Faculty & Adjuncts

Visiting Assistant Professor

Claire Andresen

President and Dean

Michael F. Barry

Education
Yale Law School, J.D.
University of San Francisco, M.A. in Theology
University of Virginia, B.A. in English and Religious Studies

Areas of Expertise
Complex Litigation
Intellectual Property
Legal Education

Michael F. Barry is the 11th president and dean of Houston’s oldest law school, South Texas College of Law Houston.

For more than two decades, he has provided confident leadership, innovative strategies, actionable recommendations, and practical management to Fortune 200 clients, in higher education, and in community service.

Barry joined South Texas in fall 2019 after serving as assistant dean and practitioner in residence at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. Among his responsibilities were developing new programs; increasing outreach to partners, donors, employers, and alumni; supporting and fundraising for initiatives that benefited St. Mary’s University and its students and alumni; managing law school operations to support faculty and student needs; and developing and teaching courses and extracurricular programs. Bringing business acumen, budgeting, change management, and leadership skills from his years in legal practice and in business, Barry initially designed St. Mary’s University School of Law’s comprehensive Law Success academic support program, became a leader in using data to support student success, and directed operations and budget for the School of Law. An engaged teacher, Barry excels at bringing real-world experiences into the legal classroom.

Professor of Law and Director of the Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution

Debra Berman

Education
B.S., Georgetown University
J.D., American University Washington College of Law

Areas of Expertise
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mediation
Skills and Clinical Teaching

Debra Berman is Professor of Law and Director of the Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution at South Texas College of Law Houston. Her course load includes the Mediation Clinic, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation Theory & Practice, and the 40-Hour Mediation Training which is open to both students and practicing attorneys. In 2019, Professor Berman created the Inter-School Negotiation Practicum which has brought together almost 2,400 students from 45 law schools for a unique monthlong experiential negotiation opportunity.  In addition, Professor Berman coordinates all of the ADR competition teams that South Texas College of Law Houston sends to tournaments and has personally coached a number of teams to national and international first place wins. In addition to directing STCL’s renown ADR competition program, she also founded the law school’s very own Law Energy Law Negotiation Competition in 2015. Professor Berman has presented on various dispute resolution topics for the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, State Bar of Texas, Texas Association of Mediators, and the Houston Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution and she is co-chair of the ABA Legal Education and Dispute Resolution Committee. She received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and her J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law where she was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Professor of Law and Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law

Josh Blackman

Education
J.D., George Mason University School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Constitutional Law
Intersection of Law and Technology
United States Supreme Court

Josh Blackman is a national thought leader on constitutional law and the United States Supreme Court. Josh’s work was quoted during two presidential impeachment trials. He has testified before Congress and advises federal and state lawmakers. Josh regularly appears on TV, including NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the BBC. Josh is also a frequent guest on NPR and other syndicated radio programs. He has published commentaries in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and leading national publications.

Since 2012, Josh has served as a professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. He holds the Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law. Josh is also an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. Josh has authored three books. His latest, An Introduction to Constitutional Law, was a top-five bestseller on Amazon. Josh has written more than five dozen law review articles that have been cited nearly a thousand times. Josh was selected by Forbes Magazine for the “30 Under 30” in Law and Policy. Josh is the President of the Harlan Institute, and founded FantasySCOTUS, the Internet’s Premier Supreme Court Fantasy League. He blogs at the Volokh Conspiracy and tweets @JoshMBlackman.

Professor of Law

Vanessa Browne-Barbour

Education
B.A., Carnegie-Mellon University
J.D., Duquesne University School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Family Law
Forensic Science
Parental Rights
Torts

Vanessa Browne-Barbour joined the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston in August 2011. Professor Browne-Barbour teaches Torts I, Torts II, Family Law and International Family Law. Her scholarly interests include, among other areas, tort law, family law, and law and technology. Prior to law teaching, Prof. Browne-Barbour was a litigation associate at Reed Smith in Pittsburgh, PA. She also served as a law clerk with the Pennsylvania Superior Court. She is admitted to the bars of the United States Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania.

Vice President, Associate Dean for Experiential Learning, Professor of Law, and Director of the Pro Bono Honors Program

Catherine Greene Burnett

Education
B.A., The University of Texas
J.D., The University of Texas School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Capital Punishment
Criminal Procedure
International Criminal Law
Skills and Clinical Teaching

Professor Burnett received a B.A. and J.D. for the University of Texas. After clerking for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, she practiced in Texas both as a prosecutor and defense attorney. She is board certified in criminal law and criminal appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Burnett has taught national and state criminal procedure, international criminal law and procedure, and seminars on the death penalty. In her Associate Dean role she oversees the law school’s clinical programs and pro bono volunteer initiatives. As a clinical professor, she launched the law school’s first direct representation clinic and subsequently has taught in an array of law school’s clinic and externships classes. She is an active instructor and speaker for legal education and training programs in Texas and internationally, and has been active in bar service at local, state and national levels. Burnett is passionate about criminal justice and social policy issues, as well as both criminal and civil models for dispute resolution. She comes to her work with a focus on developing the critical competencies and values the next generation of lawyers will need to serve, lead, and thrive.

Professor of Law

Richard R. Carlson

Education
B.A., Wake Forest University
J.D., University of Georgia

Areas of Expertise
Employment Discrimination
Family Law
Labor and Employment Law

Professor Carlson teaches and writes in the fields of Employment Law, including discrimination and collective bargaining, Family Law, and Contracts. He is the author of a casebook, Employment Law, which is now in its second edition. He is also the author and editor of two annually updated and annotated statutory compilations, Carlson’s Federal Employment Laws Annotated (West Group) and Carlson’s Texas Employment Laws Annotated (West Group). Professor Carlson is also a regular speaker at continuing legal education programs in the area of employment law. Since 1985, Professor Carlson has presented at more than fifty continuing legal education conferences.

