with outstanding faculty and staff who help them prepare for success after graduation, we are obviously pleased but not surprised by our lofty national ranking in Washington Monthly.”

The magazine’s editors explained the rationale for their unique approach to evaluating colleges:

“We rate schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).”

Texas A&M has consistently ranked among the leaders ever since Washington Monthly began its ratings in 2005.

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Media contact: Lane Stephenson, News & Information Services, at (979) 845-4662 or l-stephenson@tamu.edu

Article was originally posted in "TAMU Today." Reprinted with permission.
Texas A&M School of Law 3L Brett A. Miller, a Georgetown, Texas, native who has focused his legal education on corporate sustainability within the energy, water, and environmental law nexus, will soon add UCLA’s Journal of Environmental Law & Policy (JELP) to his curriculum vitae. 

Miller’s article, “Come and ‘Take’ It: Whooping Cranes, Texas Water Rights, Endangered Species Act Liability, and Reconciling Ecological Scientific Testimony Within the Context of Proximate Causation,” which explores recent litigation in Aransas Project v. Shaw and the increasing importance of science in the legal arena, will be published in JELP Volume 34, Issue 1, slated for release in January 2016.
“The opportunity to learn from Professor [Gabriel] Eckstein, with his vast international water law knowledge, is one of the main reasons that I chose to further my education at Texas A&M,” Miller said. “In writing this article, Professor Eckstein provided valuable guidance throughout and truly motivated me to research a topic that I was passionate about.”

