South Texas College of Law Houston

STCL Houston recently hosted our fall Professionalism Session, culminating with more than 300 1L students taking the professionalism pledge. Students learned various aspects of attaining success in law school, including the importance of doing hard work and the value of networking and building relationships.

Speakers included David Polsinelli ‘13, shareholder with Crain Caton & James, Kendelyn Schiller, assistant director of investigations for the Board of Law Examiners, and Paul Jacobs, attorney and Texas Lawyers Assistance Program professional.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3yXjlfK

The Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics recently hosted their annual "bootcamp" training session for students enrolled in clinical courses. The orientation featured a welcome from Senior Director of Legal Services Carlos Calderon, who reminded students that they will not only be learning important lawyering skills, but they will also be "working to get more justice for more members of their community."

Presentations by clinical professors on important topics, such as how to learn and grow as aspiring attorneys while assisting real clients with real legal issues, and how poverty and justice impact clinical work, were at the heart of the bootcamp. The orientation concluded with a presentation on building cultural awareness delivered by Associate Dean for Experiential Education Cathy Burnett.

Also pictured: Presenters Prof. Phillip Page and Prof. Crystal Washington

Recently, Prof. Pamela George, Prof. Joe Leahy, Prof. Katerina Lewinbuk, and Prof. Val Ricks were appointed to named professorships at STCL Houston. Awarded by Interim President and Dean Jeff Rensberger, these honors recognize excellence in teaching and significant contributions to law. Read more: https://bit.ly/3SZ4196

STCL Houston welcomes Jeff Rensberger as the newly appointed interim president and dean. We recently spoke with Rensberger to learn more about his professional background in law and his passion for academia.

“I really, really liked learning,” he said. “Being a law professor gives an attorney the opportunity to continue learning through research and writing about interesting issues. It gives you the chance to teach students how to teach themselves, and that is critical because being a lawyer means being a lifetime learner.”

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4fTdHMe

Welcome back to school, STCL Houston! Last week, 356 new 1L students from all over the country attended orientation to begin their journey as . Let’s make this a great semester!

For more photos, click here: https://bit.ly/46SRslw

Over 1,700 applicants applied for a chance to participate in the CRC’s first round of on-campus interviews last week. We hosted 52 legal employers who conducted more than 370 interviews with students seeking to secure roles from summer interns to full-time attorney positions post-graduation. Great job, students!

View more photos here: https://bit.ly/3YN77AW

Participating employers:
Arnold & Itkin LLP
Baker Botts L.L.P.
Baker Hostetler
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Bracewell LLP
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry
Coats | Rose
Cokinos ǀ Young
Crady Jewett McCulley & Houren LLP
Fee, Smith & Sharp, LLP
Foley & Lardner, LLP
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy
Frost Brown Todd LLP
Gray Reed LLP
Hartline Barger, LLP
Haynes and Boone, LLP
Hirsch & Westheimer, P.C.
HMH
Holland & Knight LLP
Hunton Andrews Kurth
Husch Blackwell
Jackson Lewis PC
Jackson Walker
Jones Walker LLP
Kane Russell Coleman Logan, PC
Kean Miller LLP
King & Spalding LLP
Kirkland & Ellis
Lewis Brisbois
Littler Mendelson P.C.
Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend
Locke Lord LLP
McGuireWoods LLP
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP
Munck Wilson Mandala
Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C.
Norton Rose Fulbright
Patterson + Sheridan, LLP
Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Phelps Dunbar, LLP
Porter Hedges LLP
Serpe Andrews, PLLC
Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P
Simpson Thacher
Spencer Fane LLP
Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP
Wilson, Cribbs & Goren, P.C.
Womble Bond Dickinson

STCL Houston Prof. Thomas Hogan appeared on KHOU Channel 11's Verify segment. He addressed the legal standing of concerned citizens who help rescue children from hot cars. Read more: https://bit.ly/4fChkWJ

VERIFY: What Texas law says about breaking a window to rescue a child from a hot car More children die in hot cars in Texas than in any other state, according to a non-profit that tracks the deaths.

