Law Commons^™

Reconceiving Ethics For Judicial Law Clerks, Gregory Bischoping

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Judicial law clerks hold a unique and critical position in our legal system. They play a central part in the functioning of the judiciary, oftentimes writing the first draft of their judge’s opinions and serving as their trusted researcher and sounding board. Moreover, they are privy to the many highly confidential processes and private information behind the important work of the judiciary. It stands to reason the comprehensive set of ethical duties that bind the world of lawyers and judges should also provide guidance for judicial law clerks. The most important among those ethics rules is a duty of confidentiality. …

The History, Meaning, And Use Of The Words Justice And Judge, Jason Boatright

St. Mary's Law Journal

The words justice and judge have similar meanings because they have a common ancestry. They are derived from the same Latin term, jus, which is defined in dictionaries as “right” and “law.” However, those definitions of jus are so broad that they obscure the details of what the term meant when it formed the words that eventually became justice and judge. The etymology of jus reveals the kind of right and law it signified was related to the concepts of restriction and obligation. Vestiges of this sense of jus survived in the meaning of justice and judge. …

In Memory Of Roderick Glen Ayers, Jr. (1947–2017), Professor Of Law, St. Mary's University School Of Law, Craig A. Gargotta, William R. "Dick" Davis Jr.

St. Mary's Law Journal

On September 27, 2017, Glen Ayers, a former professor at St. Mary’s School of Law, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Two St. Mary's alumni—Bankruptcy Judge Craig A. Gargotta (1989) and William R. “Dick” Davis, Jr. (1983)—have provided this tribute to an icon of San Antonio’s bankruptcy bar.

Responding To Judicial And Lawyer Misconduct: Analyzing A Survey Of State Trial Court Judges, Peter M. Koelling

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

While reported cases or incidents may give us insight into the interpretation of Rule 2.15 of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct, they do not give us a sense of how often judges undertake the obligation to act under the rule. The Judicial Division of the American Bar Association developed a survey to explore the interpretation and the implementation of Rule 2.15 of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct, and to determine how and in what manner state trial court judges responded to ethical violations by lawyers and other judges. The survey looked back over a ten-year period and was …

Weathering The Worst Storm: How Attorneys Might Successfully Defend Their Reputation Against Attack From The Bench, Giel Stein

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Based on the author’s personal experience with a judicial referral to a professional responsibility authority, this Essay offers lawyers a strategy to emerge from such an ordeal undisciplined. The essence of the strategy, which can be applied to a bar authority referral from any source, is to treat the process of defending oneself under such circumstances as a negotiation with bar authority counsel. The benefits of approaching such referrals as a negotiation and following the advice of Robert Fisher and William Ury about the importance of preparation, active listening, separating the people from the problem, and being hard on the …

The Texas Rules Of Evidence: Something Old, Something New, And Something Changed, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

On November 19, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court issued an Order amending all of the Texas Rules of Evidence, effective April 1, 2015. In its Order, the Court explained that the amendments were part of an effort to “restyle” the Rules, to make them as consistent as possible with the Federal Rules of Evidence, and to make them easier to understand.

The 2015 amendments to the Texas Rules of Evidence are a commendable step toward making the Rules more user-friendly. It is clear to even the casual reader that the reformatting of the Rules, through the use of consistent and …

The Dual Role Of A Chief Justice., Catherine Stone

St. Mary's Law Journal

Notwithstanding the growing trend of high-dollar judicial election campaigns, many citizens do not know what appellate judges and appellate courts do. Faced with the reality of obscurity and the ever-present potential of failed reelection campaigns, appellate judges work each day to fulfill the mission of appellate courts: to efficiently resolve the legal disputes presented in appeals from lower court decisions with written opinions that are well reasoned, thoroughly researched, and intellectually honest. It is the responsibility of the Chief Justice to promote that core mission with all justices on the court, thereby working to best serve the legal needs of …

Ten-Step Guide To Oral Argument For Junior Attorneys, David A. Grenardo

Faculty Articles

Understanding what is necessary to argue effectively is important for junior attorneys to make compelling oral arguments. They must be persuasive, prepared, and precise. By following this 10-step guide, junior attorneys can maximize their opportunity to litigate and represent their clients’ interests.

First, tell the judge why you are there and what you want. Judges are extremely busy and may have hundreds of cases on their docket. Next, anticipate arguments and counterarguments that may be made by the parties and the court. Anticipating potential arguments aids in preparation prior to the hearing. Be responsive and respectful to the judge. Take …

Destroyed Community Property, Damaged Persons, And Insurers’ Duty To Indemnify Innocent Spouses And Other Co-Insured Fiduciaries: An Attempt To Harmonize Conflicting Federal And State Courts’ Declaratory Judgments, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

Perhaps because of habit or a strong aversion to risks, consumers purchase a considerable amount of insurance generally, and consumers purchase property, indemnity, and liability insurance in particular. Typically, national property and casualty insurers sell property, indemnity, and liability insurance contracts. As a result, those insurers sales and revenues increase from year to year. At the dawn of the 21st century, foreign property and casualty insurers are realizing similar successes.

It is expected that anxious or prudent consumers would insure themselves and their various property interests against strangers, strange events, and perils over which consumers have little control or influence. …

Peremptory Jury Strike In Texas After Batson And Edmondson., Alan B. Rich

St. Mary's Law Journal

In Batson v. Kentucky, the United States Supreme Court overruled that portion of Swain v. Alabama, which had imposed a “crippling burden of proof” upon a person who wished to vindicate his right of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment in the face of a racially motivated peremptory challenge. Under Batson, a defendant can raise an inference of discrimination and prove it using only evidence adduced at his own trial. Two fundamental questions needing resolution prior to involving the Batson procedures are: (A) who has standing to bring a Batson challenge; and (B) who must be challenged before the Batson …