Professor of Law, Stanley J. Krist Distinguished Professor of Texas Law

Elaine A. Carlson

Education
B.S., Southern Illinois University
M.A., McMaster University
J.D., South Texas College of Law Houston

Areas of Expertise
Developments in Litigation
Pre-Trial, Trial & Appellate Civil Procedure
Professional Responsibility

Elaine Allison Grafton Carlson is the Stanley J. Krist Distinguished Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law Houston, where she teaches Texas Pretrial Procedure, Texas Trial and Appellate Procedure, and litigation related seminars. She is the co-author of  the six volume treatise McDonald & Carlson, Texas Civil Practice, published by West.  She is also a co-author of two Texas Civil Procedure law textbooks and she has authored numerous law review and CLE articles on a wide variety of procedural issues. Professor Carlson is an appointed member of the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, Evidence and Professionalism and has also served on the Texas Supreme Court Task Forces on Ancillary Proceedings, Code of  Judicial Conduct, Judicial Speech, and Civil Justice Reform.  She is an elected member of the American Law Institute. Professor Carlson is a frequent lecturer at conferences on cutting edge civil procedure matters and has made presentations to the Texas Legislature, the bench and the bar.  She has served as an appointee on the Civil Appellate Law Exam Commission as well as on the Civil Trial Law Exam  & Personal Injury Trial Law Exam Commission.

In 2008, Professor Carlson  received the Texas Lawyer Extraordinary Women In Texas Law Award and was also honored as Alumni of the Year of South Texas College of Law Houston. She has been the recipient of the Texas Bar Foundation Outstanding Law Review Award as well as the Vinson & Elkins Faculty Excellence Award.  Professor Carlson graduated summa cum laude from South Texas and served on the editorial board of the law review.  Before becoming a professor, she served as a briefing attorney for Justice James Wallace at the First Court of Appeals in Houston and as a member of the litigation section of Gulf Oil.

Professor of Law, Vinson & Elkins Research Professor

Amanda Harmon Cooley

Education
B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
J.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Areas of Expertise
Constitutional Law
Contracts
Education Law
Legal Research & Writing

Amanda Harmon Cooley is a Professor of Law, the current holder of the Vinson & Elkins Research Professorship, and the former holder of the Wayne Fisher Research Professorship. Through a unified vision of engaged scholarship, innovative teaching, and meaningful service, she has committed her professional and personal life to social justice advocacy for marginalized populations.

She has authored over 25 law review articles, peer-reviewed journal articles, and book chapters on constitutional law, education law, and commercial law. Her recent scholarship on the First Amendment, school shaming punishments, equal protection, and the effects of state drug policy on K-12 schools has been featured in a diverse set of leading law reviews including the Georgetown Law Journal, Ohio State Law Journal, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, San Diego Law Review, Baylor Law Review, and Pepperdine Law Review.

In teaching, she seeks to mentor students to prepare them to enter the profession of law as reflective practitioners who serve their communities through exemplary work. She was recognized for her excellence in teaching as a recipient of the Association of American Law Schools Teacher of the Year Award for South Texas College of Law Houston (STCLH) in 2018 and 2020.

Her service to her school, the legal profession, and the community reflects her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity. As the chair of the Faculty Scholarship Committee, she facilitated a culture of academic inquiry within the law school and spearheaded the creation of a faculty scholarship mentorship program. She has consulted for the Kids’ Right to Read Project, a project of the National Coalition Against Censorship; regularly judges the National SCRIBES Best Brief and Law Review Award competitions; and sits on the Houston Bar Association’s Lawyers for Literacy Committee.

Before joining the faculty of STCLH, she was an Assistant Professor at the North Carolina A & T State University College of Business and Economics; a litigation associate in the Antitrust, Business Torts, and Intellectual Property group of Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein LLP; and a law clerk to the Honorable Hayden Head, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. She earned her J.D. with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English with highest honors and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law

Christina Crozier

Christina Crozier is a visiting assistant professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, where she teaches legal research and writing. Before joining South Texas, Christina practiced for 17 years in the appellate practice group of Haynes Boone.  

Christina is board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America in the area of appeals. She has argued cases in the Fifth Circuit, the Texas Supreme Court, and numerous Texas courts of appeals. 

An enthusiastic supporter of the bar, Christina has chaired the Appellate Practice Section of the Houston Bar Association and regularly speaks at TexasBarCLE courses.

Visiting Professor

Maureen Duffy

Associate Professor of Law

Frank Fagan

Education
PhD, Erasmus University Rotterdam
MA, Erasmus University Rotterdam
JD, University of Pittsburgh
BS, Grove City College

Frank Fagan joined the South Texas College of Law Houston in 2022. Prior to his arrival, he held appointments at EDHEC Business School (France) and the South Australia School of Law. He teaches and writes about corporations, corporate finance, securities regulation, comparative law, public choice, and law and technology.

Professor of Law

Matthew J. Festa

Education
B.A., University of Notre Dame
M.P.A., Murray State University
M.A., Vanderbilt University
J.D., Vanderbilt University Law School

Areas of Expertise
Land Use
Legal History
National Security Law
Property
State & Local Government

Matt Festa teaches and researches in the areas of property law and land use, state & local government, energy & environmental law, trusts & estates, legal history, and national security law. His scholarship focuses on the relation between property rights and public control in land use planning and government regulation; on the role of property rights in constitutional law and history; and on property and the rule of law in contemporary international affairs.

Professor Festa joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 2007, after serving as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Georgia School of Law. Prior to teaching, he practiced in litigation, land use, environmental, and energy law at Locke Lord LLP. He served as a law clerk to federal judges on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Prof. Festa attended Vanderbilt University, where he was the Executive Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and earned a masters’ degree in history. Prior to law school he served in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, and earned a masters’ degree in public administration. He earned his undergraduate degree in history and English at the University of Notre Dame.

Professor Festa currently serves as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of International & Operational Law at the ABA-accredited Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, and is also an Instructor with the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies. He is the editor of the Land Use Prof Blog, and lives in the “Unzoned City” of Houston with his spouse, who teaches at Rice University, and their two children.

