Texas Lawyer Blog

God, demons and U.S. Supreme Court review?

Although there’s no real formula for predicting whether the U.S. Supreme Court will accept a case for review, there is one factor that raises the stakes in the writ of certiorari game considerably: wacky religious cases appealed from Texas. Take Van Orden v. Perry, the case involving a lawyer living in a tent who filed a constitutional challenge against the state of Texas, arguing that the Ten Commandments monument outside the State Capitol building violated the 1st Amendment. The Supremes took that case and wrote in 2005 that the monument wasn’t a government endorsement of religion, because it conveyed both a religious and secular message. Now the court is peeking at another Texas case with a devilish flavor, Pleasant Glade Assembly of God, et al. v. Laura Schubert. The plaintiff, a woman who claims she was injured during an alleged exorcism at a North Texas church, has asked the court to review her case. In June, the Texas Supreme Court tossed out her case in a 6-3 decision, saying Texas courts had no authority to consider such claims, because to do so would violate a church’s 1st Amendment rights. My guess is that David Pruessner, a Dallas insurance coverage lawyer who won the Texas Supreme Court case for the defendants, needs to start looking into air fare to Washington D.C. 
-- John Council

Tulia case on the big screen and little screen

Do you want the slightly fictionalized or nonfictionalized account? Well, if it's the notorious episode of criminal injustice in Tulia about which you are seeking to learn more, then you are in luck. Early next year, you will be able to choose from two retellings. On Feb. 10, 2009, PBS will broadcast "Tulia Texas," a documentary about lawyer Jeff Blackburn and others who represented the Tulia defendants -- roughly 10 percent of the town's adult population arrested on drug charges after a raid. It took years but all the defendants were ultimately found to have been wrongfully convicted. Gov. Rick Perry subsequently pardoned all the Tulia defendants. If you want to see a more Hollywood depiction, wait for the March 2009 release of "American Violet," a fictional feature film based on real-life events in Tulia but with actors Michael O'Keefe and Will Patton playing major parts. 
-- Miriam Rozen

Xmas amicus in Scrooge v. The 2008 Holidays

This time of year, my mailbox is jammed with holiday greeting cards from law firms. And I always look forward to the card sent by Alexander Dubose Jones & Townsend for one reason: It is consistently clever and inventive. One year, the firm's card featured pencil drawings of four Austin partners standing on top of the planet Earth. Another year the card featured a picture of all the partners — or rather what all the partners would look like if they were penguins. But this year's card may be my favorite from the appellate law boutique: It's in the form of an amicus brief associated with a Texas Supreme Court case, Ebenezer Scrooge v. The 2008 Holidays. Always wanting to be on the right side of the law, ADJT’s brief is in support of the respondent 2008 Holidays. “ADJT takes the opportunity to briefly wish you all an appealing Holiday Season,” the card says inside. The card got me wondering -- is there a law firm out there that would file an amicus brief advocating Scrooge’s position? Sure, if the client pays enough. And you know a competing amicus brief would be written, especially when a case such as Scrooge v. Holidays likely has a shot for a 5-4 vote, either way, at the high court.

-- John Council

This Week in Texas Lawyer

• Pay me less: Boutique firm responds to economic crisis by reducing billing rates for current hourly fee cases. Senior Reporter Mary Alice Robbins checks out the check book.

• Maxxamum impact: The FDIC agrees to pay $10 million. Senior reporter Brenda Sapino Jeffreys finds out why the 13-year battle came to a close.

• Inadmissible: What's the buzz on who will rock the Laniers' 2009 Christmas party? Running 105 marathons in a year as a BigTex partner. Dallas firm diversity -- dismal or developing?

• Thanks, you shouldn't have: The assistant-at-law explains what not to give staff at the holidays.

2008 Year in Review

• Making a difference: Who will be named the impact player of 2008?

• Tongue-in-cheek awards: From funny to cringe-worthy, senior reporter Mary Alice Robbins look backs at 2008 and laughs.

