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On April 23, 2013, the University of Texas School of Law hosted the first annual Beck Awards at a luncheon recognizing the work of the new David J. Beck Center for Legal Research, Writing, and Appellate Advocacy. The Beck Center was launched in the spring of 2012 with support from David J. Beck, ’65, life trustee of the Law School Foundation and founder of renowned litigation boutique Beck Redden LLP. Among the Beck Center’s mandates is honing law students’ oral and written advocacy skills, which are foundational to all lawyers’ success.

The Law School hosted the final round of the 2013 Thad T. Hutcheson 1L Moot Court Competition on April 15, 2013, in the Eidman Courtroom. Finalists Steven Ort and Chandler Raine argued before a venerable panel of jurists including U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel; Justice Patricia Alvarez of Texas’s Fourth Court of Appeals; Justice Scott Field of Texas’s Third Court of Appeals; Professor Jennifer Laurin of the Law School; and Thomas T. Hutcheson, a Winstead PC shareholder and son of the lawyer for whom the competition is named. In a split decision, Steven Ort emerged as the champion.

The University of Texas School of Law has won the 40th Annual Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition. To seal its victory, the Law School’s team of Colleen Bloss, ’13, and Yingying Zeng, ’14, defeated the University of Pennsylvania Law School on April 19, 2013, in the final round of competition in Washington, D.C. This prestigious and rigorous competition is sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). The AIPLA is the premier professional development organization for intellectual property lawyers in the country.

On Monday, April 22, UT lit the Tower orange in honor of the Law School’s 2012-2013 national championship teams. Two intramural teams have won national championships already this year, and a third has won a regional championship and will advance to compete for a national championship.

The William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law and the Student Bar Association will host the Law School’s third annual ice cream social to celebrate public service and to recognize teacher and student accomplishments on Monday, April 22, 2013, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Susman Godfrey Atrium. The event is open to the entire Law School community and to family and friends of the honorees.

The Law School’s William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law and the UT Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis have released a report addressing the increasing use of criminal histories in Texas for purposes unrelated to criminal justice.

The annual symposium, hosted by the Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution at the UT School of Law, is a showcase for student presentations as well as a professional presentation on topics relevant to the field of dispute resolution. The student presentations culminate the requirements for completing the graduate portfolio program; a focused curriculum of theory, skills, and research on dispute resolution. This year, nine graduate and law students will be presenting their research.

On Thursday, April 11, 2013, the Center for Women in Law will host a talk by Professor Mahzarin Banaji, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and an expert on the science behind unconscious thinking and feeling as they unfold in social context.

On Friday, April 5, 2013, the Law School’s William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law and the Texas Journal for Civil Liberties and Civil Rights will present an all-day conference entitled “The Role of Law in Closing the Educational Achievement Gap.”

The University of Texas School of Law defeated South Texas College of Law on March 17, 2013, in the final round of the Southern Regional component of the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court. This competition is sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), a professional development organization for intellectual property lawyers. The Southern Regional, held this year in the federal courthouse in Houston, was hosted by members of the local AIPLA chapter.

The University of Texas School of Law’s interscholastic team has won the regional round of the American Association for Justice’s Student Trial Advocacy Competition, and will compete for a national championship in the competition in New Orleans, Louisiana, in April.

The University of Texas Law Alumni Association has announced the recipients of its 2013 distinguished alumni awards. Kathryn Fuller, ’76, received the Outstanding Alumnus Award; The Honorable Robert M. Parker, ’64, received the Lifetime Achievement Award; Joe R. Long, ’58, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for Community Service; and Dick DeGuerin, ’65, received the Honorary Order of the Coif.