Texas A&M University School of Law Professor Irene Calboli's book, The Cambridge Handbook of International and Comparative Trademark Law, was selected as IPKat's 2020 Best Book on Trade Mark Law.

In 2018, Calboli was recognized for her book, The Protection of Non-Traditional Trademarks: Critical Perspectives. According to Calboli, it is very rare to be acknowledged numerous times.

"The Annual Book Awards by the IPKat Blogs are amongst the most relevant awards in the IP fields and are widely recognized by IP practitioners and academics across the world. Many excellent books are usually selected as finalists and only very few are selected as winners. I am very happy that my book has been selected as this year winner," says Calboli.

The book can be used by professors teaching courses in International IP and Trademark Law. It may also be used by professionals practicing in the area, mostly trademark law professionals, and by researchers conducting research in the field.

"We were very fortunate that we could work with a stellar group of contributors, without question the who is who list of trademark law professors and professionals. This made our work very interesting and fun," says Calboli.

The Texas A&M School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic joined forces with several other organizations to file a lawsuit on behalf of women who suffered medical abuse in U.S. Immigration and Consensus Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Irwin County Detention Center. The complaint alleges a pattern of unnecessary and non-consensual medical procedures, including unwanted gynecological surgeries.

“These non-consensual medical interventions are shocking," said Fatma Marouf, director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic. "Our Clinic helped prepare detailed declarations by the women about their experiences, obtained evaluations by independent medical experts and submitted requests for release.”

Texas A&M Law Professor Malinda Seymore wanted to introduce two of her online-only courses to students registered for the spring in a way that was both encouraging and entertaining.

“Students who have not experienced online learning can be a little wary, worrying that it will be dry and dull, simply a static recording of a classroom lecture,” Seymore said.

The two courses, Evidence and Criminal Procedure Trial Rights, cover the gamut from indictment to bail, plea-bargaining, trial procedure, punishment to post-conviction relief, as well as admissibility of evidence and practical skills for presenting a compelling, persuasive story to a jury.

As part of an ongoing pursuit to improve the health of every child, Cook Children’s Health Care System is joining forces with Texas A&M School of Law (TAMU Law) to create a new medical-legal partnership. The mission of this collaboration is to provide free legal services to patients and families with legal needs that directly affect their health and access to medical care.

Despite a recognized need, the majority of families at Cook Children’s are unable to access legal services. Social workers at the medical center are often contacted by patient families who have been unsuccessful in qualifying for public benefits, obtaining a guardianship for their incapacitated adult child or communicating with their landlord to remediate unsafe housing issues. These social, economic and environmental factors have a direct impact on a child’s health.

On November 24, 2020, Texas A&M Law Professor Irene Calboli was one of the distinguished speakers to address the Information Session on Geographical Indications. The online session was part of the 43^rd Session of the Standing Committee on Trademarks, Industrial Design, and Geographical Indications (SCT) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Texas A&M School of Law grad Serech Kissire ’20 was searching for a job after graduation, and he reached out to Travis Patterson (UT Law ’12) and asked him to pass on his resume. Patterson was happy to advocate for Kissire as Patterson and his colleague Tennessee Walker ’05 (Baylor Law ’08) had served as adjunct faculty members for a class that Kissire had taken at the law school.   Not long after the conversation, Patterson’s and Walker’s firm, the Patterson Law Group in Fort Worth realized they had a need to add an additional lawyer to the firm. They looked no further as they knew that Kissire was the one for the job. He asked great questions, and they knew his dedication to his craft as a student. There was no doubt that he would be a great fit for the firm.  Rumor has it that Kissire didn’t have to sit for an interview, and some say that no one has actually seen his resume. Kissire’s track record as a student spoke for itself and he was hired.  

Professor Nancy Welsh is Texas A&M University School of Law's newest member of the American Law Institute (ALI). ALI is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law, according to its website. Welsh is among the 36 members newly elected by her peers to the ALI in October.

Founded in 1923, the ALI is made up of judges, lawyers, and law professors "of the highest qualifications." The Institute drafts, discusses, revises, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Model Codes, and Principles of Law that are "enormously influential in the courts and legislatures, as well as in legal scholarship and education."

Matt Pellegrino, Facilities Manager, Texas A&M University School of Law (left) and Eric Baze, Security Account Manager, Allied Universal Security Services (right)

Texas A&M Law alumnus Trenton O’Malley joins Maynard’s Cooper & Gale (Maynard) Real Estate & Financial Services Practice in the Birmingham office. He earned his J.D. at Texas A&M University Law School where he graduated magna cum laude, earned Order of the Coif distinction, and served as Articles Editor for the Texas A&M Law Review. Trenton holds a Bachelors in Business Administration with a focus in Finance from The University of Mississippi.

"We are honored to have this distinctive group of talented and intellectual young professionals in our 2020 class of new associates," said Stephanie Mays, Maynard's Chief Talent Officer.

"Each of these lawyers demonstrates the character and personal qualities we seek in building our ranks, and we look forward to working with them and introducing them to our clients."

Thanksgiving this year, to make an obvious understatement, is unusual — just as nearly all of 2020 has been. The ongoing pandemic and recent spikes in cases have many of us doing something we never would have imagined just a year ago: hosting or attending virtual gatherings at a distance.