• Say what?: Memorable bon mots of the year gone by.

• What happened?: It's all coming back to me now, reading the timeline of 2008. 

• The hit list: See the stories readers were quick to click over the last year.

• Uber-lex: The most important developments in substantive law.

State Bar’s CDC moving on

Rosemary Lehmberg, Travis County’s district attorney-elect, announced Thursday that Austin attorney John Neal will become her first assistant DA on Feb. 1, 2009. But Travis County’s gain is the State Bar of Texas’ loss. Neal has served as the State Bar’s chief disciplinary counsel since 2005. Lehmberg is getting an experienced hand in Neal, who, beginning in 1986, served 10 years as district attorney for the 90th Judicial District, which covers Young and Stephens counties. In 1996, Neal became the division chief for the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s statewide prosecution division. According to Lehmberg’s news release announcing Neal’s appointment, Neal personally tried many felony cases, including capital murders, sexual assaults and public corruption cases, and he managed attorneys in the prosecution division.
-- Mary Alice Robbins

V&E's Ron Kirk nominated to be U.S. trade representative

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk is President-Elect Barack Obama’s nominee for U.S. trade representative, a Cabinet-level and ambassadorial appointment that requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Obama announced the appointment at a press conference on Dec. 19. If confirmed by the Senate Kirk, a partner in the Dallas office of Vinson & Elkins, will oversee the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, an agency of more than 200 people that has offices in Washington, D.C., Geneva and Brussels. The trade office is responsible for negotiating directly with foreign governments to create trade agreements, resolve disputes and participate in global trade policy organizations. Kirk says his nomination is “an honor that I’m just beginning to savor.” He anticipates that after the holidays he will join the academics and policymakers Obama’s transition team has assembled in Chicago. Not all are cheering Kirk’s nomination. In particular, organized labor leaders nationwide and in Texas are questioning whether Kirk is the best choice to preserve jobs in the United States when cutting deals abroad. “The jury's out," Becky Moeller, president of the Texas AFL-CIO, told The Dallas Morning News. At his press conference on Dec. 19, Obama specifically noted that Kirk would negotiate trade deals that would help American workers. Kirk, who took the podium at the Dec. 19 press conference as well, said future trade deals would be “value-driven” and would “create jobs at home and encourage development abroad.”  Acknowledging the tepid reaction his nomination has received from organized labor leaders, Kirk says in an interview, “We cannot afford to be protectionists.” At the same time, however, he believes that creative new approaches to trade agreements could address domestic labor leaders’ concerns and create better working conditions worldwide. Kirk, 54, graduated from the University of Texas School of Law and served as Texas secretary of state. He was the first African-American mayor of Dallas, serving from 1995 to 2001. In 2002, he made an unsuccessful run as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, losing to Republican John Cornyn, a former Texas Supreme Court justice and Texas attorney general. At V&E, managing partner Joe Dilg says in a statement, "Ron, through his experience as a lawyer, as mayor of Dallas and his public policy work, combines a rare ability to listen to many viewpoints on complex issues, understand the other parties' objectives and constraints, and negotiate a broad resolution to the issue that takes into account both public policy objectives and legal issues. His experience as mayor taught him to consider the ramifications of his decisions on all constituents whether they be consumers, workers or business owners. He will be a wonderful advocate for America." Kirk is not the first Texan tapped to lead the nation’s trade negotiations. Kirk recalls that the Cabinet-level post known as special trade representative was held by Robert Strauss -- a founder of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld -- during the administration of then-President Jimmy Carter. Strauss' late wife Annette coincidentally served as Dallas mayor.