Vice President, Associate Dean for Academics and Curriculum, Professor of Law

Ted Field

Education
B.A., University of Illinois at Chicago
M.A., Northwestern University
J.D., The John Marshall Law School

Areas of Expertise
Intellectual Property
Patent Law

Professor Field teaches Patent Law, Intellectual Property Law, Civil Procedure I and II, Torts I and II, and Evidence. He has also taught Trademarks & Unfair Competition and an advanced patent-law seminar. He was named as an Association of American Law Schools Teacher of the Year in 2019. He researches and writes in the area of patent litigation. His articles have been cited in academic journals and treatises, federal district-court opinions, briefs and petitions in the Supreme Court of the United States, and briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Before joining the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston, Field was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he taught Legal Writing, Patent Litigation, and an advanced patent-law seminar. He has also taught Torts at the University of Houston Law Center and Advanced Topics in Patent Law at the John Marshall Law School. Before entering academia, Field practiced in the area of patent litigation at Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., in Chicago. As a law student, Field graduated first in his class and was the founding managing editor of the John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law. Field is a member of the bar of the State of Illinois (voluntary inactive status), and he is also a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Associate Dean for Online Education, Professor of Law

Derek Fincham

Education
B.A., University of Kansas
J.D., Wake Forest University
Ph.D., University of Aberdeen College of Law

Areas of Expertise
Appellate Advocacy
Cultural Heritage Law
Legal Research & Writing

Dr. Fincham joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 2010, and teaches Legal Research and Writing; and Art Law. Prior to joining the faculty, he was a Westerfield Fellow at Loyola University in Orleans. He is a frequent faculty advisor to moot court teams at the College. After earning his J.D. at Wake Forest University he undertook comparative research at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, earning his Ph.D. in 2008 for his thesis: “Preventing and Repairing These Losses: The Response of the United States and the United Kingdom to the Illicit Trade in Cultural Property”.

Fincham serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Cultural Property. He has presented talks on his research to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, at Stanford Law School, the University of Siena, the University of Leicester, and elsewhere.

Vice President, Associate Dean for Faculty, Professor of Law

Sharon Finegan

Professor of Law
B.A., University of Virginia
J.D., American University Washington College of Law
LL.M, Columbia Law School

Areas of Expertise
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Evidence
Legal Research & Writing

Sharon Finegan joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 2007 as an assistant professor of law and became a tenured professor of law in 2013.  She teaches Criminal Law, Evidence, Texas Criminal Procedure, and runs the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Clinic. Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Finegan was a Westerfield Fellow at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she taught Legal Research & Writing and Moot Court.  Previously, Professor Finegan was a litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York City, where she specialized in securities litigation.  She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Claude M. Hilton in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Professor Finegan received her LL.M from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.  She earned her J.D. summa cum laude from American University Washington College of Law, where she was an Articles Editor for the American University Law Review and received the Dean’s Award as an Outstanding Student in the Clinical Program.  Professor Finegan received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, majoring in history.

Vice President, Advocacy, Professor of Law, and W. James Kronzer Jr. Distinguished Professor of Advocacy

Robert L. Galloway

Education
B.B.A., Southwestern University
J.D., South Texas College of Law Houston

Areas of Expertise
Appellate Advocacy

Rob Galloway teaches advocacy skills. For 30 years, he has been a fixture at national moot court competitions — both as a team coach and a tournament director. He has also directed trial competitions and served on the ABA’s Competitions Committee for 13 years. Throughout his career, he has led teams to countless victories, keeping South Texas consistently ranked among the nation’s best by all those who rank advocacy programs.

Professor of Law

Pamela E. George

Professor of Law
B.S., The University of Texas
M.L.S., The University of Texas
J.D., The University of Texas School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Family Law
Marital Property
Texas Trial & Appellate Procedure

Vice President, Associate Dean for Students, Professor of Law

Maxine D. Goodman

Education
B.A., Brandeis University
J.D., University of Texas School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Appellate Advocacy
Class Action Litigation
Legal Analysis, Research and Writing

Maxine Goodman joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 2002 as an assistant professor teaching Legal Research and Writing.  Before joining the faculty, Professor Goodman was a partner at Carrigan, Lapin & Landa where she specialized in complex litigation.  She previously clerked for the Honorable Norman Black of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.  Professor Goodman earned her law degree from The University of Texas and her bachelor’s degree cum laude from Brandeis University.  Her scholarly interests are varied, ranging from racism in carrying out the death penalty to limitations of Daubert as a gate keeping test for non-scientific experts.

Visiting Assistant Professor

Thomas Hogan

Assistant Professor of Law

Haley Palfreyman Jankowski

Education
B.A. – Communications: Broadcast Journalism, Brigham Young University
J.D. – J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University

Areas of Expertise
Civil Procedure
International Law
Torts

Haley Palfreyman Jankowski joined the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston in 2023. Her scholarly interests include, among other areas, civil procedure law, international law, and tort law. Her scholarship has been published in the Tennessee Law Review, the Hofstra Law Review, the Michigan State International Law Review, the Emory International Law Review-Recent Developments, and the Brigham Young University Law Review.

Before teaching, Professor Jankowski was a litigation associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLC (in San Francisco, CA for three years and then in Houston, TX for three and a half years) where she specialized in complex commercial litigation and appeals. She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jay S. Bybee on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Professor Jankowski earned her J.D. summa cum laude, as valedictorian, from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark School of Law, where she was an Articles Editor for the Brigham Young University Law Review. She received her B.A. magna cum laude from Brigham Young University, majoring in Communications with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism.

When not at work, Professor Jankowski enjoys reading, playing board games, solving Rubik’s cubes, and, above all, spending time with her family.

Professor of Law, Spurgeon E. Bell Distinguished Professor of Law

R. Randall Kelso

Education
B.A., University of Chicago
J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School

Areas of Expertise
Constitutional Law
Contracts
Jurisprudence

Professor R. Randall Kelso is the Spurgeon E. Bell Distinguished Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law Houston.  He teaches and writes primarily in the area of Constitutional Law.  He also teaches Contracts, and has taught Professional Responsibility and Jurisprudence in the past.  He earned his B.A., in Mathematics, from the University of Chicago in 1976, and his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979.