Please join us in congratulating South Texas Law alumni Jared Grodin and Alexander Kuiper for being recognized by the Houston Business Journal in this year's 40 Under 40 Class!

https://bit.ly/4fuZy83

Houston Business Journal's 40 Under 40 2024 honorees - Houston Business Journal The Houston Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Class of 2024 honorees include several partners, numerous CEOs and one chief medical officer.

The bar exam is just around the corner, and our South Texas Law graduates are ready to shine.

To support these grads on their journey to becoming a lawyer, we’re inviting our South Texas Law community to share advice and encouragement in the comments below. Alums, please include your class year as well.

Good luck on the bar exam, we are cheering you on!

South Texas College of Law Houston congratulates Board Member Chris Hanslik ’95, chairman of BoyarMiller, on his recent appointment as Chair of the Board for Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County. We are proud of Chris and his continued commitment to our community, and look forward to seeing the impact he will have in this role!

Read more: https://bit.ly/3LBtth7

Chris Hanslik Named Chairman of the Board of Directors of... HOUSTON (July 1, 2024) – Chris Hanslik, Chairman of BoyarMiller, has been appointed Chairman of the Board for the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH), overseeing homeless response for Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties.

Join us this Thursday, July 25, 6-8 p.m. at Tom’s Watch Bar for the Energy Alumni Chapter Mixer.

Click here to register: my.stcl.edu/energyalumni

STCL Houston recently was named to The Princeton Review’s “Best Law Schools 2024” list.

Students surveyed by The Princeton Review rated the law school high for its accomplished, accessible faculty; strong advocacy programs; and diverse, supportive community of full-time and part-time students.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3WuBvOY

Last week, STCL Houston Board Chair Emeritus Ken Johnson '86 received the 2024 Passion for Excellence Award from the Texas FFA Foundation. This much deserved award recognizes Ken’s long time leadership and support of FFA.

Congratulations, Ken, on this impressive accomplishment!

We hope you and your loved ones have been safe and well in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.

The South Texas College of Law Houston campus has currently resumed its normal hours of operation from 6 a.m. to midnight.

If you are part of the STCL Houston community, remember you can check in with your ID to cool off or charge devices in the Student Lounge.

If commuting downtown, please be mindful of remaining hazards, such as debris and standing water.

For more than a decade, STCL Houston's Trademark Clinic has been a resource for local entrepreneurs. This year, the clinic was awarded the Fritz Lanham Award by the State Bar of Texas to recognize their accomplishments.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4eDPSHQ

The State Bar of Texas Tax Section recently selected three STCL Houston graduates for scholarships. Each year, these prestigious scholarships are awarded to students demonstrating academic excellence and a commitment to the study and practice of tax law.

The scholarship recipients are:
- Kathryn Hamilton ’24: planning to pursue an LL.M. in taxation at NYU this fall
- Joe Rubel ’24: begins working at BDO this fall — the fifth-largest international accounting firm
- Sarah Zepeda ’24: planning to pursue an LL.M. in taxation at Georgetown University this fall

Congrats, graduates!

Pictured from left to right: Prof. Bruce McGovern, Sarah Zepeda, Kathryn Hamilton, and Joe Rubel.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3zdGvhI

In honor of Juneteenth, South Texas College of Law Houston is closed. For more than 150 years, Juneteenth has been celebrated by Black communities to commemorate the day enslaved people in Galveston learned they had been freed in 1865.

To learn more about the history of Juneteenth, click here: https://bit.ly/4bqu4g9

After five years of dedicated leadership from President and Dean Michael F. Barry, South Texas College of Law Houston will be led by Interim President and Dean Jeff Rensberger.

From successfully managing the outset of Covid-19, to the launch of the ABA-accredited, part-time online J.D. degree, Barry has served the law school with visionary leadership and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

“South Texas is a mission-driven law school with four hallmarks: diversity, opportunity, excellence, and service,” Barry said. “I admire so many things about our school, but three stand out: that we actually believe in and live out our mission; that we prepare students exceptionally well for the practice of law; and that we care for and support our students and each other.”