-- Miriam Rozen

Red, green and the blues

"Happy" and "holidays" go hand in hand, at least that seems to be the case at the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program. “What I see, and this is real anecdotal, but around the holidays there are fewer calls around dependency issues,” says director Ann D. Foster (pictured). “I think people are out there, trying to maintain – they’re going along with the crowd and pretending to be OK.” Unfortunately, Foster’s also noticed that once the glad tidings are gone, sad feelings and addictive behaviors resurface. “In January, I notice an increase in calls – the gift giving’s finished, the bills are coming in again, and there are no longer party opportunities,” she says. However, she says, she hasn’t heard too many callers citing emotional fallout from the financial crisis. “I keep in touch with my counterparts in other states, but no one’s yet reporting much about it right now,” she says. But she wouldn’t be surprised if it’s coming. “Mostly people will get really anxious and very worried, and it will take a little while for it to get to us,” she says. For anyone who’s thinking of making that call to the TLAP hotline (1-800-343-8527), Foster would like to remind everyone that callers remain anonymous, and TLAP staffers on the other end of the line can answer questions, make suggestions, just talk or just listen. “There really is no down side for calling and checking things out,” she says. Or visit the TLAP Web site. “It’s easy to access, and you don’t have to pick up the phone,” she notes.
-- Jenny B. Davis

Austin lawyer pens "White Christmas" parody

Remember the 1954 classic “White Christmas” starring Bing Crosby? Austin attorney Charles Moster, senior litigation partner in MosterWynne, has come up with a Jewish version of the story.  KUNM, the National Public Radio station in Albuquerque, N.M., will air Moster’s musical comedy, “Happy Challaday,” on Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. In explaining how he got the idea for the radio play, Moster says, “The all-time greatest Christmas song ever written was by Irving Berlin, who was Jewish.” Moster says he decided to write a parody of “White Christmas” set in Israel. Moster wrote the play and most of the music and lyrics for the show. Adam Donnmoyer, with whom Moster has collaborated in the past, did the arrangements and wrote the music and lyrics for the title song, “Happy Challaday.” This is the fourth of Moster’s radio musicals that KUNM has produced. Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy Hanukkah, too!
-- Mary Alice Robbins

Elton John to play next year's Lanier Christmas charity bash?

A record 8,600 friends of the Lanier Law Firm attended the Houston firm’s annual holiday party on Dec. 14, where teen popster Miley Cyrus, star of the Disney show “Hannah Montana,” entertained a huge crowd that included thousands of screaming, dancing preteen girls. W. Mark Lanier, who hosted the party on the grounds of his house in northwest Houston with his wife, Becky, says partygoers donated a covered wagon full of school supplies and more than $250,000 for Guatemala SANA. The charity was established by Rafael Espada, the vice president of Guatemala and a former doctor in Houston. Lanier says every penny donated at the party will go directly to the charity and its educational programs. Lanier says they hired Cyrus for the show to bring a large crowd to Christmas Cheer and Charity event, which also featured plenty of food, games and carnival entertainment. Lanier says Cyrus performed at a reduced fee, because it was a charitable fundraiser, but he says he can’t say how much his firm paid her. But he notes that she was booked for a 45-minute show and actually sang for 90 minutes, which he says is the longest nonstop show she’s ever performed. Next year’s party will likely double as another fundraiser for Guatemala SANA, Lanier says. Who can top Cyrus? Lanier declines to confirm or deny the rumor that Elton John will take the stage at the 2009 holiday party, but he says it is true that he and Becky ate dinner with John at the British singer's house two or three months ago. “He’s a very nice gentleman,” Lanier says.
-- Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

Obama to name Dallas lawyer as U.S. trade rep, source says

 Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk (pictured) is scheduled to be in Chicago on Dec. 19, according to a source who declines to be named but is in a position to know. That's when President-Elect Barack Obama is scheduled to announce, the source says, that Kirk is his nominee for U.S. trade representative, a cabinet-level and ambassadorial appointment that requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Kirk is a partner in the Dallas office of Vinson & Elkins. If confirmed, Kirk will oversee the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, an agency of more than 200 people that has offices in Washington, D.C., Geneva and Brussels. The office is responsible for negotiating directly with foreign governments to create trade agreements, resolve disputes and participate in global trade policy organizations. 
-- Miriam Rozen