Author: Christopher Roberts

  • Portrait of Taylor, Texas Mayor Brandt Rydell wearing glasses and a green tie.
    We’re sending out a Texas Law “Hook ’em!” to Brandt Rydell ’96, who has been honored by the Rotary Club of Taylor as the “Citizen of the Year.” Rydell serves as the Mayor of Taylor, just 35 minutes northeast of Austin. A Taylor native, Mayor Rydell is assistant general counsel for the Electric Reliability Council […]
  • A portrait of Frances Valdez, in a black blazer and pearl necklace and glasses.
    Immigration lawyer Frances Valdez ’05 has spent the better part of two decades advocating for legal rights and the improvement of legal systems for low-income immigrants, first as a student in Texas Law’s Immigration Clinic and then with multiple prestigious non-profits, including Baker Ripley and United We Dream. She has served on numerous boards, including the ACLU […]
  • Portrait of Robert Estrada, wearing a black jacket and a red and black tie.
    Though born in Mexico City, Robert Estrada has lived a quintessential American Dream. From a small-town upbringing in Brownville, Texas, to service with the Armed Forces Reserve during the Vietnam War, to a job as a television news reporter when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, to working in the White House for George H.W. […]
  • Professor Chesney in an open collar blue button-down shirt
    On January 5, Eli Sugarman of the The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation published a short but meaty interview with Texas Law Professor Bobby Chesney. Chesney, the James A. Baker III Chair in the Rule of Law and World Affairs, is a grantee of the Hewlett Foundation’s Cyber Initiative. We reprint, with permission, the interview done […]
  • Portrait of Magda Herrera, smiling at the camera.
    Magda Herrera is joining Texas Law as Chief Development Officer starting on January 4, 2021. It’s a true homecoming for the Double Longhorn who graduated from Texas Law in 2005 after earning her Bachelor of Arts from UT Austin in 2002, majoring in Government. She was a Public Interest Law Fellow in 2003 and 2004, […]
  • Portrait of Thomas M. Reavley, wearing glasses and a suit with a black jacket and black and gold tie.
    (UPDATE: Gifts may be made to the Judge Thomas M. Reavley Endowed Presidential Scholarship.) The Hon. Thomas M. Reavley, who sat on the Texas Supreme Court before his appointment to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States, and who also found time for three separate stints as an Adjunct Professor at Texas Law, […]
  • Portrait of Lei Zhang, wearing glasses and a blue shirt with a gray jacket and striped tie.
    Tarlton Law Library Director Barbara Bintliff is used to monitoring the churn of daily news for stories about the law and the American legal system. That’s because, when a topic reaches the front-page headlines of major news outlets, it’s predictable that Tarlton’s librarians will start getting inquiries—from students, faculty, and even the general public—wanting to […]
  • Portrait of Norma V.  Cantú with pink background.
    Norma V. Cantú, a Professor of Law and Professor of Government with a distinguished record of public service—including eight years as the Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights in the Clinton Administration—has been named to the Biden-Harris Transition’s “Agency Review Team” for education. That team, led by Linda Darling-Hammond of the Learning Policy Institute, will […]
  • Portrait of Cynthia Akatugba, wearing a pink shirt with a bow on it.
    The 2020 Mentor of the Year is Cynthia Akatugba ’13, an Assistant Attorney General with the General Litigation Division of the Texas Attorney General’s office. Ms. Akatugba, whose name was put forth by her mentee Anais Stevens ’22, was selected from a group of nearly three dozen nominees. “Every year, we receive the most incredible, […]
  • Portrait of Taylor Brigance, wearing a blue shirt and a gray jacket.
    This Veterans Day, Texas Law is shining a light on students who have served in America’s military. Each is involved in a range of school organizations and causes, and each has a unique career ambition. Together, they and the many other veterans in our student population enrich the Texas Law community. Veterans “bring a worldly […]
  • Portrait of Hilda Galvan, wearing a grey suit jacket and a necklace with pearls.
    Hilda Galvan ’93 was honored on October 28 by the Dallas Women Lawyer’s Association with the group’s highest honor, the Louise B. Raggio Award. The award—named for the Dallas legal pioneer who was the first female prosecutor in Dallas County history and who helped develop the Texas Family Code—is presented every year “to someone who […]
  • Prof. Richard Albert, wearing a blue and white striped tie
    Richard Albert, the William Stamps Farish Professor in Law as well as a Professor of Government, is taking on an additional role: Director of the Program of Constitutional Studies. The Program brings together scholars across the University in the world’s leading center for the study of constitutionalism, which Prof. Albert describes below as “a multidisciplinary, […]