Events Calendar

Getting Radical in the South presents keynote speaker Y. Frank Southall

Southall is the Lead Organizer and Community Engagement Coordinator at the Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative (JPNSI) in New Orleans, LA. At JPNSI, Southall manages the organization’s organizing and community engagement strategies. His primary organizing focuses are around evictions, renters’ rights and other matters related to housing justice.

Prior to working at JPNSI, Southall worked at Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans in the Freret Neighborhood Center, where he focused on intergenerational community-building, youth organizing and programs designed to improve quality of life. He has also worked at Tulane University’s Center for Public Service, Public Allies, Working America and other organizations focused on social, racial and economic justice. Southall has presented workshops, research and participated on panels at Tulane University, Auburn University, the Highlander School & for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to name a few. Additionally, his activist work has been featured in publications such as “Teen Vogue”, “Curbed”, “Vice News” and more.

In his free time, he serves as the elected representative for the 94th District on the Louisiana Democratic State Central Coordinating committee, is a co-founder of an emerging tool lending library in New Orleans and is on the board of directors for the New Orleans Food Cooperative. Southall studied Journalism and African-American Studies at the University of Cincinnati.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/22/59485/

Join Getting Radical in the South for a panel discussion with Talia Lewis, Caren Short, and Lucy Wood

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/23/59486/

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED. If in doubt, verify with the web-based events calendar.

Join the UT Law Board of Advocates as we host a panel discussion on the topic of conducting difficult witness examinations. Experienced trial attorneys will share their experience and insights on preparing for and conducting direct- and cross-examinations of children, victims of violent crime, mentally or physically disabled individuals, and other individuals that require particular sensitivity. A Q&A period will follow the initial discussion, so feel invited to ask questions. The panel will be moderated by Trial Advocacy Director Tracy McCormack, and the panelists will be experienced trial attorneys who also teach in the trial advocacy program at UT Law: Jay Ellwanger David Gonzalez, and David Henderson. Zoom link: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/6180846380.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/23/59425/

According to the EPA, “Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”

Unfortunately, this definition of environmental justice represents an ideal, not a reality.

For example, in America, “White people experience a “pollution advantage,” where they exposed to 17% less air pollution than is caused by their consumption. Back and LatinX people, on average, bear a “pollution burden” of 56% and 63% excess exposure, respectively, relative to the exposure caused by their consumption.

In particular, the southern United States is rife with environmental injustice — from the proliferation of petrochemical facilities to the contamination of drinking water and even the impact of climate change-induced disasters. Black and brown communities too often face threats to their health and safety from environmental pollutants, toxics, and degradation.

This panel will explore the work being done by environmental justice lawyers, organizers, and advocates across the South fighting for the right to a safe, clean, and livable environment for their communities.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/23/58945/

This webinar is sponsored by the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law and Business and will take place via ZOOM. Please direct any questions about this event to the KBH Gmail: kbhenergycenter@gmail.com.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/24/58808/

Presented by the Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program

Speakers: Carlos Calderon, Clinical Teaching Fellow at South Texas College of Law David Grenardo, Professor of Law at St. Mary's University School of Law The Honorable Rudy Metayer '06, Pflugerville City Council

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/24/59685/

For Movement lawyers, lawyering is a tool to be harnessed and leveraged in support of movements fighting for greater power in a system that disproportionately concentrates power among the white, wealthy, and corporate. In essence, a lawyer is accountable to goals of movements. For these lawyers, organizers and leaders, the primary goal is not to change laws or policies but to change the disproportionate allocations of power that create and reinforce the systems of oppression that produce unjust laws and policies.

This panel will be a discussion and reflection between organizers, movement lawyers, and community leaders on how they work together, including the practical challenges and strengths of this theory of social change in action.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/24/58965/

Join us as we study through Colossians!

Zoom link: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/92236881234

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/24/59029/

TJOGEL's biggest event of the year! Come learn from industry practitioners about the most relevant practices and issues surrounding the energy industry today!