Professor Kelso’s current research projects focus on building a set of Constitutional Law materials accessible online for students at South Texas College of Law, at other law schools, and the public in general.  With his father, Charles D. Kelso, an Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, he has published: Charles D. Kelso & R. Randall Kelso, The Path of Constitutional Law (2007) (with Yearly Updated Supplements through 2020) (E-Treatise on United States Supreme Court doctrine interpreting the United States Constitution); Charles D. Kelso & R. Randall Kelso, American Constitutional Law: An E-Coursebook Volumes 1 & 2 (2020 Orig. Ed. 2014) (Volume 1: The Structural Constitution: Separation of Powers and Federalism; Volume 2: Individual Economic, Civil, and Political Rights in the Constitution Exclusive of the First Amendment); Charles D. Kelso & R. Randall Kelso, American Constitutional Law: An E-Coursebook Volume 3: The First Amendment (2020 Orig. Ed. 2014); and R. Randall Kelso & Charles D. Kelso, Studying Law: An Introduction (2d ed. 2010) (legal methods materials on studying law in a common-law legal system, with particular focus on the United States).  All of these books are available online at: https://libguides.stcl.edu/kelsomaterials

Professor Kelso’s articles have appeared in the Texas Law Review, Wisconsin Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Seton Hall Journal of Constitutional Law, Cardozo Law Review, Hastings Law Review, Pepperdine Law Review, and Quinnipiac Law Review, among others.

Professor Kelso has been a visiting law professor at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and the University of Aarhus School of Law in Aarhus, Denmark. Prior to joining the faculty of South Texas College of Law in 1983, he taught Legal Research and Writing at the University of Miami School of Law from 1979-1980 and at Columbia University School of Law from 1980-1982.

Professor of Law and Director of the Oil & Gas Law Institute

Christopher S. Kulander

Education
J.D., University of Oklahoma College of Law, 2005 (with distinction)
Certificate of Specialization in American Indian Law
Fulbright Scholar – Eastern Europe
Editor – Białostockie Studia Prawnicze [Legal Studies Journal of Bialystok, Poland]

Ph.D., Geophysics (Petroleum Seismology), Texas A&M University, 1999
Dissertation: Geologic Evolution and Structural Controls on Hydrocarbon Flow in the Ship Shoal Block 274/293 Field, Offshore Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico (May 1999)

M.S., Geophysics, Wright State University, 1995
Thesis: Geology of the Stotlers Crossroads 7.5-Minute Quadrangle in Eastern West Virginia(June 1995)

B.S., Geology, Wright State University, 1993

Areas of Expertise
Domestic Energy Law
International Energy Law
Mining Law
Oil & Gas Law
Property

Admitted to practice in New Mexico and Texas.

Christopher Kulander joined the South Texas College of Law Houston in August 2014 as Professor and Director of the school’s new Oil & Gas Law Institute. At South Texas College of Law Houston, he teaches courses covering oil & gas, energy, and property law. He received his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma, where he was managing editor for theOklahoma Bar Mineral Law Newsletter, note editor and assisting managing editor for the American Indian Law Review, and research assistant for Owen L. Anderson, Eugene Kuntz Chair of Oil and Gas Law.

Before teaching, Professor Kulander practiced full-time for four years in the Houston office of Haynes and Boone LLP within the Energy Practice Group, focusing on energy lending, finance, and bankruptcy. Prior to that, he practiced for two years with Cotton & Bledsoe in Midland, Texas, focusing on oil and gas title and leasing.

Before law school, he received his B.S. and M.S. in geology from Wright State in Dayton, Ohio, and his Ph.D. in geophysics (petroleum seismology) from Texas A&M, after which he worked as a geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey. He has written and published in the fields of oil and gas law, land use control, American Indian law as well as in geology and petroleum seismology.

Professor of Law

Joseph K. Leahy

Education
B.A., Swarthmore College
J.D., New York University School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Agency & Partnership
Corporations
Securities Regulationy

Professor of Law

Katerina Lewinbuk

Education
B.A., Minnesota State University
J.D., University of Illinois-Chicago (“JMLS”) (with honors)

Areas of Expertise
Civil Procedure
Comparative Law
Contemplative Lawyering
Legal Research & Writing
Legal Skills
Torts

Professor Katerina Lewinbuk joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 2006. Prior to that, she taught at DePaul College of Law and School of Commerce in Chicago, Illinois, and was an Associate Attorney at the law firms of Baker McKenzie and Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP.

On top of having numerous published articles, in 2023 the Third Edition of her course book Connecting Ethics & Practice: A Lawyers Guide to Professional Responsibility (Aspen Publishing) will hit the shelves. She also co-authored the Third Edition of West’s Global Issues in the Legal Profession with Professor Moliterno (2022).

In addition to the various courses Professor Lewinbuk teaches, she created her “Mindful Lawyering” course, which introduces students to basic mindfulness meditation technique and provides valuable insight into dealing with commonly known law school or legal profession-related challenges including highly competitive situations, intellectually demanding work, multi-tasking, and the ensuing stress and difficult emotions. Professor Lewinbuk is dedicated to helping lawyers and law students find balance in their personal and professional lives and she serves as the Chair of The Mindfulness Resource Group for the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS).

Professor Lewinbuk is a double-Fulbright Senior Specialist grant recipient (Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic and Facultad Libre Derecho de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico) and she has further taken her talents abroad by teaching and presenting in different law schools in Ireland, Turkey, Republic of Georgia and United Kingdom, just to name a few. Professor Lewinbuk has also served as Legal Research & Writing Program Director and taught at the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C.  The program prepares international LL.M. students to enter law schools throughout the United States and it also provides an overview of the U.S. legal system to judges and practicing attorneys from all over the world.

Professor Lewinbuk attended Moscow State University, Minnesota State University, and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois Chicago (“JMLS”) (Cum Laude). She is licensed to practice law in Illinois, Texas, and in the District of Columbia. Additionally, Professor Lewinbuk is fluent in both English and Russian.

Assistant Professor of Law

Emilio Longoria

Longoria is an Assistant Professor at South Texas College of Law specializing in property and land-use regulations. His research focuses on the intersection of the law and the built environment—with a particular interest in eminent domain disputes, public policy, and the emerging technologies and practices that are changing the shapes of cities. Longoria received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Rice University, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. Longoria also clerked for United States District Court Judge George C. Hanks, Jr. of the Southern District of Texas. Longoria is a member of the Texas Bar College, and he serves on the Board of Directors for the Galveston County Bar Association. Longoria is also a member of the State Bar of Texas Court Rules Committee, and he served as an advisory member for the Texas Pattern Jury Charge Committee, which focuses on oil and gas law.

