FACULTY WRITINGS

Brian Leiter, Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered, in The Philosopher’s Annual XXIV 123 (P. Grim et al. eds.; Stanford: CSLI Publications, 2003). [Reprint of 111 Ethics 278 (2001).]

Robert Peroni, Reform and Simplification of the U.S. Foreign Tax Credit Rules, 101 Tax Notes 103 (2003), and 31 Tax Notes International 1177 (2003) (with Cliff Fleming & Steve Shay).

David Rabban, The Historiography of Late Nineteenth-Century American Legal History, 4 Theoretical Inquiries in Law (Online Edition), No. 2, Article 5 (2003). http://www.bepress.com/til/default/vol4/iss2/art5

FACULTY ACTIVITIES

Patricia Hansen initiated a new judicial education project, “Strengthening Justice Through Judicial Training,” in cooperation with the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and with grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development. The project presented workshops and classes at the Supreme Court of Nuevo León in Monterrey, during the summer of 2003, with Jan Summer as part of the faculty.

Sarah Buel gave the keynote address, “Trends and Promising Practices in Family Violence,” at the Travis County Courts Domestic Violence Conference, Sept. 18, 2003, in Austin. Buel was the keynote speaker at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Worldwide Conference in Colorado Springs, Oct. 1, 2003, on “Domestic Violence and the Military: Law, Policy & Practice.”

Barbara Hines was quoted in a Chicago Tribune feature story on the World Boxing Council’s super featherweight champion Jesus Chavez, Sept. 18, 2003, on her efforts to win permanent resident status for Chavez.

The HUI (the American Stock Exchange Gold Bugs Index) attracted worldwide attention this summer when it reached its highest level since June 1996. The HUI was inspired by a 1995 article by Henry Hu on hedging theory, derivatives in risk management, and the objectives of publicly held corporations. The Financial Times (London) referred to the index as one of the “two key gold equity indices” (on July 5, 2003), stated it was “a benchmark gold share indicator” (on Sept. 11, 2003 and on Sept. 18, 2003), and discussed its multi-year high (on Sept. 27, 2003). The New York Times, Sept. 7, 2003, discussed the HUI and published a graph tracking the index’s movements since 1995. The Australian Financial Review, Aug. 22, 2003, claimed that “the HUI has been the strongest performer” recently among leading indices of stock prices of gold mining companies and speculated on the HUI’s prospects. Nearly 400 other stories referring to the index have also appeared in the June 1-Oct. 7, 2003 period (based on Lexis and Westlaw), including ones in Borsen (Copenhagen), the Financial Mail (Johannesburg), Focus-Money (Munich), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (Frankfurt), the Los Angeles Times, O Globo (Rio de Janeiro), the Toronto Star, and USA Today.

Douglas Laycock spoke on the Michigan affirmative action cases at a lecture sponsored by  the Society Encouraging Excellence through Diversity (SEED), Oct. 9, 2003, in the Law School.

Brian Leiter has been appointed to the Steering Committee that organizes the annual Analytic Legal Philosophy conference, an invitation-only event that brings together five-to-six dozen of the leading legal philosophers in the English-speaking world for two days of papers and discussion. The other members of the Committee are Larry Alexander (USD), Jules Coleman (Yale), John Gardner (Oxford), Stephen Perry (NYU), Joseph Raz (Oxford and Columbia), and Jeremy Waldron (Columbia).

Ronald Mann delivered an invited paper on “Regulating Internet Payment Intermediaries” at the 4th Annual International Conference on Electronic Commerce in Pittsburgh, hosted by Carnegie-Mellon University, Oct. 3, 2003. Mann spoke on “Current Issues in Electronic Commerce” on Oct. 6, 2003, to a group of foreign visitors for a program on “Electronic Commerce and the Global Economy” sponsored by the Department of State and the International Hospitality Council of Austin.

Thomas McGarity was one of 12 people inducted into the Public Interest Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 9, 2003. The Hall of Fame, which was established by the public interest organization OMB Watch, recognizes McGarity for “three decades of championing justice in areas such as environmental policy, worker health and safety, bioengineering, and drug safety.”

Linda Mullenix served as moderator and a speaker at the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Conference, “The Future of Class Action Litigation in America,” in Boston on Oct. 2-3, 2003. Mullenix moderated panels on “Recent Developments in Class Certification”; “Communicating With Putative or Actual Class Members: Rule 23(D) Orders and Ethical Issues, and Rule 23(b)(3) Notice Communications”; “Recent Developments: Notice Issues, Res Judicata/Claim Preclusion Issues”; “The Future Interrelationship of Arbitration Clauses and Class Actions”; “Trends in Damages/Settlement/and Fairness Issues”; and “Rule Changes and Case Law Update.” Mullenix was a speaker on the panel relating to “Res Judicata and Claim Preclusion Issues,” where she gave a presentation on the Seventh Circuit’s June 2003 decision in the Bridgestone/Firestone case; the Homeside Lending v. Bankboston class settlement; and the Texas appellate case Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Bowden. The presentation materials from this conference will be posted on the TIPS website.

LAW LIBRARY NEWS

Rhonda Hankins, Virtual Tours at Law Library Web Sites, Noter-Up, Aug. 2003, at 6.