Learn more about water law, energy law, or environmental law at Texas A&M School of Law.
John T. (“Jack”) Manhire, Jr., former Chief of Legal Analysis for the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility and National Program Chair, Executive Education for the U.S. Treasury Executive Institute, has accepted a position as Director of Program Development at Texas A&M University School of Law.
Some of his prior positions include Director of Technical Analysis & Guidance (Policy and Procedure) for the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service, and Attorney-Advisor (Tax) to the IRS National Taxpayer Advocate. Before entering full-time government service, he practiced law privately for over a decade, primarily in the field of federal tax controversies, and was Division Chief, Tax Law for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary National Office.
Jack’s scholarly interests primarily involve issues relating to tax compliance. His articles and essays appear in journals such as the University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online,  the Virginia Tax Review, the Iowa Law Review Online, and the Florida Tax Review (2 articles). He is also a contributor (by invitation) to the Journal on Policy and Complex Systems. Jack was a University Fellow (Ph.D. candidate) at Yale University where he was Editor of the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities. He received his J.D. cum laude from Regent University where he was Managing Editor of the Regent University Law Review, and his B.A. magna cum laude from Saint Leo University.
Jack enjoys hanging out with his wife and nine children, scotch and cigars with good friends, the intersection of philosophy and cosmology, anything nautical, and singing really loudly to classic rock on the car radio.
Jacob Shelton '15
Jacob Shelton ’15 won the Capstone Advisors Most Outstanding Article Award for his article, “Constitutional Constraints on Using Eminent Domain to Write-Down Underwater Mortgages,” which was published in the 2015 Cornell Real Estate Review (CRER) (Volume 13, June 2015). The annual Review is part of a well-regarded interdisciplinary program in real estate at Cornell.
In his Foreward, David Funk, Director of the Baker Program in Real Estate, said the Review’s award “recognizes the top article from an enrolled graduate student, which went to Jacob Shelton of Texas A&M for his analysis of constitutional constraints on writing down underwater mortgages. Texas A&M now joins UW-Madison, USC, UCLA, Rutgers, Columbia University, MIT, University of California-Berkeley, University of Florida, and the University of Pennsylvania as universities whose students have received the coveted Capstone Advisors Most Outstanding Article award.”
Shelton’s article began in the fall of his 3L year as a paper for Professor Timothy Mulvaney’s Property Theory seminar course.
“Professor Mulvaney's course stimulated some very thought-provoking ideas and discussions that were instrumental in my research for the article,” Shelton said. “Moreover, both Professors Mulvaney and [Patrick] Flanagan were very helpful and supportive throughout the publication process.”
View the Most Outstanding Article Award page from the 2015 CRER.
Link directly to Shelton’s article or view the 2015 Cornell Real Estate Review in its entirety.
Dean Andrew Morriss
Texas A&M University School of Law Dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Dean's Endowed Chairholder Andrew Morriss will be the featured keynote speaker at the Mourant Ozannes annual New York seminar on June 11, 2015.
Mourant Ozannes lauds Morriss as a "noted thought leader in the role of International Financial Centres (IFCs) in the world financial markets today." The topic of Morriss' keynote presentation is "Why all Americans should embrace International Financial Centres." 
The event will also include a Mourant Ozannes Partners Panel to discuss the advantages of Cayman structures and avoiding pitfalls. In addition, there will be guest speaker panel of legal, banking and investment management experts on the topic "Looking to the future -- will IFCs continue to be relevant?"
The invitation-only event will be held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.
Mourant Ozannes is one of the leading offshore law firms, advising on the laws of the BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey. They have a substantial presence in each of these jurisdictions as well as offices in Hong Kong and London, according to their website, http://www.mourantozannes.com/.
Texas A&M School of Law ranked 3rd in the state of Texas for the pass rate for first-time examinees on the February Texas Bar Exam. With a pass rate of 79.59%, Texas A&M University School of Law had the third highest pass rate of the nine Texas law schools, as reported by the Board of Law Examiners. Thirty-nine Aggie law examinees passed the exam out of 49 who took the test for the first time in February. The state average first-time examinee pass rate was 70.39%.
“We’re happy for our graduates’ success on the February bar exam and look forward to their success as members of the Texas Bar,” said Andrew Morriss, Dean & Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chairholder. “As I recall all too well, the bar exam is a real challenge and our graduates turned in an impressive performance that reflects their hard work in law school. Going forward, we’re working to help our graduates do even better in the future.”
This success is credited to the combined efforts of the faculty and Academic Support team, who strategized based off of July’s test numbers and ultimately enhanced student performance.