Director of the The Fred Parks Law Library & Assistant Professor of Law

Colleen C. Manning

Education
B.S., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
J.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
M.S., Library & Information Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Areas of Expertise
Legal Research & Writing
Library Administration

Colleen C. Manning joined South Texas College of Law Houston in January 2015 as the Director of The Fred Parks Law Library and Assistant Professor of Law.  Professor Manning teaches the Advanced Legal Research Skills course and regularly guest lectures in other courses.  In addition, to legal research, she has taught and written in the area of elder law.  She is active and held positions of leadership in national, regional, and local law librarian organizations.   Prior to joining South Texas College of Law Houston, Professor Manning held various positions at Florida Coastal School of Law and Ohio Northern University.  She also was a research attorney for Meyer, Capel, Hirshfeld, Muncy, Jahn & Aldeen, P.C.   Professor Manning is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Florida.

Professor of Law

Bruce A. McGovern

Education
B.A., Columbia University
J.D., Fordham University School of Law
LL.M., University of Florida College of Law

Areas of Expertise
Agency & Partnership
Corporate and Partnership Taxation
Corporations
Federal Income Taxation

Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Professor of Law

Shelby A. D. Moore

Education
B.A., Towson State University
J.D., University of Baltimore, School of Law
LL.M., Harvard School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Criminal Corrections
Criminal Law
Feminist Jurisprudence
Property
Torts

Professor Shelby A. D. Moore is a Tenured Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law Houston in Houston, Texas.  She was the Godwin Pappas, Langley Ronquillo Research Professor from 2003 – 2008.  During her 16 years as an academic, she has taught Criminal Law, Property I and Property II, Torts I and Torts II, Criminal Corrections, the Politics of Race in America and Wills, Trusts and Estates (Spring 2009).  She is presently the Chair of the Academic Assistance Advisory Committee which focuses on creating new and innovative ways to assist students academically, professionally and personally.  She has received a number of awards for her teaching as well as for her willingness to mentor students.  Professor Moore has published widely, primarily in the areas of criminal law and social policy.   She is an expert in domestic violence issues.  Due to this expertise, she has been consulted on a number of cases and has appeared in the national media on television shows such as 48 Hours Mysteries.  She has also served as an expert on a number of high profile cases such as State v. Yates and State v. Wright. Prior to entering academia, she practiced as a litigator in Maryland, focusing on civil litigation.  She also served in an attorney for a firm whose primary focus was civil rights.  Immediately prior to teaching at South Texas College of Law Houston, she was a Prosecutor at the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office where she practiced in a number of Divisions, including Felony and Special Felony Narcotics.

Professor Moore earned an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, a J. D. from University of Baltimore, and a BA with an emphasis in Law Enforcement/ Criminal Corrections as well as and a minor in English from Towson University.

Professor of Law

James L. Musselman

Education
A.A., Illinois Central College
B.S., Illinois State University
J.D., Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School

Areas of Expertise
Federal Income Taxation

James L. Musselman is a Professor of Law and has been on the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston since 1987; he served as Associate Dean from 1990 to 1998. Professor Musselman received a B.S. in Accounting from Illinois State University in 1973 and a J.D., Magna Cum Laude, from Brigham Young University in 1979, where he served as Editor of the Brigham Young University Law Review and was a J. Reuben Clark Scholar. Before joining the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston, Professor Musselman was engaged in the private practice of law with firms in Denver, Colorado and Phoenix, Arizona. His teaching and scholarship are in the areas of Federal Income Tax, Bankruptcy, Commercial Law, Family Law, and Marital Property.

Assistant Professor of Law

Ryan H. Nelson

Education
B.S.B.A., University of Florida
J.D., Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
LL.M., Harvard Law School

Areas of Expertise
Civil Procedure
Employment Law and Discrimination
LGBTQ+ Legal Issues

Ryan H. Nelson joined the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston in 2021. His research focuses on leveraging the civil litigation and other dispute resolution systems to advance the rights of poor and other marginalized workers, most often with respect to discrimination, harassment, wages, leaves of absence, and accommodations. His scholarship has been published or is forthcoming in the Michigan Law Review, Fordham Law Review, BYU Law Review, Tennessee Law Review, Pepperdine Law Review, Yale Law and Policy Review, and the online companions to the NYU Law Review, California Law Review, and Vanderbilt Law Review. He has advised state attorneys’ general offices and other administrative agencies on employment law reforms and helped to draft associated proposed legislation and regulations. Moreover, he has provided legal commentary for Fox 26 Houston and in periodicals like Slate, USA Today, and the Houston Chronicle.

Before joining South Texas, Ryan completed a research fellowship with the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and taught on the adjunct faculty at Boston University School of Law, New England Law | Boston, and New York Law School. He also spent nearly a decade practicing labor and employment law, including as in-house employment law counsel for one of the world’s largest financial services companies and as an attorney with one of the top labor and employment law firms in the country where he specialized in workplace affirmative action law. He obtained his LL.M. from Harvard Law School where he was awarded the Irving Oberman Memorial Prize for Best Paper on Law and Social Change; his J.D., cum laude, from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, where he served on the Editorial Board of the Moot Court Honor Society; and his B.S.B.A. with a major in economics from the University of Florida where he was a National Merit Scholar and became an avid fan of Florida Gators football.

In his free time, Ryan enjoys trivia (he loves pub trivia and has appeared as a contestant on Jeopardy!, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and The Hustler), karaoke (with a preference for country music and musical theater), and board games (his favorites include Pandemic Legacy, Hansa Teutonica, Sushi Go Party!, Ticket to Ride, and Chess).

Professor of Law

Fran Ortiz

Education
B.A., The University of Texas
J.D., Harvard Law School

Areas of Expertise
Environmental Law
International Environmental Law
Natural Resources and Water Law
Property

Fran Ortiz is a Professor of Law and the Presidential Research Professor for 2006-2010.  She has been with South Texas College of Law Houston since 1996.  She received her B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986 and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1989.

Among her courses, Professor Ortiz teaches Animal Law, Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Water Law, and Property.  She is the faculty sponsor for both the Animal Law Society and the Environmental Law Society at South Texas and is a co-sponsor for the Hispanic Law Students’ Association.  Prior to teaching full-time, Professor Ortiz practiced environmental law with the Austin offices of both Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue and Baker & Botts, and she worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin teaching Environmental Liabilities.

