Texas A&M Law advocacy competition students are international champions of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) Nelson Mandela International Negotiation Competition. The team of 3L Maya Fitzpatrick and 2L Tyler Phillips won the competition in March. They were coached by law school adjunct Kay Elliott.

In March, Peter K. Yu, Regents Professor at Texas A&M University School of Law, joined Edward Kwakwa, assistant director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in the 10th Global Digital Encounter organized by FIDE (Legal and Business Research Foundation) and the Transatlantic Intellectual Property Academy. Professor Miriam Allena of Bocconi University in Italy moderated the event.

At the virtual encounter, which was accessible to over 600 network members and was subsequently made available online, Professor Yu explored the potential contributions of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals to the intellectual property system and the role intellectual property law and policy can play in promoting these goals. He also shared his views on the recent proposal by India and South Africa to suspend selective intellectual property obligations under the WTO TRIPS Agreement to help contain and treat COVID-19.

"It is a pleasure to join Edward and Miriam in this very timely digital encounter," said Professor Yu.

"Issues relating to intellectual property and sustainable development have never been more important. As we continue to combat COVID-19, there is also the inevitable debate about whether the intellectual property system needs adjustments during the global pandemic."

Despite challenges brought on by the pandemic, Texas A&M Law advocacy teams, under the guidance of Director of Advocacy Programs Jennifer Ellis, persevered. Kudos to the following teams:

Hofstra National Medical-Legal Trial Competition: Our team of 3Ls Jessica Gillespie, Alexia Nicoloulias and Cole Stenholm and 2L Victoria LeFleur were semi-finalists; and Jessica Gillespie received the award for Best Use of an Expert Witness in the Preliminary Rounds. The team was coach by Judge Elizabeth Berry.

National Mediator Competition: 2L Samantha Elliott placed 2^nd and 2L Bryan Berens placed 4^th.  Both students won cash prizes. They were coached by Kay Elliott. 

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 Professor Brian Larson and University of Kansas colleague Genelle Belmas published a chapter together in a timely collection on live streaming. 

Texas A&M Law students Chloe Barker, Katie Kruisselbrink and Madison Kuczynski, under the guidance of Professor Irene Calboli, present at a workshop coordinated by the  World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in October.

Texas A&M School of Law professor Thomas W. Mitchell has been named a 2020 fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for his work in reforming laws and developing policy solutions that help disadvantaged families deprived of their land, homes and real estate wealth.

To celebrate Constitution Day, student members of the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society at Texas A&M University School of Law collaborated on a series of videos (linked below) highlighting the voting rights provisions of U.S. Constitution.  Reading and offering brief reflections on those provisions - the 15th Amendment, the 19th Amendment, the 24th Amendment and the 26th Amendment - the students sought to highlight the importance of voting as a fundamental Constitutional right.

Texas A&M Law alumnus Stuart Campbell's ’17 crusade to protect tenant rights and prevent illegal evictions, especially during the pandemic, was covered by the Fort Worth Star Telegram in a recent article. When the CARES Act was established, it protected tenants from eviction filings and fees for nonpayment of rent from March 27 – July 24, if the properties were backed by federal mortgages. Despite the ruling, it has not been uniformly enforced, and evictions are still being filed. Tenants were put in the  position of proving their properties were covered by the CARES Act because the burden of proof was on them. Campbell has spent the last three years working for tenant rights serving as a staff attorney at Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, and he has been working diligently to help clients navigate the waters of the CARES Act.