The rigorous courses and supplemental workshops of the Academic Support Program, such as Bar Exam Boot Camps and the Bar Mentoring program, provided a strong scaffolding to build the best prepared students resulting in bar passage success. In the Bar Mentoring program, students are matched with a practicing attorney who was successful on the bar exam to receive the coaching necessary to excel on the test that measures whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction.
“I felt tremendous personal responsibility for the February results and gave every ounce of energy I had,” outgoing Director of Academic Support, Marta Miller said. “Bar exam passage or failure, however, does not rest solely on the shoulders of one individual. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the support of our amazing staff and faculty, especially the efforts of Camesha Little, Assistant Director of Academic Support. The real glory belongs to the students. I feel lucky to have been part of their journey to bar exam success.”
“Many pep talks, study review meetings and the student’s long study hours have paid off! I am very proud of our February 2015 bar passers!” commented Little.
Professor James McGrath, who takes over as the Director of Academic Support, echoes both Miller and Little’s comments and adds, “We are proud of our new group of Aggie lawyers, and our team is working hard to build on their success.”
Texas A&M University School of Law has been awarded a $370,000 research grant from the Access Group Center for Research and Policy Analysis. Texas A&M Law associate professor Milan Markovic will serve as principal investigator of the Texas Lawyers Study, examining professional satisfaction and income levels of nearly 88,000 members of the State Bar of Texas. The Texas Lawyers Study will generate an extraordinary amount of data on the economics of the legal profession and the working lives of lawyers that can inform the decision-making of prospective law students and lawyers..
Read the full press release for more details (used with permission from the Access Group).
The moot court team of 3Ls Rebecca Bradley, Jessica Juarez and Robert Koehl.
3L Rebecca Bradley won Best Advocate in the Preliminary Rounds at the National Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare and Adoption Law in Columbus, Ohio, on March 13–15. Her partner, 3L Robert Koehl, received the 7th place advocate award. The team finished the competition as semi-finalists. Also on the team was brief writer 3L Jessica Juarez. The team was coached by Melinda Westmoreland Nag (J.D. ’06).
Twenty-six teams competed from around the country at this competition, where the rounds took place in the Ohio Capital building and the Ohio Supreme Court. According to Jennifer Ellis, Director of Advocacy Programs, “This was the first time Texas A&M competed in this competition, and we are thrilled to do so well in our first attempt.”
3L Christian Holden and 2L Lynne Nash (center, left and right) with the competition ABA representatives.
At the national finals of the ABA Client Counseling Competition in Durham, North Carolina, on March 13-14, the TAMU Law team of 2L Lynne Nash and 3L Christian Holden finished as national semi-finalists. They advanced to the national finals last month after winning the regional rounds, as did top finishers from the eleven other regions. This team was coached by Professor Kay Elliott.
The Fort Worth law school has advanced to the national finals of this competition for four consecutive years, which is a huge accomplishment since only the regional champion from each region is invited to the national finals. According to Ellis, “Our repeated regional championships and strong placements at the national level demonstrate our consistency and the talent of our students and coaches.”
Learn more about the Advocacy Program:
The Advocacy Program at Texas A&M School of Law is a key component of making Aggie law students practice-ready. Directed by Jennifer Ellis, the Advocacy Program consists of three disciplines: appellate advocacy (moot court), trial advocacy (mock trial) and dispute resolution (mediation, negotiation and client counseling).
The Texas A&M Law Moot Court, Mock Trial and Alternative Dispute Resolution teams are nationally recognized. Since the law school’s inception, the program has received 3 international, 11 national, 19 regional and one state championship, 14 best advocate and 13 best brief awards.
Two Texas A&M School of Law advocacy teams advance to the national finals with outstanding results at the Black Law Student Association (BLSA) Rocky Mountain Regional competition held in Houston, Jan. 15-18.
3Ls Shannon Barber and Courtney Shorts placed third in the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition. The team was coached by Judge Matthew Wright (JD ’08). Barber and Shorts barely missed advancing last year when they were defeated by the other Texas A&M team, making this victory especially rewarding. 
2Ls Kris Anderson, Gregory Franklin, Jerek Hart and Jamillia Wren placed second in the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition. The team was coached by Doug Greene.
The regional competition includes teams from law schools in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Both Aggie Law teams advance to compete in Portland, Ore., in March at the national finals.
This marks the second consecutive year that Texas A&M has advanced teams to the BLSA national finals in both moot court and mock trial, and the 4th consecutive year to advance a mock trial team.
Director of Advocacy Programs, Jennifer Ellis (JD ’06), congratulates these hard-working and talented students and coaches on their achievement.
“I am so proud of the time and effort put into the competition preparation by both teams,” Ellis said. “They had to put in a lot of hours over the holiday break to prepare for the competition, and it’s great that their hard work paid off.”