Professor Ortiz currently serves as a Council Member of both the Animal Law Section and the Environmental Law Section of the Houston Bar Association.  She has previously served as a Director on the Board of the Texas Humane Legislation Network, an organization with which she continues to volunteer at the local level.  She is an active docent at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and previously served five years as a docent at the Houston Zoo.

Professor Ortiz’s research interests lie largely in the area of animal law, land use, conservation and endangered species, and she has written several articles exploring this interaction.  She is also the author of an electronic property study guide called Interactive Property.

Professor of Law

James W. Paulsen

Education
B.F.A., Texas Christian University
J.D., Baylor University
LL.M., Harvard Law School

Areas of Expertise
Civil Procedure
Family Law
Jurisprudence
Legal History
Legal Research & Writing
Marital Property

Professor of Law, Godwin Lewis PC Research Professor

Amanda J. Peters

Education
B.A., Texas Tech University
J.D., Texas Tech University

Areas of Expertise
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Legal Research & Writing

Amanda Peters joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 2007. She teaches Legal Research and Writing, Texas Criminal Procedure, and Criminal Litigation Drafting. Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Peters worked at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Houston where roughly half of her career centered on litigation and the other half centered on appellate practice. Over the course of her career, she tried 40 jury trials and authored 182 appellate briefs. Professor Peters also worked as a criminal defense attorney, representing clients at the trial court level and on appeal before beginning her work at South Texas College of Law Houston. She has spoken and written on legal research and writing, criminal law and procedure, mental health law, therapeutic jurisprudence, and human trafficking.

Professor of Law

Jean Fleming Powers

Education
B.A., The University of Texas
J.D., University of Houston Law Center

Areas of Expertise
Contracts
Professional Responsibility
Remedies

Professor Powers teaches Contracts, Professional Responsibility and Remedies. She has taught in two summer abroad programs in London, and in the past has taught courses at the University of Houston Law Center.

Professor Powers writes on contracts, remedies and professional responsibility issues. She has built on her many years of teaching contract law to focus on developing theories of contract doctrine. She has used her experience with teaching professional responsibility and with bar activities as inspiration for addressing current issues in professionalism. Her articles have appeared in law reviews at Maine, Arkansas, Utah, South Texas College of Law Houston and Golden Gate, and in several bar journals. She has made several presentations on professional responsibility topics.

Professor Powers has been very involved in local and state bar activities and in her local schools and community. She has served actively on many committees at South Texas College of Law Houston and has otherwise immersed herself in the life of South Texas College of Law Houston, where she has had the honor to teach for over 20 years.

Professor of Law

Scott Rempell

Education
B.A., University of Michigan
J.D., American University Washington College of Law

Areas of Expertise
Appellate Practice
Asylum & Refugee Law
Immigration Law
Legal Research & Writing
Privacy Law
Trial & Appellate Advocacy

Scott Rempell joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 2010. He teaches Immigration Law, Asylum & Refugee Law, and Legal Research & Writing. Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Rempell worked as an appellate attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, where he authored 75 appellate briefs and argued 9 cases in the United States Courts of Appeals.

Professor Rempell’s scholarship focuses on asylum law, immigration issues more generally, administrative law, and judicial process. Among other journals, his scholarship has appeared in Utah Law Review, Nevada Law Journal, Administrative Law Review, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, and Texas International Law Journal. Multiple federal appellate courts have cited his work. He has also appeared on several Houston television and radio news programs.

In addition to his scholarly publications, Professor Rempell is the author of Five Grounds, a novel that tells the story of three immigrants’ harrowing journeys to the United States.

Professor Rempell has also taken an active role in helping students to bridge the gap between curricular design and career objectives. In particular, he helps run South Texas College of Law Houston’s Pathways to Practice initiative.

Professor Rempell graduated magna cum laude from American University Washington College of Law, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the American University International Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Professor Rempell received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.

Professor of Law, Charles Weigel II Research Professor of Conflicts of Laws

Jeffrey L. Rensberger

Education
B.A., Wabash College
J.D., Indiana University at Bloomington

Areas of Expertise
Civil Procedure
Conflict of Laws
Federal Courts and Jurisdiction

Jeff Rensberger is a Professor of Law and Vice-President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Research.  He teaches Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Complex Litigation, and Property.  He has written scholarly works on civil procedure and conflict of laws issues.  His work on the conflict of laws issues raised by same-sex marriages in particular is widely known.  He has previously served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (1999-2005).  In his role as Vice-President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Research, he has oversight over the implementation of South Texas College of Law Houston College of Law’s Strategic Plan and also is responsible for a variety of internal research projects.  He has served on several committees of the Law School Admissions Council and on three ABA law school accreditation Site Inspection teams.  He earned his undergraduate degree in English from Wabash College, graduating cum laude and with Distinction on his Senior Comprehensive Final Examination.  He obtained his J.D., magna cum laude, from Indiana University (Bloomington) where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Indiana Law Journal.  After law school, he served as a clerk for two years to Judge Leroy Contie on United States Court of Appeals the Sixth Circuit and then worked at Kirkland and Ellis in commercial litigation.

Professor of Law and Charles Weigel II Research Professor of State and Federal Constitutional Law

Charles W. “Rocky” Rhodes

Education
B.B.A., Baylor University
J.D., Baylor University School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Constitutional Law
Federal and State Civil Procedure
Federal Courts and Jurisdiction
Texas Constitutional Law

Charles W. “Rocky” Rhodes is Professor of Law and the Charles Weigel II Research Professor of State and Federal Constitutional Law at South Texas College of Law Houston. His teaching and scholarship focuses on the United States Constitution, state constitutions, and federal and state judicial power and procedure.

He is the author or co-author of six textbooks and treatises on constitutional law and state constitutional law, including The Texas Constitution in State and Nation: State Constitutional Law in the Federal System and the forthcoming books Constitutional Law: Foundations, Interpretations, and Commentaries and State Constitutional Law: Individual Rights and Structural Liberties. His scholarship also includes almost forty treatise supplements, book chapters, and law review articles and essays appearing in journals such as the U.C. Davis Law Review, Harvard Journal on Legislation, Florida Law Review, Cornell Law Review Online, Tulane Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal Online, and Florida State University Law Review. His writings address a wide variety of constitutional and procedural issues, such as due process rights, free speech protections, state constitutionalism, constitutional interpretation, judicial appointments, personal jurisdiction, conflict of laws, federal practice, mandamus proceedings, and appellate procedure. His scholarship has been cited in forty judicial decisions and hundreds of journal articles.