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3KKWgPR

The Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF) recently awarded the STCL Houston clinical programs a generous grant that supports pro bono legal services for low-income individuals dealing with debt issues including bankruptcy, IRS disputes, and more.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4ejRTZr

The Office of Marketing and Communications team at South Texas Law recently received two top honors at the 2024 Bronze Quill Awards hosted by the Houston International Association of Business Communication (IABC).

The MarCom team earned two Awards of Excellence, the highest IABC Houston recognition: for the Centennial edition of InRe magazine (Terri Parris, editor-in-chief; James McAnear, senior graphic designer; Dr. Michelle Morris, consulting editor); and for the feature story titled “Celebrating a Century,” written by Parris.

Also pictured: Nadine Effanga, CSM, administrative manager, and Brittney Garneau, board member at IABC

Read more here: https://bit.ly/45ojncm

The STCL Houston Alumni Association is seeking nominations for the following awards: Distinguished Alumni; Public Service; and Young Alumni.

Every year, the Alumni Association recognizes alumni for their extraordinary achievements and contributions to the law school and their local communities. Award recipients will be honored at the Alumni Association Luncheon in the fall.

The deadline for submissions is August 9, 2024.

Click here to learn more about the awards and submit a nomination: https://my.stcl.edu/alumni-awards

South Texas Law has been awarded a generous 2024-25 Houston Methodist Social Equity Grant to help keep homes within families by clearing title to the family home and planning for passing it to future generations. This grant will support pro bono probate and estate planning clinics and legal services through the law school's Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics for individuals in the 5th Ward and surrounding communities. This addresses a critical social determinant of health: access to affordable housing. Read more about the grant here: https://bit.ly/3VcYTyv

Happy Pride Month, STCL Houston! Join us as we celebrate diversity and support our LGBTQIA+ students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Juan Garcia '04, founding partner of Johnson Garcia LLP, was recently elected as a member at-large to the Executive Committee of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo board of directors. He is the first Hispanic member to serve on the Executive Committee in the 90-year history of the HLSR board. Congrats, Juan!

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3X8mWRS

Throughout AAPI Heritage Month, STCL Houston celebrates the generations of influential Asian American and Pacific Islanders who have helped shape this nation. For this alumni spotlight, we spoke with Chelsea Lu ’16, legal counsel at King Ranch.

From making lifelong friendships at South Texas Law to practicing litigation and ultimately becoming an in-house legal counsel, Lu’s journey has been an inspiring story of dedication and excellence in the legal field.

Read more about her story here: https://bit.ly/3yCTzNz

Honoring those we’ve lost in service to our nation.

Sarah Zepeda ’24, former student body vice president and recent , was featured in this final Student Spotlight for Spring 2024.

When asked for advice to future students pursuing post-grad opportunities, she said:

“Get involved in organizations related to the type of law you are interested in, build relationships with the professors who teach that subject, and connect with attorneys currently practicing in that area of the law. Building a network of people in the community you want to work in is just as important as earning good grades!”

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4azP5UQ

STCL Houston was recently awarded the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) Champion of Justice Legal Award at the 2024 Race Matters Seminar in Baltimore. The award was presented to STCL Houston to recognize the professors and students who were instrumental in convincing the U.S. Army to overturn the convictions of 110 Black soldiers that stemmed from the Camp Logan riots in 1917.

"What we tolerate, we teach. A century ago, our nation deprived the 24th Infantry Regiment of their right to due process under the very Constitution they had sworn to defend. And for more than 100 years, we have accepted those tainted verdicts as acceptable. Now, for the first time in more than 100 years, justice has been served." - Dean Michael Barry

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/4aBmCyj

We hope the South Texas Law community and friends are safe and well after last week’s storm in downtown Houston and surrounding areas.

to more of our favorite photos of from the Spring 2024 Commencement ceremony.

For more photos from the Spring 2024 Commencement, visit our Flickr: https://bit.ly/4azVIH5