Moot Court team members 3L Courtney Shorts, team coach Judge Matthew Wright (JD '08), and 3L Shannon Barber with their RMBLSA regional trophy


Mock Trial team members 2Ls Gregory Franklin, Jamillia Wren, Kris Anderson and Jerek Hart with BLSA national board member 3L Michelle Gunter with their RMBLSA regional trophy




Learn more about the Advocacy Program:
The Advocacy Program at Texas A&M School of Law is a key component of making Aggie law students practice-ready. Directed by Jennifer Ellis, the Advocacy Program consists of three disciplines: appellate advocacy (moot court), trial advocacy (mock trial) and dispute resolution (mediation, negotiation and client counseling).
The Texas A&M Law Moot Court, Mock Trial and Alternative Dispute Resolution teams are nationally recognized. Since the law school’s inception, the program has received 3 international, 11 national, 18 regional and one state championship, 14 best advocate and 13 best brief awards.
3L Matt McGowan
3L Matt McGowan, Texas A&M Law Review articles editor, has been selected as the winner of the national White River Environmental Law Writing Competition by the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law for his article titled “Locomotives v. Local Motives: The Coming Conflict, Statutory Void, and Legal Uncertainties Riding with Reactivated Rails-to-Trails."
As the winner, McGowan’s paper will be published in the March 2015 issue of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL), and he will receive the $1,000 first-place prize.
"Matthew's article thoroughly impressed our review committee," said VJEL editor-in-chief Andrew Minikowski, in a press release. "The depth at which his article explores the legal ramifications of rails-to-trails reactivation far exceeds the existing academic literature on the topic.”
“This is such a tremendous honor. I can't express my gratitude to the folks up at the VJEL enough,” McGowan said.
“To think, I was ready to throw in the towel -- convinced this paper would forever sit on my hard drive,” McGowan shared. “I was about to give up and forget about the whole thing, but my adviser, Professor [Timothy] Mulvaney, just flat refused to let me and kept insisting that I keep working on it. I'm so glad he did. I definitely encourage other students to never, ever give up on their papers. Keep working, reworking, and re-reworking them.”
“It was a pleasure working with Matt, and I am not surprised that he won this award,” Professor Timothy Mulvaney said.
The paper, inspired by McGowan’s personal interest in mountain biking and professional interest in property law, examines the legal challenges associated with the rails-to-trails program, which converts out-of-service railway easements into recreational nature paths. What happens if the railroad wants to restart service in those corridors?
“A litany of scholars have been wrestling with legal questions surrounding the conversion of deserted rail corridors to recreational trails for the past three decades. In this paper, Matt adds an important voice to the conversation by thoughtfully shifting the topic on its head. He focuses on the issues that could arise as railroad companies seek to reactivate these corridors for rail use," Mulvaney continued. "I expect that Matt’s work will serve as an important resource as scholars begin to explore the many implications of our nation’s return to rail.”
The well-respected VJEL, considered by many as a top environmental law journal, has a global audience. The writing competition was open to any student pursuing a juris doctor or master of laws degree at an accredited U.S. law school.
Read the competition winner press release here.
Sahar Aziz
Texas A&M School of Law Associate Professor Sahar F. Aziz was selected as a 2015 Emerging Scholar by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine and featured in the January 1 issue, "Professors of Purpose."
Per Diverse, the 2015 Emerging Scholars of the Year are "a diverse group of standout scholars under the age of 40. Recognized for the uniqueness of their fields of study, as well as their commitment to service and teaching, these scholars represent some of the brightest minds in the nation."
The magazine's executive editor, David Pluviose, said the Emerging Scholars "are all, in their own way, working to improve the lot of humanity."
Aziz is featured in Diverse as a 2015 Emerging Scholar for her pioneering work on civil rights and national security in the post-9/11 era. In her interview, Professor Aziz noted, “You can’t talk about national security without talking about the Middle East,” and as a result her research uniquely combines her expertise in Middle East affairs with the civil rights of Arab Americans.
Aziz was also recognized by the magazine for having "devoted her life to the legal defense of the marginalized and oppressed." Additionally, Aziz mentors women and students who are the first in their families to attend college.
In the article, Andrew P. Morriss, dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chairholder of Texas A&M University School of Law, lauds Aziz's contributions to the school.
“Prof. Aziz is tireless in her efforts to create opportunities for students at Texas A&M School of Law." Morriss said. "She organizes multiple events each semester for the entire student body, bringing important national and international figures to campus to discuss important issues. In addition to being a productive scholar, she is a demanding teacher who both commands respect from her students and invests considerable time and energy in improving their performance.”
Read the entire feature article about Prof. Aziz.
See the 2015 Emerging Scholars Diverse: Issues in Higher Education digital publication.
Professor Gabriel Eckstein recently returned from a trip to Baku, Azerbaijan. Eckstein was invited by the UN Development Programme as a legal expert to help advise Azerbaijan on water law and policy reform in order to help modernize the country’s water management regime, and to better address problems associated with flooding and climate change.
During his trip, Professor Eckstein also met with Dr. Amir Aliyev, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Baku State University. He was also invited by Dr. Rovshan Abbasov, Chair of the Department of Geography and Environment at Khazar University, to give a lecture to undergraduate education students, “Water as an Economic Good.”





Professor Gabriel Eckstein (on left) meets with Dr. Amir Aliyev, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Baku State University.

Photos courtesy of Gabriel Eckstein.


Professor Gabriel Eckstein guest lectures at Khazar University.




About Professor Gabriel Eckstein:
Professor Eckstein has been on the law faculty since 2010 and is an affiliated faculty member of the Texas A&M Energy Institute, a member of the Graduate Faculty at Texas A&M University and of the T​exas A&M University Water Management and Hydrological Science Graduate Faculty. Eckstein serves as an expert advisor and consultant on U.S. and international environmental and water law issues and has worked with the United Nations, U.S. Agency for International Development, World Commission on Dams, Organization of American States, and the International Association of Hydrogeologists. Eckstein directs the Internet-based International Water Law Project with the mission to serve as the premier resource on the Internet addressing the future of international water law and policy.