He is often interviewed on constitutional and procedural issues by international, national, and statewide outlets such as CNN Newsroom, NPR’s Morning Edition, BBC Radio’s World Business Report, NPR’s Day to Day, Bloomberg Radio, Texas State Radio Network, Nevada Public Radio, and Public Media’s Texas Standard. He is also quoted by newspapers and magazines across the globe, including the Associated Press and Canadian Press as well as the Washington Post, USA Today, Daily Mirror (U.K.), Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Christian Science Monitor, San Antonio Express-News, Austin American-Statesman, ABA Journal, BNA U.S. Law Week, American Lawyer, and the Danish Mandag Morgen.

He earned his undergraduate degree summa cum laude while on a National Merit Scholarship at Baylor University before enrolling at Baylor Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Baylor Law Review, the President’s Award recipient as the outstanding third-year student, and valedictorian of his graduating law school class. Before becoming a professor, he served as a law clerk and a staff attorney at the Supreme Court of Texas, practiced appellate law at the national law firm now known as Locke Lord LLP, and earned his board certification in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He remains actively involved in professional practice, testifying before legislatures and authoring amicus briefs on constitutional and procedural topics.

Professor of Law

Val D. Ricks

Education
B.A., Brigham Young University
J.D., Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School

Areas of Expertise
Business Associations
Contracts
Jurisprudence
Legal History

Val D Ricks joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 1996. He was the Charles Weigel II Research Professor for 2015-19 and the Vinson & Elkins Research Professor for 2005-09. He teaches Contracts, Corporations, Agency & Partnership, and Antitrust. Professor Ricks has visited at Texas Tech (where he taught Mergers & Acquisitions) and BYU. His scholarly interests include contract law history and theory, business associations law, and jurisprudence, and his writings have appeared in the Georgetown Law Journal, Indiana Law Journal, BYU Law Review, George Mason Law Review, University of Kansas Law Review, Baylor Law Review, Florida State University Law Review, Texas A&M Law Review, and South Texas Law Review. He is author of a contracts casebook published through CALI.

Prior to joining the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty, Professor Ricks was an associate at Kirton & McConkie in Salt Lake City, where he specialized in transactional and corporate law and appellate litigation. He was also a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Charles Wiggins of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Ricks earned his law degree at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he graduated summa cum laude, was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and served as an Executive Editor of the BYU Law Review. He earned his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude, also from BYU. He and his bride are the parents of seven beautiful children.

Professor of Law

Njeri I. Mathis Rutledge

Education
B.A., Spelman College
J.D., Harvard Law School

Areas of Expertise
Civil Litigation
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Labor and Employment Law
Legal Research & Writing

Professor Njeri Mathis Rutledge joined the faculty in 2005 where she teaches in the area of Criminal Procedure, Forensic Evidence and Legal Research and Writing. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Spelman College and earned her law degree from Harvard Law School where she served as technical editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. After graduating from Harvard she clerked for the Hon. John T. Nixon, Chief District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee. Professor Rutledge served as an associate for Baker Botts, L.L.P. where she represented clients in the areas of labor and employment, toxic tort and complex civil litigation for four years. Following Baker Botts, Professor Rutledge entered the public sector as a prosecutor for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office for over three years. During her years as a prosecutor, Professor Rutledge served in the Family Criminal Law Division, Juvenile Division, Misdemeanor and Felony divisions. After leaving the District Attorney’s Office Professor Rutledge spent the 2004-2005 academic year as a visiting professor at South Texas College of Law Houston College of Law. She has also served her community as an associate municipal court judge for over ten years. Professor Rutledge frequently speaks and writes in the areas of domestic violence, criminal justice reform, crime victim compensation, race and policing based on her personal experience, scholarly research, and work experience.

Professor Rutledge’s scholarly interests include criminal justice, criminal law and procedure, critical race theory, domestic violence, law and religion and constitutional law.  Professor Rutledge submitted a formal written statement prior to testifying before the Judicial Proceedings Panel on Sexual Assault in the Military.  Her law review articles have been published in the Maryland Law Review, Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, Loyola Los Angeles Law Review, and New Mexico Law Review.  Her opinion essays have been published in the Hill, Medium, and USA Today where she is a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors.

Assistant Professor of Law

D’Andra Millsap Shu

Education
B.S., Weber State University, Ogden, UT (magna cum laude, with honors)
J.D., University of Houston Law Center (summa cum laude, valedictorian)

Areas of Expertise
Appellate Practice
Disability Law
Employment Discrimination
Legal Research & Writing

D’Andra Millsap Shu joined the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston in 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Law after teaching legal writing and serving as the legal writing program’s co-director at Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.  She specializes in legal research and writing, disability law, and employment discrimination law.

Before teaching, Professor Shu practiced employment law and general trial and appellate litigation at the firms of Baker Botts and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, both in Houston.  She also worked for Justice Carolyn Dineen King on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Justice Eva M. Guzman on the Texas Supreme Court, and Justice Leslie Brock Yates on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston.

Professor Shu has recently signed on as a co-author for the seventh edition of Disability Law: Cases, Materials, Problems (Carolina Academic Press, forthcoming 2024, with Professors Laura Rothstein and Ann C. McGinley).  She also co-authored a book of legal writing exercises entitled The Legal Memo:  50 Exercises for Mastery, available from Carolina Academic Press (2021, with Dean Cassandra Hill and Professor Katherine Vukadin).  She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Legal Writing Institute’s publication The Second Draft.

Professor Shu received her J.D. summa cum laude, as valedictorian, from the University of Houston Law Center, where she served as Editor in Chief of the Houston Law Review.  She received her B.S. magna cum laude, with honors, in political science from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Professor of Law

Andrew T. Solomon

Education
B.A., University of Michigan
J.D., Boston University School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Appellate Advocacy
Civil Practice Advocacy
Legal Research & Writing

Professor Andrew Solomon joined the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston in 1998, and teaches Legal Research & Writing.  He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Boston University School of Law.  While in law school, he served as a student-note editor of the Boston University Law Review and ran the Boston Marathon in three hours and three minutes.  After receiving his law degree, he worked as a litigation associate in New York City at the firm of Curtis-Mallet, Colt & Mosle.

