Features May 2019
Texas Tech law alumnus Brandon Beck ’12, an appellate attorney with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Texas and adjunct professor of legal practice, had the opportunity to do something that only a handful of lawyers ever get to do, argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Read more…
Features May 2019
Robert Bryce was the featured speaker for the Terry Lee Grantham Memorial Energy Law Lecture Series on Monday, April 1, 2019. Bryce focused in his presentation. Read more…
May 2019
The American Bar Association recently released information on the “ultimate bar pass rate,” which captures the percentage of a school’s graduates who passed the bar within two years of graduation. Nationwide, nearly 88.57 percent of 2016 law graduates who sat for a bar exam within two years of graduated have passed a bar exam. Texas Tech Law posted a 94.44% two-year pass rate. That places the Law School third among Texas schools and the highest ranked public law school in Texas.
Features May 2019
Texas Tech law students and the general public had the opportunity to view the Seventh Court of Appeals, which usually presides in Amarillo, in action on April 3, 2019. Oral arguments were heard in four cases, with seven Texas Tech law alumni arguing before the court. Read more…
Features May 2019
Texas Tech’s Center for Biodefense, Law, and Public Policy held the 18th Annual Global Biosecurity Symposium on April 11 in the Lanier Auditorium. Read more…
Features May 2019
Texas Tech Law hosted 60 accepted students and their guests for the 2019 Admitted Students Weekend. Read more…
Students May 2019
The Law School hosted a reception for all Tech law students published in 2019 on Wednesday, April 10 in the Collaborative Commons. Read more…
Alumni May 2019
Justice Phil Johnson said his goodbye to Texas lawyers, his former colleagues and other judges and friends at a crowded reception at a State Bar of Texas Reception at the Texas Law Center on April 17, 2019. Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht presented Justice Johnson with a silver tray inscribed with the sentiment “always leaving the law better than he found it.”
Features May 2019
On April 9, 2019, Texas Tech Law put on one of over 60 all-female readings of 12 Angry Men around the nation. In conjunction with the School of Theatre and Dance, law students and acting students were joined by micro-biologist Ayanna Arnold and local activist Sue Weninger to participate in the nationwide initiative of 12,000 Voices. With an audience of approximately fifty, Briana Moody, a Texas Tech Law Library Associate produced and directed the reading as part of her Master of Fine Arts thesis proposal and moderated the panel discussion following the performance about gender equity in professionalism. Law students Avery Aiken, Brianna Argueta, Elizabeth Balido, Alana Rosen, and Sidney Wiltshire were all an intricate part in the success of this event, as were all the Law Library staff and faculty. The reading of 12 Angry Men performed by 12 Impassioned Women was part of National Library Week, and we hope to create more collaboration events like this in the future.
Students May 2019
Thanks to the generosity of first-year students who are in Associate Dean Wendy-Adele Humphrey’s section of Legal Practice, children who find themselves in the Lubbock County Courthouse will have something to occupy their time. As a former board member of the Texas Young Lawyers Association, Dean Humphrey keeps track of the amazing service projects that TYLA plans each year. TYLA’s Bookshelves in Courtrooms is one such project, and it facilitates the availability of children’s books in courthouses around Texas. “As soon as I mentioned this TYLA project to my students, they enthusiastically agreed to take it on as a public service project for the Lubbock community,” Humphrey said.
Students in Legal Practice class were involved in every phase of the planning and implementation of the Bookshelves in Courtrooms project, from purchasing the bookshelf to conducting a book drive at the law school. And alumnae Judge Ann-Marie Carruth ’06 quickly agreed to house the stocked bookshelf in her County Court at Law #3 hallway. As the sign on the bookshelf states, children are encouraged to read a book, or even take a book home with them.
The bookshelf was officially dedicated at the Lubbock County Courthouse on April 15, with Dean Jack Nowlin in attendance. Anyone wishing to support this project may arrange to donate new or gently used books by contacting Associate Dean Humphrey at wendy.humphrey@ttu.edu.
AlumniMay 2019
Texas Tech law alumnus Derek Mergele-Rust ’17 came to Texas Tech Law in April to discuss LGBTQ Hot Legal Topics. OUTlaw, Texas Tech Law’s LGBTQ student organization, worked with the Office of Student Life to bring him to campus to speak about the hurdles and situations he comes across every day when practicing with an underrepresented community. After speaking with students at lunch, Mergele-Rust also had the opportunity to speak about the employment rights of minority groups with Texas Tech University’s Gender Equity Committee. “It was an amazing opportunity to bring Derek back to Texas Tech. He founded Texas Tech Law’s LGBTQ student organization and has been a supporter ever since! Bringing back successful LGBTQ attorneys who graduated from Tech Law is one of the most fun and encouraging events OUTlaw does,” said current OUTlaw President J. Riggs.
Features May 2019
The Organization of Women Law Students (“OWLS”) hosted Texas Tech law alumna and current magistrate judge in Amarillo for the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Judge Lee Ann Reno ’94, in celebration of Women’s History Month. Judge Reno spoke to students about her law school experience, the different between law school and legal practice, work life balance, networking, being your own best advocate, and giving back to the community. Kathleen Goegel, OWLS treasurer, said she “really appreciated that Judge Reno included commentary from her clerks and associates on how their experiences were similar or different than her own. It gave us a wider perspective on the legal field as a whole.”
May 2019
In Houston, the team of 2L Kathleen Goegel and 3L Jesse Kizewski took second place at the Energy Law Negotiation Competition at South Texas College of Law. In an all-Texas Final Four, the Tech Law duo lost narrowly to the University of Houston but bested the University of Texas squad. The team was coached by Professor Rishi Batra, who narrowly missed out on an unprecedented third national championship this year. A special thanks is also owed to Professors Bill Keffer and Rod Wetsel, whose subject-matter expertise was vital to the team’s success, as well as a number of students who served as sparring partners.
Later this month in Kansas City, Missouri, 3Ls Kasey Chester, Nicholas Chrestopoulos, and Melissa Reyes advanced all the way to the Final Four of the Show Me Challenge National Voir Dire Tournament. That team was coached by Professor Dick Baker and 3L Logan Sawyer. Many thanks also to Judge Les Hatch ’88 and Professor John Watts for their help in judging practice rounds, and again, a long list of students who helped serve as mock jurors for the trio.
Congrats to both teams and their coaches!
Alumni May 2019
Rick joined the Panola County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney to help address a backlog of cases. He will focus on misdemeanor cases and collecting bond forfeitures.
Alumni May 2019
Susan was named as the new Executive Director of the Texas Association of Counties effective January 1, 2019. Redford, a former Ector County Judge, served as Judicial Program Manager of TAC’s Judicial Education Program since October 2015. Prior to taking office as county judge in 2007, she served Ector County for six years as an assistant district attorney and for two years as an assistant county attorney.