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/25/57866/

Note: This event’s full details are restricted to Texas Law faculty and staff members only.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/25/58765/

Grab your favorite cocktail or La Croix and join other public interest law students to chat and play some games!

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/25/59466/

Join TELJ, the Environmental Law Society, and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) for a digital presentation of the award-winning film created by SUWA, WILD UTAH. SUWA is a group dedicated to protecting the iconic redrock wildernesses of southern Utah. The film will be followed by a discussion about what we can do to protect these important lands. All parts of this event will be carried on via Zoom.

Register for the event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAucO-gqjMoHNAOlc2FyTPfgW3aTFqAeqDl.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/25/59745/

Please join the Texas Federalist Society as we host a discussion with Judge Don Willett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Willett has followed a robust career path, transitioning from private practice with the firm Haynes and Boone to a career in public service. Prior to joining the federal bench, he served on the Supreme Court of Texas and was previously legal counsel to a Texas Attorney General, a Texas Governor, a U.S. Attorney General, and President George W. Bush. He was also famously named the "Tweeter Laureate of Texas" in 2015.

Judge Willett will be discussing his path to the bench, his judicial philosophy, and his writing style.

The first 40 Texas Law students to register will receive a $10 redemption code for DoorDash to enjoy a meal during the event.

Registration Link: https://forms.gle/1m2EunCrVxDWpjKa9

Note: Registration is not required to attend any of the Texas Federalist Society's virtual events this semester; it is only required for each event if you would like to make use of the DoorDash discount.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/25/59725/

UT Law's Texas Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy presents COVID 19: the Ongoing Effects of the Global Pandemic on Latinxs. The symposium will cover topics ranging from challenges of working at home from various jobs, changes to our employment landscape, and new health hardships that have arisen as a result of multiple state responses to public health. We will also take a look at how our communities have risen to the challenges through mutual aid organizations, government leadership, assistance from our representatives, and how immigration policy has been affected as a direct consequence of COVID. Join us as we explore these topics and more at the Texas Hispanic Journal's annual symposium!

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/26/55745/

The Texas Journal of Oil, Gas, and Energy will host the 16th annual TJOGEL Symposium on February 25th and 26th. TJOGEL is the largest student-run publication focusing on energy law scholarship in the United States and the Symposium is our premier event, bringing together legal practitioners from across the state and country to discuss the latest developments in the world of oil, gas, and energy law.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/26/58405/

Capitalism in the 21st century is accelerating its power. Employers continue to accumulate capital and exploit vulnerable communities, forcing many to relocate to the Global North. But just as the American workforce grows and diversifies, the US government offers workers little to no protection. In Janus v. AFSCME, The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of right-to-work laws, which are intended to financially weaken unions. While employers receive trillions of dollars in bailout money to offset the impacts of COVID-19, many workers continue to work in unsafe conditions.

In this panel, we will discuss the theoretical and practical work labor lawyers will need to do to organize and stand up for workers in increasingly hostile environments.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/26/58966/

The traditional law school experience often feels, at best, an inadequate training for social justice-minded students, and at worst, a toxic environment that favors privilege over equity and reinforces oppressive norms. This panel, Organizing in Law School, will highlight the efforts of some law students and groups, who have resisted this traditional experience, by actively engaging in efforts to organize around urgent issues outside and inside the law school.

Please join this conversation where law students and young lawyers will share stories, resources, advice, and strategies for organizing while in law school.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/26/59467/

Through an expansive network of federal and local policing, the carceral state constantly entraps immigrants, especially immigrants of color. For example, in the past year alone, over 15,000 immigrants in Texas have been detained by the Department of Homeland Security. This panel of legal practitioners and community organizers will discuss the day-to-day havoc the system wreaks in communities of color, especially in the context of COVID-19. Their work within the intersection of criminal law and immigration addresses the xenophobic underpinnings of this civil mass incarceration system with a clear goal—the full and immediate abolition of immigration detention.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2021/02/27/59487/