After practicing law, Professor Solomon began his academic career at Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis, where he taught legal writing and also supervised students in the civil practice clinic.  At South Texas College of Law Houston, he has served as the director of the writing program and currently serves as the faculty advisor to the Sports & Entertainment Law Society.  He is a member of both the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) and the Legal Writing Institute (LWI), where he serves on the scholarship committee.  His scholarly interests and recent law review publications cover a range of topics, including the structure and functioning of court systems, stare decisis, the Texas court system, and unpublished opinions.

In May of 2009, Professor Solomon was elected to a three-year term on the Pearland ISD Board of Trustees.  He and his wife, Mary Ann, have two children, Samantha and Alexander.  Coach Andrew has been coaching Alex’s Pearland Little League teams since instructional T-Ball.

Professor of Law, Wayne Fisher Research Professor

Dru Stevenson

Education
B.A., Wheaton College
J.D., University of Connecticut School of Law
LL.M., Yale Law School

Areas of Expertise
Administrative Law
Law and Economics
Professional Responsibility
Statutory Interpretation

Professor Stevenson joined the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston in 2003, and teaches Administrative Law/Regulation, Professional Responsibility, Nonprofit Incorporation, Legislation, and the Law & Economics seminar. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he served as an editor of the Connecticut Law Review. After receiving his J.D., he practiced as a Legal Aid lawyer in Connecticut for three years. He earned his Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the Yale Law School in 2002, and became an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Connecticut until leaving to accept his position at South Texas College of Law Houston. Professor Stevenson’s publications cover topics ranging from criminal law to civil procedure, with an emphasis on the intersection of law with economics and linguistic theory. His articles have been cited in leading academic journals and treatises, by federal and state appellate courts, and in recent briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Stevenson’s current research focus is firearm law and policy.

Professor Stevenson’s YouTube Course Video Page

Use the playlists! This page has videos for 3 courses: Professional Responsibility, Administrative Law, and Statutory Interpretation & Regulation (Leg-Reg). The latter two overlap for half the course. The playlists sort the videos by course & subject.

Professor of Law and Director of Institute for International Legal Practice & National Security

Cherie O. Taylor

Education
A.B., Harvard University-Radcliffe College
J.D., University of Georgia
LL.M., Georgetown University

Areas of Expertise
Civil Procedure
International Business Transactions
International Trade Law
International Transactional Skills
Public International Law

Cherie O. Taylor is a Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law Houston, where she teaches International Business Transactions, Transactional Skills (International Business), World Trading Systems, NAFTA: Trade and Transactions, International Civil Litigation, European Union Law and Civil Procedure. She has published widely in the field of international economic law with an emphasis on regionalism, WTO/GATT law and dispute settlement and U.S. trade policy, in articles which have been published by the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law and the Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business. Professor Taylor is the former Chair of the International Economic Law Group (IELG) of the American Society of International Law and still serves on its Advisory Board. While serving as Vice Chair and Chair of the IELG, she organized two IELG scholarly conferences, one of which, International Economic Conflict and Resolution, was held at South Texas College of Law Houston. Professor Taylor serves as the founder/advisor to CURRENTS: International Trade Law Journal at South Texas College of Law Houston. She earned her A.B. at Harvard-Radcliffe and her J.D. at the University of Georgia where she served as a Notes Editor on the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law and was admitted to the Order of the Coif. Immediately after graduation, she clerked for Judge Thomas A. Clark on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Before coming to South Texas College of Law Houston, she practiced in the International Trade Group at Steptoe & Johnson, Washington, D.C. where she focused on import relief actions, Section 301 cases, and advising clients on trade legislation and multilateral and regional trade agreements. While in practice Professor Taylor also earned her LL.M at Georgetown University Law Center.

Professor of Law

Katherine T. Vukadin

Education
B.A., University of Houston
J.D., The University of Texas School of Law
Certificate of Political Studies, L’Institut D’Etudes Politiques de Paris, France

Areas of Expertise
Appellate Practice
Health Law
Legal Research & Writing

Professor Vukadin joined the South Texas College of Law Houston faculty in 2019 after serving as a legal writing professor at Thurgood Marshall School of Law Texas Southern University and the University of Houston Law Center. Professor Vukadin specializes in legal writing. health law, and ERISA. Before teaching, Professor Vukadin was a trial associate at the law firm of Baker Botts L.L.P. Professor Vukadin earned her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston. She interned for the Honorable Justice James Baker at the Texas Supreme Court. She is the co-author of LEGAL ANALYSIS: 100 EXERCISES FOR MASTERY (Carolina Academic Press 2017) (2nd Ed.) (with Cassandra Hill) and of THE LEGAL MEMO: 50 EXERCISES FOR MASTERY (Carolina Academic Press 2017) (2nd Ed.) (with Cassandra Hill and D’Andra Shu). She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Legal Writing Institute and of the Legal Writing Institute’s Monograph series.

Visiting Assistant Professor

Michael Whitmire

Professor of Law

Kenneth Williams

Education
B.A., University of San Francisco
J.D., University of Virginia Law School

Areas of Expertise
Capital Punishment
Criminal Law
International Criminal Law

Professor of Law

John J. Worley

Education
A.B., University of Georgia
J.D., University of Georgia, School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Banking
Bankruptcy
Contracts
Payments Law
Philosophy of Law
Secured Financing

Professor of Law

Kevin M. Yamamoto

Education
B.S., University of California, Davis
J.D., University of San Diego Law School
LL.M., University of Florida School of Law

Areas of Expertise
Tax, Wills and Trusts

Professor Yamamoto specializes in tax law teaching federal income tax, corporate tax, and federal estate and gift tax at South Texas College of Law Houston. He joined the faculty in 1996 after teaching at the University of Florida School of Law. He worked as an associate with a San Diego law firm and clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Irving Hill in Los Angeles after graduating from law school. He is the author of a practitioner’s reference book on tax called Federal Transfer Taxes Code and Regulations, and of many articles on legal education, estate taxes, and taxpayer relief measures.  He is a graduate of the University of California, earned his law degree at the University of San Diego, and his LLM in tax at the University of Florida.

Assistant Dean, Bar Preparation and Academic Support; Associate Professor, Clinical Studies

Lisa Yarrow